<p>Schmaltz You gotta start somewhere and this is how you want to start. Would simply recommend you cut down significantly on the number of schools so they don’t all blur together. Maybe pick a large University, mid size school and small school near each other to get a flavor of what that size difference would mean. Also many close together in Boston. Have a good road trip – are we there yet?</p>
<p>Yeah, but is this your kids’ idea of fun or interesting? You are letting your desire to look at these overrule whatever common sense you might have… this will be boring and a turn off for young teens. No one but you will think this is a good use of time. There are TONS of interesting things to do on the east coast in the cities you mentioned.</p>
<p>How about if you go visit the colleges, and your wife & daughters go do other things? Because this visit is clearly for you, not them. I actually feel a little sorry for you if you can’t think of anything better to do on this type of trip to “see America” with your kids. I am a big believer in getting out of the car at all types of stops (in fact, having backpacked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back, I can say for sure that I have much more interesting memories and knowledge of it than Chevy Chase will ever have!). This drive by attitude for visits seems like the worst stereotype of Americans’ short-attention spans & the lack of analysis/thought that plagues our country today.</p>
<p>Also… to say that you have seen all there is to see of a smaller campus with a drive thru means you have totally missed the point of the college visit. To see what the students are like, whether they have a hub for activities, what types of activities/clubs are available on campus, which academic programs are strong, whether the vibe is more intellectual vs. sports oriented, how strong the Greek presence feels on campus, whether students feel overloaded or stimulated by the school, how well maintained the buildings are inside, etc. You get none of that from a drive through.</p>
<p>“You’re right, we don’t know you. But if you think Cats is all there is to theater in NYC, well, sad, that’s all.”</p>
<p>I’m not quite the Philistine you think I am. While going to college in Boston, I went to the symphony, had season tickets to the opera one year, and even saw a creaky Carol Channing and Eddie Bracken in “Hello Dolly.” I concluded that listening to such events on the radio or watching them on tv would have been a smarter use of my money.</p>
<p>It will be summer sessions for each of these schools, so getting a feel for the students is not going to be possible.</p>
<p>If it makes anybody feel better, most of these visits are to schools that are clustered in smallish areas. It’s not like we’d be stopping every hour for a look-see. Like in the Boston area (where I went as an undergrad), you can drive around for city for 2 hours and see 6 colleges even if you aren’t looking for them. We can buzz through Syracuse, Colgate, and Hamilton before breakfast.</p>
<p>I also agree with whoever said that such quick visits are a lot better for eliminating colleges than including them. For example, I’ve never been to Colgate, but I imagine it’s going to come off the list really quick once they see how small the town is. If so, great, it’s one less application and one less regret they might have clouding their decisions.</p>
<p>
Agree that this is the way to go. Just as you and Reagan, once you’ve “seen one redwood, you’ve seen 'em all”… that is how 25 college visits - even quickies - would be.</p>
<p>I agree that you should just do drive/walk-throughs and they will be quick. But there will be no value to going any further than the “prototype” approach thumper and I suggest.</p>
<p>Your D’s may be compliant, patient and have the same interests as you. My S would have murdered me with the plan you suggest. So, you know your own family. But - regardless - you asked if they will all blur together. And they will. We’re all saying that.</p>
<p>If you want to drive/walk through 25… I suggest you let your D’s do something else for 19 of them, lol. Be it shopping, or whatever.</p>
<p>“Because this visit is clearly for you, not them.”</p>
<p>There are a lot of motivations at work. The kids are big sports fans, and want to see places like Penn State, Syracuse, BC, and UConn. They want to see my alma mater in Boston. They want to visit family and see where their uncle was a famous coach (Williams). They want to see the school where many of their classmates dream of going (NYU). They want to see Harvard and Yale just like anybody who’s interested in baseball wants to see Fenway Park and Wrigley Field. </p>
<p>That’s about half of them right there (25 was a very high estimate…there is plenty of wiggle room built into the itinerary, so the final number can definitely be adjusted during the trip…and if you guys are right, it will definitely plummet).</p>
<p>OP: There are many advantages to drive by visits of the colleges, I’ll try to enumerate few.</p>
<ol>
<li>Character of the college. There is a distinction between Urban and Rural campuses which will be very apparent. Buildings tell you a lot about college. Look at the eccentric building architecture of MIT or old classic structure of Harvard or Gothic architecture of Yale and Princeton.</li>
<li>Neighborhood: It is very important that you as a family like the surroundings of the college. If it is as bad as Yale or as good as Princeton, you can easily make the shades between the extreme. It tells you a lot about the level of comfort you and your children will feel in the surroundings.</li>
<li>Accessibility: You can easily make out whether or not public transportation is near by or is the campus bike friendly or not.</li>
