<p>I have a rising 10th grader. We all realize that it is far too early to start the college selection process. At this point in time, I am trying to build a frame-of-reference for my son so that when he has to describe what he wants to his College Guidance advisor in Jr. year, he has ideas about what he wants. </p>
<p>Instead of flying from the tri-state NYC suburbs to Iowa, we are driving. Along the way, we will see the following colleges/universities: Dickinson, University of Michigan, University of Chicago, Northwestern, Grinnell (maybe), Notre Dame, Kenyon and Bucknell. I just want him to see a variety of possibilities to build a frame of reference. I selected the colleges/universities because they are different types and his prep school has a track record of getting graduates into most of them. They are also more or less along the route, but not so close to home that we could easily see them later. In a few schools we will take the tour and even fewer an info session. In some, we will just drive or walk through. </p>
<p>Does this sound like a reasonable plan? Did any of you do something similar?</p>
<p>I think it's a great idea, just to get the juices flowing. My son will be going to Grinnell and chose it over the other 9 he applied to and the other 19 we visited. We did early visits with my nephew. It was enough to help my son put a face on a few great colleges, one of which--Haverford--he did apply to. Check out the gorgeous new student center at Grinnell. The sight of students joyously studying together and socializing there was wonderful.</p>
<p>In junior year, I sat down with my son and he told me what he was looking for--and not--in a college. Then I helped him generate a list to visit based on those factors, more the personality of the school than anything else. We think our process worked well.</p>
<p>It is a wonderful idea if your son is receptive. My kids would not have been happy taking this trip as a rising 10th
grader. They would not want to be pointed out as the only 10th grader in the room. Tour guides, and the person who runs the info session usually asks who is an 11th grader, 12 grader, and anyone else? At that point your son might be the only 10th grader in the room. Usually a comment such as, "it is good to get an early start" is made. My kids would have been so embarrassed and told me that nobody looks at colleges til the fall of senior year (also wrong, but true for many households).</p>
<p>Thanks for the warning. I'll talk to him about being the only 10th grader. I wouldn't say he is enthusiastic, but somewhat receptive. Did you find they ask this question at both the tour and the info session if you are doing both? We aren't planning to go to many info sessions.</p>
<p>It's definitely not too early. Do understand, however, that the favorite college of a sophomore may very well not be the favorite college of a senior. That said, I recently found a "big book" of colleges I gave to my daughter early in her sophomore year. It was interesting to note that she had marked interest in 7 of the 9 colleges to which she applied.</p>
<p>Burb- if you are making the trip to the midwest, it seems counterproductive NOT to sit in on the info sessions.
Occassionally a real nugget of info comes out of these sessions.<br>
i.e. we learned from a William and Mary session that they like to see Physics and calc on a transcript rather than AP Psych (as a science substitute) and Statistics.
Now some out going to argue and say their kids got into X school without physics, but if you already at a disadvantage because your are just another kid from Long Island and go to a local public HS, you do take the lead from the College Admissions staff. And coincidentally, that campus visit was in d's 10th grade too. It was early enough so d could tweak her HS schedule so she was able to take Physics in 12th grade as she already registered for AP bio for 11th grade. Her initial plan was to avoid physics at all costs. PS. She got into William and Mary (but went elsewhere)
2 ideas- Try to make the trip as much as a fun adventure as possible.<br>
Check out amusement parks in the midwest (Cedar Point??) or other fun things your son might like. And be willing to quickly change the itinerary. After 2 or 3 schools your son may have hit his limit with campus visits. And sometimes these early trips can do more harm than good.
