<p>My son, a junior, and I are planning to visit colleges over spring break. How many schools can the average kid tolerate in a week before they all blur? Is one each day too aggressive, not aggressive enough? He has no idea where he wants to go except that he's doesn't want to be in a city.</p>
<p>Have you visited any colleges yet? If not, try to work a couple in at nearby colleges just to get a feel. It might also help your son to become more focused on what he's looking for. Weekends are not always the best time to visit, but some schools can accommodate. president's day may provide an opportunity. Most colleges operate normally on that day, whereas high schools have the day off.</p>
<p>I went to three over Spring Break my junior year, MWF. Of course I had to because we drove from Iowa and the schools were Purdue, UNC-CH, and Oklahoma State. After each tour we'd sit down and I'd write down key things to remember that would keep each school straight.</p>
<p>PS--These were my first visits and I managed them just fine but I've always been up to pick something up and remember it instantly. I agree w/ the person above that visiting local schools might not be a bad idea.</p>
<p>I'm a junior and planning to visit Pomona and Claremont Mckenna over Spring break as serious visits, and then have fun visit USC and UCLA just for fun (not interested in a large school), but i would suggest visiting one school a day then your kid can get the most out of each school. I would suggest this strategy unless your junior doesn't know what he wants and is visiting to try to figure out whether or not he likes a big/small school.</p>
<p>I'd still suggest 1 full day, we visited UW and it was fun just roaming around the campus and around the vicinity which is important as well because your student will not stay just on campus, explore a little.</p>
<p>Bring a list of questions and a camera! good luck!</p>
<p>We generally did 1-2 per day but tried to mix in other things: lunch in the campus area, the beach (visiting schools in LA), nearby tourist stuff, visiting friends at some schools, and so forth. Some things definitely blurred together, but the major points stuck (and presumably, if it's a school that really sparks your son's interest, there will be sticking points). Visiting schools AFTER I'd been admitted, I remembered everything much more clearly. The visits I did over junior year spring break were kind of just to test the water. I didn't really know what I wanted quite yet and I couldn't really see myself in college. I did a more well-rounded trip than was necessary and I think this worked out for the best because it gave me an early-on idea of what I did and didn't like.</p>
<p>I would keep it to 4 or 5, maximum, for the week. Even with that number, it's wise to pick one day where you do something other than college visiting. </p>
<p>Since your son's only request is that the schools be out of the city, you are going to be limited in how many you can see. Most schools have a late morning and/or an early afternoon tour, and not much on weekends. We found that arriving in an area in the evening, having dinner and seeing the campus at night, then getting up for the official tour works well. Sitting in on an actual class is well worth the time - sometimes we arranged this in advance, other times we didn't have to. The info sessions are the least useful things and usually have nothing new if you've read the college's website.</p>
<p>One of the things I will do with son #2 that I didn't do enough of with #1 is to have a meeting or lunch with a current student. That seems to be the best way for a kid to get the feel for a campus. Very important - don't stick with your child through the lunch, or most of the day. He will want to try to blend in as a student, and, well, you're embarassing him. :-)</p>
<p>I pulled a dandy on my spring break. I'm from Washington, and for my spring break, I visited Colby, Bates, Bowdoin, Wesleyan, Middlebury, Dartmouth, Pomona, Claremont Mckenna, and Occidental. Wham!!</p>
<p>That may sound absurd, and it kind of was, but for bowdoin and dartmouth, we did our own little walking tour, and only stayed at each school for about an hour or so. My sister goes to Pomona, so I did the northeastern schools with my parents, and when we left from Boston, they flew back to Seattle, and I flew down to California to hang out with my sister for the weekend, and visit Pomona/CMC/Occidental. In all honesty, I loved nearly every minute of it, but that's because early on in the college process, I took great interest in researching what schools appealed to me, and I loved being on the college campuses. I realize I am probably not the average high school junior, and it might be exhausting and miserable for some, but I loved it. I admit that by the time I visited Occidental on the last day of my trip, I didn't have much left in my engines, and it was a pretty tiresome visit, but that was due partly to the fact that I had a long, long night the night before. But otherwise, the trip was a lot of fun.</p>
<p>I visited 3 schools over about 5 days during my spring break last year. Everyone is different, but for me it pretty much all blurred together. I can't remember whether this school or that school had a certain policy or program. Like someone suggested, writing down what you liked and didn't like after you visit one college is a very good idea.</p>
<p>I think one campus per day is good, maybe two. It depends on what you want to do. If you just want to see the campus, take a tour, get a sense of the school (very useful, by the way) you can do two per day, easily. If you want to explore more, talk to students, talk to staff, etc. etc. try for one per day.</p>
<p>we did two just because the others ones were further away but basically the first day we drove 3 hours, toured it, shopped and ate etc.. next day we drove a half hour, toured school number 2, explored the city and ate, and came home by about 5.. it was a fun 2 days and the two didnt blend together for me at all..</p>
<p>You can learn a lot about colleges' programs and policies by reading its web site and printed material. So during a visit I wouldn't waste precious time on a guided tour and formal info sessions. I'd take my time walking around, poking my nose in buildings, chatting with people, and getting a feel for the overall vibe of a school. I know this is counter to the norm, but I just don't like the idea of seeing what some tourguide WANTS me to see, and sitting in an info session listening to Cindy from New Jersey asking 30 questions about the Comparative Literature Department.</p>