<li>Entertainment: A big part of college weekend life is based on accessibility to varied entertainment. You can easily guess if there is nothing available for miles next to the campus then the only pass time on the weekend will be drinking in the frat parties or in the dorm rooms. The better accessibility to varied form of entertainment (theater, shops, restaurants etc.) will provide a way out of the drinking black hole.</li>
</ol>
<p>There are more but I think you get the idea…</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>POIH…did you read the whole thread? No one is saying there aren’t benefits to drive by visits. What people ARE saying is that TWENTY FIVE of them in a seven day period isn’t likely going to be beneficial in the same way as several well chosen visits.</p>
<p>Everybody has a different idea of what a vacation should be, so if this is what Schmaltz and his family want to do, it is perfectly legitimate. But, I agree with others that this many schools is too many to really get a useful idea of what the options are. The impressions will be superficial, and as with all superficial judgments, possibly misleading.</p>
<p>How about a nice day out on a working lobster boat? Or a research boat collecting water and sea-life samples–kids can help measure the creatures on some of these outings. Or a little sea kayaking? </p>
<p>Well, as you can see, Schmaltz, despite the fact that we are an academic family, our ideas of vacations did not revolve around visiting campuses. To each his/her own.</p>
<p>you’d save time, money, and nausea if you went to 5 colleges that represent the range of colleges you might want to go (LAC, city, suburban, ivy, etc) and researching the rest online (youtube/ princeton review)- looking at pics for 15min online would be more effective than visiting the college for 15 in person</p>
<p>This thread is getting slightly hostile…As a student who just chose her college (yes I know this is a thread for parents but I think a new perspective might be helpful), I just want to say that I completely understand your intentions. However, I just want to add that I visited less than 10 colleges in the span of about 6 months and a lot of my experiences have blended together, so that worry of yours is completely valid. It is bound to happen. Please also consider that after seeing so many colleges at once, when your children are ready to really get serious about their college search it may be boring instead of the fun experience it should be because they’ve seen it all already. Not to say you can’t have fun on this college vacation you have planned, just it may take away from the fun later. It may also make their decisions in the end harder because no college is perfect and they’ll have more things to compare when making their decision. After seeing so many amazing choices its so hard to narrow it down to just one. Just a thought. But you know your children best. Good luck and have fun with what you decide to do :)</p>
<p>Definitely limit the number of colleges, and really have a good walk around. DS had a great time on our college tour, and it was the summer before 9th grade for him (summer before senior year of hs for DD.) </p>
<p>Why was it fun and rewarding? Well, for one thing, we enjoy spending time with each other; we stayed overnight either on campus (often possible if you book in advance) or as nearby as possible, so that we could walk around in the evening and check out the student hangouts, we ate in student hangouts, found as many ethnic restaurants as we could, shopped in student shops, especially resale shops, poked around chatting with people we saw, as well as taking official tours, we wandered around the college libraries as well as checking out the local public library and town/city options nearby, scoped out the recreation centers and sports facilities (need a student id? Nay, we’d just say - “Hey, we’re visiting. Mind if we walk through?”) We pondered what it would be like for DD or DS at the college/university, and imagined ourselves visiting for Parent’s weekend… </p>
<p>We had a lovely trip, and DS did remember the colleges we visited and used that information to help form his own list, three years later. But what made it fun, was that we took our time, poking around, and adjusted our itinerary as we felt like it. I can’t imagine that we would have learned so much, or enjoyed ourselves so much , if we had tried to drive through a whole lot of colleges! And, as a scheduling note, it worked really well to arrive at a college town/city before dinner. Check into hotel/dorm/guesthouse, wander around, eat dinner, wander around campus checking out local entertainment. Sleep, eat wander round in the early morning, leave at lunch for next town…</p>
<p>“them in a seven day period isn’t likely going to be beneficial in the same way as several well chosen visits.” </p>
<p>Look, I’d love to fly my Gulfstream jet to each school and spend a weekend on each campus, chatting with the admissions dean and getting drunk with the English department. But back here on earth, factoring together work/school/sports schedules of father, mother, and kids, we’re able to take ONE 1-week car trip per year.</p>
<p>This isn’t the first time in my life somebody told me I was pushing the envelope on normalcy, so nobody’s offending me by telling me I’m insane. I really really appreciate the feedback, and already I’ve eliminated the entire state of Maine from the itinerary. But I must answer some of your concerns with some of the insights I’ve gained bouncing around the globe. </p>
<p>And one of the main ones is the generally underrated value of a quick look (thanks for your post POIH). Ever read the book “Blink”? Ever been to Cardiff, Wales (a place whose architecture IMMEDIATELY made me feel filthy just looking at it)? Ever fall in love at first sight? Ever see an actor/actress who turned you off right away, even though everybody else seemed to love him/her? Ever been to Cambridge, England and not want to slay a dragon to be able to go to school there? I didn’t have to watch Kathy Griffin on TV for very long before I took her off my to-do list.</p>
