<p>“Honestly, college tours can be a huge motivator.”</p>
<p>Good point…many high school kids are motivated by “college,” but they often don’t have any specifics to visualize or get a crush on until junior or senior years.</p>
<p>Always been fascinated by colleges since I was in 7th grade. But I don’t think I will have a chance to visit/tour colleges.</p>
<p>So I think it’s a great idea, since my mind has been on colleges for quite a long time since my early teens.</p>
<p>The campuses of some colleges are beautiful. However some are disgusting. It all depends on the college.</p>
<p>I definitely wouldn’t recommend visiting that many at once, but if necessary, I’d keep a notebook and jot down your thoughts/first impressions right after leaving each campus, so they don’t blend together as much. Good luck!</p>
<p>@EmilyL: Good point! Especially when visiting a big college town, like Boston, visits may merge together. At that point, what was the point? Be sure you’re getting the most out of your visits by keeping them organized! :)</p>
<p>I have to agree with Zephyr15 that 1 school per day would be enough to get the feel of each campus. I’d also recommend doing some “legwork” before popping up on campus. What does the student want to major in? (top 2 choices) and does each school offer his/her interests and to what degree? Does the student want a large campus or small, public or private?.. each type has pros and cons. </p>
<p>If you really review the various sources for college info and dialog with the student of likes/dislikes etc., the list will be pared down.</p>
<p>We ended up seeing about 2 dozen colleges in 6 days…haven’t had any trouble remembering which was which. The shorter visits are better for knocking a school off the list than for making a final choice from a few. But we all still think the trip was well worth it. I think it would be a huge mistake to think that looking at on-line photos or videos tell you much about the feel of a school, but if you simply can’t visit, they are better than nothing. Most of us are operating with limited time and money, and you have to do the best with what you have.</p>
<p>Any chance you can share the final itinerary with us…and what locations were the overnights? Could help others in the future…</p>
<p>3-to-go
<a href=“and%20how%20about%20checking%20out%20…%20large/small%20…%20city/suburb/college%20town%20…%20LAC/Research%20U%20…%20etc”>quote</a>.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I get that. Early Junior year we visited close-by schools to at least look at large/small, rural/urban, large state flagship/everything else.</p>
<p>That helped a lot. </p>
<p>Presidents’ day we did a broader circle.</p>
<p>Spring break we had a a more focused list. Sort of. 10 days, 3 states, 5 schools.</p>
<p>In the meantime, the strong state flagship had some programs that were helpful/</p>
<p>I list this not as a prescription, but as one solution among many.</p>
<p>Schmaltz: I would have really enjoyed your trip because I absolutely LOVE looking at colleges. I am impressed that your family went along with this and that your daughters appreciated it. It would not have worked in my family at all. </p>
<p>Back in the day, my parents took me on one college trip to Boston to see one city school, a suburban school and maybe one other school. I ended up not visiting the college I actually attended until after being accepted (it was a plane ride away). </p>
<p>I didn’t find drive-bys helpful with my DD. Knowing her, she’d make final decisions based on the drive-by. The one school we did drive through without a tour, she initially hated. After we went back for a tour/info session (because I heard it was fabulous), it became one of her top choices. We did do several visits to schools before she found those that she was excited about. I started early (sophomore fall) to get her motivated - it would have worked better if she had liked the first few schools we saw. She actually felt it when she finally visited a school she liked - at the college she currently attends, she truly lit up saying “this is what a college should look like!” Having done the research ahead of time on line, we were visiting colleges for specific reasons (not just geography) so her feeling it at a college was an accomplishment!</p>