<p>This approach is less tedious for 17-year-olds, so chances are they won't burn out on the trip as quickly.</p>
<p>Just my opinion, but I strongly disagree with the above advice to just wander around instead of going on formal tours. The schools where I did that were the ones where I got the least feel for the place. Seeing the campus and the facilities doesn't matter nearly as much to to me as experiencing the personality of the student body. I know that tours are staged, and tour guides carefully selected, but they are informative even if they only show the side of the school that they want seen. Tours are very different at different schools. You might do just as well wandering around if you're willing to go up and start conversations with lots of current students, but to me that's a lot more stressful and "wearing" than going on the tour.</p>
<p>About how many schools to tour, I'd say no more than two a day, and if possible no more than five in a week. Six or seven in a week might be ok if you really want to see the extra places, but its better to look at some of the closer ones on weekends or take another trip in the summer.</p>
<p>Last year over my junior spring break I visited four. I thought that was a really good number and we did it in about five days. We flew out to start our trip and then drove between all the schools and flew home. Our longest drive during it was 4 hours between Clemson and Elon so I did not feel overloaded.</p>
<p>N's Mom- if you're still checking this thread, I highly recommend the thread on Not</a> so obvious visit suggestions. Lots of great tips!</p>
<p>We took a couple of days before April break, and visited 6 schools in 10 days. They were all several hours apart, so we couldn't do two in one day. We did 2 days touring, 1 day off - tried to do something fun, 2 days on, etc. Even then, by the time we got to the 6th school (which was a Junior Open House), D was burned out. After seeing some of the sessions, she didn't even want to see the tour.</p>
<p>JP says "no more than 5 in a week." What a waste of opportunity. The reason prospective students get burned out and frustrated by looking at colleges is that their parents make them endure endless hikes around campus with Mommy and Daddy seeing facilities they'll never use, tedious introductory speeches by blowhards who like to hear themselves speak, and everything is staged. No wonder they all blend in together after a while.</p>
<p>I really think guided tours are important. It helps you get a feel of the school's "attitude" and it helps you see a lot of cool things that you might not have otherwise explored. A good tour guide will relate his or her own experiences or give students the opportunity to ask particular questions. You learn a lot about programs and options with a good tour guide and about some of the more unique aspects of the school. You can ask about the social life, where everyone hangs out, etc etc.</p>
<p>I am incredibly glad that I did tours even though I didn't feel like it, otherwise I probably would have missed out on a lot of valuable information.</p>
<p>Overnight stays are also REALLY awesome.</p>
<p>And PLEASE make sure to have your son do research before going to each of the schools. It will enrich the visit so much. Specific programs, good departments, extracurriculars, social life, etc etc etc! Have specific questions prepared, I was very happy whenever I had one of my fears confirmed or mitigated just so it would be easier to make a final decision.</p>
<p>Ditto viva<em>sweet</em>love. Doing even a small bit of research in advance REALLY helps prevent all the info from blurring together so much. Also, you don't worry as much about going home, reading something (be it about a cool facility, a potential problem, or something else), and going "Whoops...wish I had asked/looked at that on the tour."</p>
<p>I also really liked taking guided tours, but only at the schools I was serious about. Before delving into tours, we drove/walked around one local campus (St. Mary's) and one campus in our tour area (LMU). Doing this made the more "meaningful" tours (at schools I was actually considering) a bit nicer b/c I had a better idea of what to expect from a college campus in general. It contextualized everything a bit.</p>
<p>Even if guided tours happen to be staged, you can glean a lot from them. First off, they aren't always staged at all. I do think that a bad tour can really influence prospective students (and likewise with a good tour), so it's important to take the experience with a grain of salt. On one of my tours, the guide made a big joke of pointing out beer cans and alcohol bottles around all of the dorms (I believe this was a Mon. or a Fri. morning). Then in the small-group info session, the rep was ADAMANT that they needed to see the absolute most difficult courseload available. When asked if they considered difficulty of school, availability of AP classes, etc. (i.e. coming from an exceptionally difficult HS), he remained adamant to the point of being ridiculous and a little offensive. I knew that even though I could probably work to find my niche at the school, I wouldn't have been happy with the social climate or the pretention. It was a big assumption to make based on the tour alone, but I definitely know that it was right. At another major university, our guide knew almost nothing about the school, despite being a senior. Though she could talk for days about her own department, I knew immediately that I wanted to know my school better and that a major university was not going to let me do so. Stuff like that. </p>
<p>It'll be an exhausting trip, but it sounds like the OP knows that going in. It'll be an extremely beneficial one, as well. I think the trick is to avoid getting burnt out where you don't have to (i.e. if you know ten minutes into a tour that it's just plain <em>wrong</em> for you...don't hesitate to take off. If you step foot onto a campus and can't stand the atmosphere, cut your stay short). It's also important, I believe, for the parent to listen to the kid. If he has no good reason for saying "I hate this place" but is adamant in his belief, don't waste TOO much time pointing out all the positives. Gut instinct is important. Good luck!</p>
<p>Thanks everyone. Good advice. I'm going to start with a few visits to schools close to home (one big public university, one urban, one small and private) and then have him look through the web sites of the prospective out of town schools. Then we can focus on 3-4 over the break. We can do a second tour in another geographic area over the summer.</p>