<p>DS got the best information from sitting in on classes (without me) and talking with students in his area of interest. (This was in addition to the info session and tour.) We also tried to eat in the dining halls on as many campuses as possible and (when appropriate) sit with students and talk to them. </p>
<p>When doing college visits with DD (HS Class of 2010) and DS (graduating HS this year), we only visited two colleges at a time and not on the same day. Because of where we live and the colleges we were looking at, it was possible to make several short trips. Sometimes, just combined a college visit with another reason we had to be in the area. This way, we could really process all we learned about the colleges and compare to others. Also, DD and DS could differentiate how they felt about each campus.</p>
<p>There are lots of good suggestions on this thread. Once you do your first college visit trip, you will get a feel for the process and what works for you (and what’s important to your DD). It’s just as important to find colleges they don’t like (and why) to narrow down the actual application list and really get beneath the surface on the schools they do like.</p>
<p>My kids seemed to have an innate litmus test (either “no way” or “hmmm. . . maybe”) by being on campus and looking at the student body. It was either a group of kids the felt they fit in with or not. (This was one reason we never did visits when school was not in session.)</p>
<p>Like 3Triplet, I <em>always</em> asked the admissions people/tour guides what other schools they applied to and why they chose XX college. I liked hearing the comparisons.</p>
<p>Other than that, relax and enjoy the process. It’s an exciting time in a young person’s life and I hate reading about families that have a stressful senior year. Kids are on different timetables (some middle-schoolers are already thinking about college; my youngest–current hs senior–has yet to visit a single school). It all gets done, though, and usually your kid ends up at a school that is a good fit.</p>
<p>if there is a club that your child knows they would be interested in (eg, religious organization, service organization, sports club, publication, etc.) try contacting the club to see if there is someone who might be willing to talk over lunch or other break – we did this and it was a great way to a) get information about an interest that was of importance to my kids and b) get information about the school in general from someone who didn’t have an agenda (ie not part of the admissions office).</p>
<p>i would also talk to adults who worked in the bookstore, cafeteria, etc – asked them what they thought of the student body – i found it often gave an outlook we otherwise weren’t getting.</p>
<p>Also, meant to say to OP that you’re not too late just starting right now. In fact, your time is perfect. You have PSAT scores and so now have an idea how she’ll do testing-wise, which will have an effect on admissions.</p>
<p>There’s lots of great advice here, but I have to say that much of it will be significantly less effective if you have to visit during the summer. The newspaper may be inactive, the bulletin boards will be empty, and the students who are around may be different from those around during term time. The campus may have a very different feel. You have to take this into account, and don’t get turned off by a campus that seems “dead” or “dull” or “empty” in the summer. I realize that many people can only schedule such trips during the summer, but you have to adjust your expectations if you do this.</p>
<p>Agree w/Hunt. We did most of our touring in the summer and used them to make a first cut. Some places you just knew weren’t going to be any better for you with more people on campus. ;)</p>
<p>Son visited a school with a reputation of being a good school but highly religious. During the official tour, they downplayed the religious elements (although it’s difficult to minimize “mandatory daily chapel.”) At the end of the tour, there was a Q and A. One of the HS students spoke in a way that indicated that she was interested in the school because of the religious life. Feeling comfortable and going off script, the guide shared that she had not originally been of the denomination of the school but after a couple of years she was rebaptized into the denomination, etc. Hearing the student talk informally was enough to tell Son that the school was not the place for him.</p>
<p>In the Northeast, many high schools have extended President’s Weekend vacation and we used that as a time ( during junior yr) to tour schools. We took a train to Boston and visited 3 different schools on each trip for each of the boys. Of course, they were looking at different schools so we got to see plenty on those trips.