<p>With DS (rising junior), we are doing college visits in small doses - two at a time and, when possible, combining it with something else. For example, RPI on Friday before camp reunion on Sat in Western Mass. Trying to figure out how to take him on a business trip to St. Louis in the spring so he can do a tour/info session at Wash U. He won’t do well with overkill but this method is working. He’s already been to three colleges he could see himself at and heard a presentation from another that he wants to visit. He’s learned he does not like his sister’s school and does not want to be in a busy urban setting (like NYC, Boston, Philly). So far so good.</p>
<p>I also just want to mention:</p>
<p>Lehigh: DS absolutely LOVED the hills. Said it reminded him of summer camp (in the Berkshires). Plus, even as a HS soph, he was impressed by the academics. May visit again before application time. Definitely high on the list.</p>
<p>Tour guides and buzz words: DS could hardly keep from laughing on the tour at Princeton. The tour guide’s buzz word seemed to be “theseses” which is not even a word. She said it more than a dozen times and DS was not impressed. But, they are Princeton and it probably doesn’t matter because of the thousands trying to get in. Not a good fit for DS in more important areas so won’t be applying.</p>
<p>Bucknell: Has come to my attention recently. Interesting comments on this thread. I think we will try to visit this fall.</p>
<p>24 schools in 6 days? Whoa. Hope you didnt blink and miss any :)</p>
<p>“Any chance you can share the final itinerary with us?”</p>
<p>Tuesday: left Detroit at 4 p.m., arrived Rochester NY about midnight</p>
<p>Wed: drove around RIT; walked around URochester (nice); got lost in Syracuse (not so nice)…eventually found S.U…raining…drove around; walked all over Colgate (great) in rain; drove around RPI (kids not techies, so was just for info purposes). Arrive Williamstown, MA about 8 p.m. </p>
<p>Thurs: walked all over Williams College (nice); walked all over Holy Cross (nice); walked all over Boston College (nice).</p>
<p>Friday: Walked around Wellesley (incredible), Harvard (beautiful), Tufts (nice). Brief visits to Emerson, Northeastern, Boston U.</p>
<p>Sat.: Left Boston. Walked around UConn (nice and clean and compact, but in middle of nowhere); Trinity (surrounding area looked a little tough); Yale (area nicer than expected); area around Fordham a bit too hectic.</p>
<p>Sun: NYC…saw NYU…drove to Easton, PA. Long walk around Lafayette (one of the highlights of the trip…beautiful and not raining). </p>
<p>Mon.: Walks around Lehigh (hilly and Hogwartsish) and Bucknell (almost too perfect looking) on the way back to Michigan.</p>
<p>Hey I have a question! I’m considering the university of missouri, the university of Indiana and the university of Minnesota. I’m looking for a great college town with a large Greek system. Any advice on these schools?</p>
<p>Goodness –
You might want to start a new thread, or look at threads that already exist for the schools you’ve mentioned. Share some info. about potential major, grades (or grade range) and test scores (or test score range.) You should get some comments specific to your question.</p>
<p>Schmaltz – Thanks for sharing. Did you actually eat and sleep? My family would have been pooped after the first day!! You really covered a lot of territory…well done!</p>
<p>Wait - thats only 22. You said 24. Slacker
.
.
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jk</p>
<p>Goodness, Indiana has a big Greek community and is in a great college town. Don’t know about the other 2.</p>
<p>Jym, I we must have passed a barber college and a DeVry somewhere. We tried to look at Bennington, but couldn’t find it. Syracuse, Rochester, Trinity, and Lehigh were really hard to find. We could have saved hours on the trip if we’d had GPS.</p>
<p>Was there not a female in the car to provide directions? If not, all is forgiven.</p>
<p>Wait-- wife and 2 daus were in the car. Men and ther unwillingness to ask for directions . Sigh.
:)</p>
<p>Wow! You really packed a lot in! Was it fun?</p>
<p>Wife was navigating. Wife isn’t a good navigator. We asked for directions multiple times. Usually not helpful. My favorite was the young lady about a mile from the Lehigh campus who seemed to be only vaguely aware that there was a college in her town.</p>
<p>Note to colleges: Put up more signs around town. Go to Rochester, NY to see how it should be done.</p>
<p>siliconvalley: yeah, we had lots of fun. Would have been a lot MORE fun if it wasn’t raining for most of the trip and if we’d had gps. Also, trying to fight our way through NYC’s Gay Pride parade to get a couple NYU t-shirts took hours. One great thing about making colleges the focal point of a trip is you can go in just about any college building and find a clean bathroom.</p>