And this is coming from a parent who too started checking out schools during spring break in 10th grade. We did a few short trips not too far from home- and never looked at more than 2 or 3 schools at a time with the earlier visits. The groans came after the third college campus.</p>
<p>PS- If you don't want your son to sit in on the info sessions, let him check out the student union or gym while you sit in on the sessions. That might keep him a more willing participant for a longer period of time.</p>
<p>S toured as a 10th grader (graduated early), sometimes totally on his own. He even made appointments to talk to profs (very helpful, all of them). After overcoming his reticence, he even approached students on his own; that actually was a bit more difficult for him since he approached them cold, without prior communication to make an appointment. But again, he was well treated. No one raised an eyebrow or made him uncomfortable.</p>
<p>If you happen to know someone attending one of the schools on your list, perhaps that student might show your son around. I would make him sit through only one or two info sessions. They tend to be rather similar in contents. One would be at a large university, one at a LAC (since both types seem to be on the itinerary). UMich might emphasize sports while Kenyon might not, for instance.</p>
<p>BP -- You mention that your son is receptive, but not enthusiastic, about making early visits. Without genuine enthusiasm on the kid's part, I don't think I'd take a rising 10th grader on college visits. After several visits, both my kids (and their parents! ) often felt as if they could "write the script" for tour guides and info session leaders. I'd be worried about the ennui factor: When your son is a junior and it comes time to revisit schools to refine the list, he may be too burnt out to tune in on guides and presenters a second time.</p>
<p>That's why I suggest only a couple of info sessions. However, for kids who do not live next to college campuses, it is helpful to visit so that they can get a sense of what colleges are like and begin imagining themselves at one. A lot of high school summer programs in fact build campus visits into their schedules.</p>
<p>Well definitely don't push it and be open to changing your plans if he gets bored. I agree with not doing a bunch of info sessions this early and not necessarily tours everywhere. Just wandering around campus can give a taste and whet the appetite for a more serious look in jr year. We felt the student center and library of a college were really important to see.</p>
<p>The junior year info sessions did inform my son that he'd want to take a rigorous courseload senior year to have a shot at these schools. I agree with the suggestion to build in other fun stuff, sample regional cuisine, go to museums or whatever your family likes to do when travelling. We had a ton of fun with college visits--some people don't enjoy them as much.</p>
<p>I think it's a great idea! My parents took me to visit Swarthmore and Haverford once early in the process (either end of 10th grade or very beginning of 11th, I'm not sure) on a day off. I wasn't particularly interested in either, but the schools were pretty close by, and my parents wanted to give me a chance to get an idea of what LACs can be like. Then fairly soon afterwards I visited Columbia and Barnard while in NY. Although I didn't fall in love with any of them, my reactions (positive and negative) to those schools helped me figure out what I wanted (LAC, laid back instead of intense, no large core), which made it a lot easier pick other colleges to consider and visit.</p>
<p>Agree, Marite. Maybe instead of the many visits BP has in mind, plan visits to just a few schools – large, small, and medium-sized; or urban, suburban, and rural -- to get a feel for campus differences and to begin to think about student preferences.</p>
<p>Don't know if you have time, but perhaps swing north and see Carleton and Macalester in Minnesota, two excellent LACs in very different settings, one in a small town and the other in a city.</p>
<p>In answer to the OP's question, the tour guide often asks who is a junior, who is a senior, etc. They are just trying to be friendly, find a common bond, etc. My kids really would have had a problem with it as a sophomore. My rising junior had a problem with it, so I told him that he is a junior now (summer btn. soph and junior years). </p>
<p>I think that the info sessions are quite worthwhile. After a few schools my kids were burnt out. I agree with wjb. My son began to say that we just look at buildings and all of the tour guides are trained as to what to say, and what not to say. He decided that all of these tours are all the same. I disagree, but if just passing by buildings, without looking into clubs, opportunities, academic options, college life, then I would have to agree with my son.</p>
<p>Everyone is different so each family should find its ownway to go about this. We visited 20 campuses in 4 different trips and each one seemed completely distinctive to us. I certainly wouldn't recommend doing nearly that number so early in the game, but dropping in on a few is different. I think my son did start imagining himself in college after making those early visits with his cousin and I wouldn't be surprised if it boosted his motivation to do well in hs, even on courses he was less interested in.</p>
<p>I think it's a great idea; we did something similar when DD was a sophomore. We only did the tour at about four colleges, but we wandered through several more in Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore and DC. We spent most of our time doing touristy things in Boston, Philly and DC--Baltimore was awful and she hated the campus we visited so we skedaddled out of there and ended up with an extra day at the Smithsonian. </p>
<p>The trip had a lot of value in that it got her thinking about what she liked and didn't like, and whether she wanted to be in a big east coast city or a smaller environment, etc. </p>
<p>I would second the recommendation that you not do tours at every place--quite honestly tours start to make all the schools seem alike if you do too many. DD was able to absorb more just by wandering campus and poking around on her own.</p>
<p>We are doing other activities along the way, such as Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame, amish country, visiting old friends (with same-age kids), etc. The whole purpose is to visit family in Iowa. We might do Navy Pier in Chicago. It's not just the colleges. I did pick college towns to spend the night because I thought this would be interesting, although the schools won't be in session. I thought about Cedar Point but decided against it. We would have to do it on a Sat. in August, and that just didn't sound like fun.</p>
<p>I think this sounds like a great idea. My son was accepted in UofC and just didn't really want to make the trip to see it because it involved a hassle (however that was a good indication that he didn't really want to be a plane ride away, ha ha!). If he'd aleready seen it, perhaps he would have gone.</p>
<p>Your son may get to feel pressured. If so, I'm sure you'll change plans; you seem quite insightful.</p>
<p>I don't know if you're the mom or dad, but one thing that worked for us was to have husband & son take tour while I attended info. session. Sometimes they didn't even take "official" tour, just went to bookstore, looked for snack bar etc. We collected magnets at each schhol just for fun & to have excuse to walk across campus to bookstore. Surprisingly enough, this did give my son an idea of campus, setting, facilities. I think he also felt less conspicuous walking around with just dad than with both parents (which he felt made him look like a little kid.) </p>
<p>This also dealt with restlessness. On a long car trip neither husband or son would have been interested in info. sessions, but structured person that I am, I was. I could make note of anything important. When small list finally garnered or even after acceptances son was more receptive to info. sessions.</p>
<p>This also solves problem of embarrassment of being youngest in room, which I know would have bothered my son.</p>