In addition, they often have a few days at Easter so you can possibly visit a school then and get a feel while it is in session…</p>
<p>We also tried to eat at a local restaurant if the college was “the town”. Our kids were looking at smaller schools so this was common. We wanted to see what the “natives” were like too. Someone suggested visiting the local Walmart or similar store too. I have to say that the town where DD is going is an amazingly friendly town. We’ve been to town only once so far but have talked to people over the phone and via email for other things. We have yet to run into anyone that has been even remotely crabby, even the cashiers at Walmart were so helpful and just NICE. :D.</p>
<p>Oh, and for the summer tours. We found them helpful, others did not. There were always plenty of kids on campus to get a feel for the student body but if you want more of an experience with kids in class, try to plan your tours for late August. Many colleges are in session and if not, most of the athletes are on campus at least (depending on your school schedule that is). We did a 9 school tour Labor Day weekend. All the schools we visited then were in session. 5 of the schools were real visits with tours, etc. the rest were drive throughs because we were in the area.</p>
<p>I second or third the recommendation to allow enough time to sit somewhere and simply observe. One of my son’s really liked a college after a car load of kids drove by as were sitting on a bench and yelled out the window “Come here, you’ll love it.” We’d also experienced the complete opposite of kids yelling “Don’t come here, you’ll hate it.” Now you can take that with a grain of salt but at the "come here, you’ll love it college every single person we encountered loved that college. My kids also stopped and looked at bulletin boards and really were intense about the non-structured time on campus (moreso than the info sessions.) One thing about info sessions you’ll find is that they are all pretty much the same and blur together after awhile. Getting a tour guide that is majoring in something your kid is interested in is of very high value. </p>
<p>Finally sometimes kids have a very visceral negative reaction for some reason or another. It literally becomes similar to a drive-by. Accept it. Move on is my best advice and very much my opinion. There are thousands of colleges and it’s not worth the time and energy to try to “change” one of these instant negative visceral reactions.</p>
<p>Another thing, try not to get turned off by the tour guide. It’s really hard but take them with a grain of salt. Now, if the admissions staff is rude, the tour guide not helpful, and the kids on campus seem overly focused on themselves, the 3 together might not be a good fit :D. It’s a learning curve really :D. All in all we had good tour guides at all but one school. Some were better than others but they all knew their stuff, answered questions, were personable. A few are not kids my kids would become friendly with, just not good personality matches but they were nice kids. One girl was very much into the whole “sorority” thing with being up for “queen” and overly concerned about how her hair looked but she was sharp, answered every question the kids had, etc. Our kids are more jeans and t-shirt kids :D.</p>
<p>I’m one of those people who does the tours. Do I have an agenda? If I do, it’s very limited. I’m not paid by results, and ultimately if someone comes and then hates it, it’s just going to cost the university a lot of money (funding is very, very different here). I do, however, genuinely enjoy being a student here. I try to answer questions as honestly as possible, but if I have a member of staff or another tour guide within earshot, then the answer that I give will be somewhat more sanitised / on message. In other words, ask when the tour guide doesn’t feel that what they say is going to get back to their supervisor. And don’t expect us to volunteer negative info without any questioning - you have to ask for specifics if there’s something that there’s really important to you. </p>
<p>Oh, and actually smile at your tour guide occasionally, or at least don’t just glare at us! It’s really quite off-putting when someone’s parent has a face like they hate you and everything you’re saying.</p>
<p>I’ll just add that from my own experience with going to open days, the “feel” of a very place can be surprisingly important. When I visited here, it just felt right. Why, I don’t know, but I definitely made a good decision to come here. </p>
<p>Also have a look at the local town - see what facilities there are, what the locals look like and so on. They’re going to be living there for four years, so they may as well live somewhere nice!</p>
<p>All very good advice. From our experience I would say</p>
<p>During the summer medium-large schools will have students on campus and you can still get a feel of what the students are like. Small schools may have very limited summer school offerings, or possibly no summer school offerings. So if possible visit larger schools during the summer</p>