<p>"- looking at pics for 15min online would be more effective than visiting the college for 15 in person "</p>
<p>I’m very familiar with the virtual tours…and am very disappointed in them. They typically show 5 shots of their best-looking building, 5 shots of kindly professors and chalkboards, and 20 shots of intentionally diverse students looking longingly at test tubes. Oh, and one shot of last year’s production of Guys and Dolls. They give you no sense of how spread out the campus is, and no idea of what the surrounding area is like.</p>
<p>Schmaltz, you know your family best. If you think they will enjoy a college visit vacation for seven days…go for it. I guess I’ll put 25 college visits in 7 days right up there with 25 museums for 7 days…my family wouldn’t enjoy that either. I think in the end, you’ll know what your family is gaining from this trip…or not. If it were me, I’d also have some alternate plans just in case someone says “Can we do something besides visit ANOTHER college.” It might not happen…but then again it might.</p>
<p>Who is making the list of colleges?</p>
<p>I think it’s a colossal waste of time especially since they are in their early teens! Applying to college already eats up huge amounts of their high school years. Give it a rest until they are older - you have plenty of time.</p>
<p>We always started off with each of our 3 kids (we live in MA) by visiting the Amherst/Northampton area, where there was a big public university, a small LAC, and an alternative style school. To get a feel for styles of schools. These helped with initial progress, then we went on to cities versus rural etc., then actually visited just a chosen few (4-8)to get the vibe (sitting on campus or in the cafeteria yielded more relevant info than any info sessions).</p>
<p>We started in Feb. of junior year of high school, though I remember walking through Brown in Providence when on vacation a few years earlier, and one of our kids actually ended up there years later.</p>
<p>Your regionalized plan makes sense, though many of us aren’t that thorough. But I have run into families doing downright heroic college tours through the Northeast, not something I would have the stamina for I (and these folks were doing info sessions and tours, the works, unlike you).</p>
<p>You can save everyone in your family some trouble by getting the list down to just a few representative types (as others have said) or, if it is truly fun, you can just go ahead and look at a lot with drive by’s.</p>
<p>It’s up to you and the tolerance of your kids. If you do it, enjoy!</p>
<p>Schmaltz, you are posting on a website that is mostly parents who have been through this already. You can choose to ignore the advice, but we really won’t want to hear back from you when your Ds are ready to transfer after their freshman year because you couldn’t be bothered to do more than a drive by before making a decision on whether a college might be appropriate.</p>
<p>Newsflash: it actually costs something to do a good college search; it takes research, planning, and travel time and money. IMHO, you are wasting this opportunity by skimming the surface. Better to do a couple of in depth visits than just passing through and making a snap judgement based on… almost nothing (no kids test score ranges, no academic interests of kids, no strength of specific programs within colleges, no analysis of merit aid offered, etc.)</p>
<p>A better idea is to start early (sophomore year is good, kids have some test scores and maybe an idea of their interests), and select colleges from a book like Fiske based on some of those items. Then map out your visits by region of the country. Try to weave as many as you can into other vacation plans (eg, D2 is going to a program in Reno this summer; because her plane ticket has to be paid for anyway for that trip, I am flying out at the end to see a few schools on that end of the country). Also… both parents do not have to go on every visit. It does not have to be a whole family deal. Also, my D will not visit every college on her potential list (at least one is an outlier geographically, so we probably won’t end up going there unless she is admitted).</p>
<p>“you have plenty of time.” </p>
<p>I have 3 weeks. One week this year. One next year. And one the year after that. I already mentioned how this will be the only foreseeable time they will get to the Northeast.</p>
<p>Two thoughts, one relevant… one my personal rant, lol:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>For your consideration: When I first did this type of visit with my S, summer after his soph year (along with his bff and bff’s mom, my friend), we purposely chose schools to represent “types”, as we’ve all discussed. But we also purposely chose schools we were pretty sure our kids would not ever apply to. This was for fear of turning them off to a given school for idiosyncratic reasons, such as Mom embarrassing them by breathing too loud as we walked around campus etc. Gave them a feel for college life, the different atmosphere options… but left the “real” visits to candidate schools for later on when they were really ready.</p></li>
<li><p>Lopped the entire State of Maine off your visit?? Say what? This could be the most fun of all - lobster, minor league baseball, rocky coast, beaches without huge traffic jams… Signed, 20 year Maine resident</p></li>
</ol>
<p>“we really won’t want to hear back from you when your Ds are ready to transfer after their freshman year because you couldn’t be bothered to do more than a drive by before making a decision on whether a college might be appropriate.”</p>
<p>I think I made it pretty clear that the drive-bys would be places that are being glimpsed for background data only (e.g., that’s an example of an urban school), and are not under consideration.</p>