<p>We did not visit this time around until after the apps were sent out because S had little interest until then. Still wasn't all that interested but we did drag him along to a few schools. He then caught on. We had some ideas from experiences he had with colleges in the area so we were not completely in the dark. In fact most of the schools he applied to were withing a few hours of home and in state. But visits out of state clinched the deal for a school across the country.</p>
<p>You do not have to visit every single school before applying or before acceptance. State schools as a rule don't care. Larger schools may not care. Small LACs will care and at those schools, not visiting can make the difference between acceptance and rejection. Also schools way out of the geographic or the norm should be visited. So we visited a few schools just to get the flavor for type, and then the few outliers that were far away. </p>
<p>Also the number of visits is not a fixed thing. If you are looking at Holy Cross for instance, you can double the visit with BC or Providence or any number of schools in the area. In our case, the two distance schools on the list were far enough away and different enough that we spent several days at each school, whereas we combined a number of visits within the 3 hour away point.</p>
<p>Of course, more than 30 years ago when I was supposedly looking for colleges, my dear (now deceased) parents said, "you want to go to college dear? Wonderful. Have fun!" In other words, pay for it yourself. So I did. Kids these days are so spoiled. Its amazing.</p>
Well, i'd rather argue with a spouse than a highschool counselor. I agree that your son's interest level will develop as the kids (and counselors) start talking college. Maybe your husband will also come around when he realizes that he doesn't know much about the points of differentiation, especially among the safeties.</p>
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He ended up at Williams. His reaction was very similar to your daughter's at her college: This is the place! The interesting point was that he had all but eliminated it based on hearsay and stereotype. Of the 14 colleges that he visited, only three stayed at the same status that was projected pre-visit (using really like, it's okay, no way as the judgments). The others completely reversed positions.</p>
<p>Just got back from a week's worth of campus visits in Florida, toured 6 colleges and road by 2. All 8 were on D's list. The result? This coming September, she'll be applying to two in Florida. Any one of those 8 she would have been happy to attend (from what she saw on paper and online) but nothing beats how you FEEL once you set your foot on a campus, the feeling of home. I was surprised she wasn't as impressed in-preson to more of the colleges we visited. It also helped her realize what she was looking for and NOT looking for. Sometime in August and this Fall, we'll do local college tours (within a 3 hour drive from home) and see how they compare to the 2 in Florida.</p>
<p>momrath: Congrats to you and your son! Williams is a great school! I know a person who taught a Williams for two years but left because of family concerns (spouse lived and worked in California....so a Hobbesian Choice ensued), and I have a friend who graduated from Williams (a long time ago). Its a gorgeous campus.</p>
<p>For us, we thought about it, but its too cold and too remote and too far away for us. Just a subjective thing. And it would have been a reach. We had hooks, but not a sure thing.</p>
<p>The Epiphany thing really works. Yes, freshmen funk always sets in no matter where you go....but they get through that and come out stronger. </p>
<p>Jerseymom: Yes, seeing is believing. And its always amazing how kids feel on various places. Sometimes we parents have one vision or our own feelings and our kids are somewhere else. Thats okay. Even if we think its irrational. Its their life and so long as they arent doing something that is obviously a big mistake, then we just go with it. Its not just "pretty buildings" either. Its that feel if "hey, these kids are just like me!" </p>
<p>We have a friend who found that at Providence College. Its always nice to here stories of "I found a college for me that I really, really like!" And when that college is a dead on bullseye match school it really helps. Nothing wrong with reach schools and if you get in....then obviously its a strong consideration.</p>
<p>I know someone who turned down UNC because she got into Yale. Great! But I also know someone who turned down Harvard to go to Duke. Money is part of the equation, of course. </p>
<p>I met a kid just yesterday (Best Buy Geek Squad!) who was unhappy at a prestigious school (left unnamed) and is now at a lower tier UNC system school majoring in Information Systems Management and Computer Science. He was as happy as a pig in a mud puddle. Maybe that is the wrong analogy. LOL. But he clearly liked what he is now doing and was very enthusiastic....he said, "the <other school=""> and major, just wasnt ME!" There is really nothing better than happiness, which breeds personal success.</other></p>
<p>It is very important to visit the college during the admitted student weekend. This gives the child more of a sense of the college than the tour and admissions sessions that one usually attends pre-acceptance. So our concluson for S2 was to visit a few colleges of various sizes, public and private, for a sense of types of schools and then encourage reading about the school. Older S visited pre-admission and then admitted student weekend, the school he eventually selected. So we had to pay airfare twice (second time he went by himself). He went to the admitted student visits at his three top choices and found that those visits were much much more worthwhile. Thankfully, two of those were paid for by the college. But it does get expensive.</p>
<p>Right. Our D selected her school on the admitted school weekend, and conversely turned down other offers on their weekends, or in one case when she called to arrange a visit after being admitted was met with a sort of bureaucratic opinion and a kind of "why do you need to visit? We are XYZ!" That really turned her off. She wasnt looking for trumpets and red carpets, just a bit more warmth and "hello! Good to hear from you....we would LOVE to show you around!" So it matters.</p>
<p>I know it seems silly to judge a book by its cover and admissions staff, but she said, "if they cant project a better image from there...what is the rest of the administration going to be like?"</p>
<p>I'd say you should definitely visit a few colleges close to home-this helps if you live in the Northeast corridor where there are lots of colleges near. However, don't restrict your son to only colleges that he visited. To find out about more colleges, I would get Fiske's guide to colleges or something similar to help your son do a quick research on colleges. Furthermore, I know this sounds sort of wasteful, but on your initial visits, don't be too methodical about it. Just care about how it feels and have this be preparation for the final college visits when he's admitted. To be frank, on my big college visit trip to about 6 colleges I only ended up applying to and being admitted at one of them and didn't end up matriculating there. So, I sort of agree with your husband in that you don't have to go hog wild and visit a lot of colleges but I think you should visit a few just to get your feet wet. Also, about the application number, I think you can definitely pare it down to ten-your son has too many safeties.</p>