<p>I'm new here, so if I ask the same questions that have been asked repeatedly, please just let me know.</p>
<p>My daughter is going to start visiting colleges in two weeks (she's a junior), and I was wondering how to handle visiting multiple colleges in a single trip in terms of etiquette and courtesy. She is hoping to visit two colleges in a single day and then on the next trip 2-3 colleges on a long weekend. Is it appropriate to ask the schools to schedule tours either in the morning or afternoon (rather than mid-day), or do we pretend that she isn't looking at other schools?</p>
<p>Absolutely no need to pretend you're not visiting other schools! Some schools will even have pre-printed directions to other nearby schools in their Admission office to make your Tours easier.</p>
<p>However, they won't "schedule" tours for you. They will already have an established tour/info session schedule, which you need to accommodate to. Look on each website; some will require reservations, some just be there at the right time.</p>
<p>You will find many here who don't believe you can adequately "see" a college in a half day. I'm not one of them ( you can search for threads on this topic). I believe short visits can be quite informative (altho maybe not tell you everything you need to know; longer trips can happen after acceptances). But you'll need to know those tour/info session schedules to see whether you can, in fact, see two schools in the same day. Of course, you definitely can if you don't care about the scheduled sessions.</p>
<p>We found that there is some overlap in tour/info session. So it is possible to only do one or the other. You can do a self-guided tour/ask questions of kids you see on campus etc. to fill in.</p>
<p>Remember that there are very few schools that offer any kind of info sessions or tours on Sundays (I can't think of any just now!)....some are only open on Saturday mornings during certain times of the year. So Sunday vists will be strictly self-guided, which may be all your and your D need.</p>
<p>Moreover, some schools offer only student-guided tours and not info sessions during application-reading season (mid-Dec through mid-Mar). It's best to check the websites of the schools you'll be visiting to see what they offer during the days you'll be visiting.</p>
<p>Many schools will post a "self-guided walking tour" on their website or hand you such a guide in the Admissions office, if you arrive at a time when tours are not scheduled and you just want to get a look around the place. I'm with jmmom, I <em>do</em> think you can get the feel of two schools in one day, but I'm of the "get the general feel and overview before applying, and then go back and visit, for an overnight if possible, after acceptances come in" school of applications. Others, as jmmom mentions, do not feel this is adequate. YMMV. (Oh, in case that's obscure, "YMMV" stands for "Your Mileage May Vary", as in "you may feel differently". :) )</p>
<p>were that we would visit about 10 schools that she's interested in to make the final choices of where to apply, and then visit any schools, maybe overnight, to which she's been admitted. Does that seem reasonable?</p>
<p>I agree with other posters that the weekend may not be the ideal time. Visiting the grounds is just one aspect of a college, probably not even the most salient one. What matters more are the kids it attracts, the atmosphere of the school, the educational environment (class size, profs approachable, etc), and so on. Its hard to assess these in a walking tour on the weekend. If your daughter is outgoing I'd suggest stopping and talking to all the students she can. And come prepared with a list of things she wants to find out about the school.</p>
<p>Given she's a junior she has plenty of time to do a complete job of college selection. I'd suggest starting with "sampler" visits to schools of various kinds that are in your area; a large U, a smaller U, a LAC. Schools in urban, suburban, and rural settings. Some kids think know they want a LAC off in the wilds, for example, but these assumptions can sometimes be tested when they actually visit one and see what its really like.</p>
<p>zoosermom - I do think that is a perfectly reasonable plan. It's akin to what we did. S eventually overnighted for 2 nights at the one school he eventually attended. But, really, he already knew that was the one he wanted, so he never re-visited the others. Of course, had the visit gone badly, he could have re-grouped.</p>
<p>I also strongly second mikemac's suggestion of "sampler" visits nearby, if you haven't already done that, even if they're not at all schools your D would be interested in. From such visits, S determined that he did not like the "urban no campus" type school (eg, BU) or very large U's and how far from a city he was willing to be. Saved us from spending money and time visiting similar schools which would have involved airfare or major road trip. And got him in the "thinking about what I want" mode.</p>
<p>Most, if not all, of what is discussed in the info sessions can be found in the school literature. If you are interested in saving time, do your homework and skip the info sessions. Do spend time eating on campus, attending class in daughter's area of interest, peeking inside dorms, looking at the student newspaper and chatting with undergrads.</p>