<p>By my third set of tours (my senior DS) I had him make appointments with faculty in the areas he was interested in. For most schools he did the scheduling himself-- not through admissions. At one school admissions said specifically do not schedule any appointments yourself-- let us know who you want to talk to and we will arrange it. SO read admissions page carefully, and if your student has a possible major you can look at faculty in that department. For me it was important DS did all the scheduling himself, although I did help him navigate the university directories/class listings etc so he could get in touch with the right people. In several cases he met students during these department visits who he had something in common with</p>
<p>If your student has very specific interests take the time weeks in advance to make appointments with the appropriate departments. For my daughter we tried to arrange for her to participate in a top level ballet class everywhere and to meet faculty in her intended major so that she could ask questions specific to her major that only get covered generally in the admissions departments’ information sessions. The kind of things she asked about were around doing research as an undergrad and about placement in top PhD programs for her major. This often led to tours of labs that you won’t see in the general tours.</p>
<p>Also, be aware of the academic calendar when timing your visit. If you visit during mid-terms or near final exams the liveliness of the student body may differ from other times of the year. And as stated above, keep in mind that every individual that you meet is just that, an individual. If you try to strike up a conversation with a student who is depressed this doesn’t mean that everyone is depressed, etc., etc.</p>
<p>I agree with eating in the dining hall. I asked every tour guide two questions: what they did on the weekends and how they liked the food. </p>
<p>Also, look carefully at the other students (not just the tour guides) - are they happy (my daughter ruled out a school because she said nobody on campus was smiling), are they dressed how you would be comfortable being dressed (too preppy, too sloppy, too fashionable), are they friendly/helpful (you usually have to ask directions at some point in a visit), etc. </p>
<p>My daughter ruled out one school because a few kids mentioned that going into the city by subway was a big deal and she is a city slicker who loves the subway.</p>
<p>She ruled out another school because when she saw the common area in the dorm she felt it was messy in a disrespectful way (the students did not appear to respect each others’ belongings).</p>
<p>She liked another school because in a common area a kid was sitting quietly reading a book (this might turn another kid off but appealed to her)</p>
<p>In short, are the students kids you could see yourself being friends with. Some of this is about vibe and fit - which goes on instinct (but you need to be observant).</p>
<p>One more thing - a lot of the getting the feel of the school was about seeing kids in dorms - if they offer a dorm tour take it - if you know somebody who goes to the school already get them to show your their dorm.</p>
<p>Lots of great advice – I agree that you can learn a lot at the big info sessions beyond the info being conveyed (much of which can be found on the website). The school my son thought was his first choice disappointed him with the unprofessional, dumbed-down info session (an admissions employee reading bullet points on power point, using words that don’t actually exist etc). He didn’t really remark on it until he visited some other similar schools and saw how professionally and intelligently run they were. </p>
<p>Also agree with the advice that, when your kid is ready to go – even if you feel there is more to do – go. The biggest fights we had during the college app process were when I wanted to squeeze one last thing in during the campus trip, and he was ready to go.</p>
<p>Finally, trust your kids’ instinct. When we were in the middle of this process (he is now a happy freshman at his first choice school), I was convinced I knew more about where he would thrive than he did. I wasted 6 months as we bickered (and worse) about LACs vs. big public flagships. I finally “got it” when I saw his face 15 minutes into the info session of what became his school – he was transformed and transfixed. He knew what he wanted, and I had to understand that. Of course, you have to have some kind of reasonableness check on it – I suppose if your kids dreams of art school and doesn’t have nearly the talent or drive etc, you need to step in. But listen to their reactions to types of schools, they may not be able to articulate it well, but they are processing it. </p>
<p>Good luck, and not to worry, you are not behind at all.</p>
<p>What worked best for my boys was finding student hosts from our community - older siblings, former teammates, camp pals, friends of friends etc. These students were always happy to show my kids around, put them up in the dorms, take them to parties and recommend the best classes to attend - less awkward than random assignments with strangers.</p>
<p>Definitely go when school is in session, and don’t expect the process to be logical: Many kids judge schools by the weather, the distance to the nearest Chipotle, or the tour guide’s shoes.</p>