Boy- lots of great ideas so far, and I can only agree with them… A dry run at a nearby CC can be a very useful baseline to judge others against.
After a while, we found that analyzing campus tours become less about what they showed:
the commons area with students throwing frisbees
the student union with students napping
the library
the statue students supposedly rub for good luck on finals…
and more about what they didn’t show:
Why didn’t they show us a sample dorm room?
Why didn’t they show us inside the rec center?
How come they didn’t show us a typical classroom?
There’s only so much colleges can do in the 2 hour tour, and they all talk about why they’re awesome (undergraduate research!! study abroad!!) but it’s sometimes telling how they present themselves. Do they have admissions counselors give the presentations, or student volunteers? Do they adjust the presentation to match the profile of students present? Do they listen to questions and respond clearly?
I want to know from @twoinanddone - where did you get the t-shirts?! We had to budget money for the inevitable trip to the book store for some memorabilia he can wear, and maybe ironically, he now has sweatshirts from at least 3 schools he probably won’t attend.
We collected t-shirts from almost every college we visited. So when we visited a high-priced LAC and only got a 50 cent plastic cup from the science department professor, we felt cheated.
Ironically, we did not receive a free t-shirt from the place that my D ultimately chose to attend. And I made her wait til she made her decision to attend there before I shelled out $$ for their t-shirt.
On our first few college visits, I noticed students wearing t-shirts advertising a wide variety of colleges. Didn’t understand it at the time, but after collecting a dozen t-shirts, it made more sense.
After you identify schools that might fit financially/academically, check whether they have rolling admissions or early action deadlines (for admission and/or for merit awards). For those that do, try to get those tours done early (Spring Break or summer weekday). If your D will have to write an essay/short answer to the question, “Why School X?” that’s much easier done if she’s actually visited. It can be hard to find time in the fall to visit.
Also when scheduling tours online, check if the majors/programs that interest your D have more detailed info sessions on certain days. For example, the Engineering school might have tours only on M,W,F at 2, so schedule a campus-wide tour in the morning and then do the major-specific presentation later in the day.
We found summer weekday tours were fine at larger schools as there are a number of students around for summer session. We did not tour any small schools in the summer as my D had ruled them out by then.
I heard that the new CA essay prompts will be released within the next month or so but I don’t know where to check. On the Common App site? D used the Write-Out-Loud workbook in the spring of junior year to just start writing little things about herself. It helped a bit. In May or June, she started writing her CA essay (but the prompts were already there); that said, she didn’t finish it up until early October.
We did the east coast trip Spring Break of D’s junior year. We toured 8 schools, Boston to Baltimore. This is very drivable, but we planned and scheduled the tours well in advance. I would not recommend scheduling more than one tour/info session per day, if you want to see any of the cities you are visiting. It was a great family trip, including for then-eighth-grade S, but it was exhausting. This year for spring break, I am parking myself in a beach chair.
The Common App prompts have been the same for the past couple of years and you choose one to write an essay on.
The Common Application
Limit of 650 words.
Some students have a background or story that is so central to their identity that they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.
Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what lessons did you learn?
Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again?
Describe a place or environment where you are perfectly content. What do you do or experience there, and why is it meaningful to you?
Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family.
And if your child has Naviance at their school (find out from the guidance counselor) they have a great “resume” area to put in all the ECs. Or at least start a spreadsheet so you can remember all those things yoru child has done.
We got t-shirts from Florida Southern, Wyoming (2 in 2 days), sunglasses from Florida Tech, other crapola from different schools. Wyoming also gave out water bottles and stickers. The best thing they sent during the application year (senior year in high school) was a calendar with all due dates listed, orientation sessions, financial aid deadlines, and of course 12 pictures of the school. It was great marketing. DD#1 goes there!
DD#2 was a recruited athlete and couldn’t take swag from schools unless everyone on the general tour was getting the same thing.
We started Spring break of Junior year and finished fall of Senior year. It was helpful to have an SAT score to see which range of colleges to visit. I second the posters who say to write the common app essay over the summer before Senior year.
We did a “looky” trip in the spring of junior year and then spent the summer refining the list, the targeted region and then visits to the colleges that were going to get applications in early September senior year. Before spring of junior year it’s difficult to target a good list because you don’t have the test scores and by junior spring you have a pretty good idea where the GPA is going up or down as high school classes get increasingly difficult. All three kids had their apps done and submitted by end of October (which is pretty much a “must” for anyone interested in UofM or MSU for Michigan kids) and my kids just wanted them all done (if they had to do one) even for the RD schools that didn’t announce 'til March. They just wanted to enjoy their senior year and not have apps hanging over their heads the entire year so they drove that process. Every situation will be different. One of my kids did a January trip as a revisit to his favorite college just to affirm that it was #1. My kids could never have wrapped their heads around college as sophomores, they were just too newly minted into high school at that point to be thinking about “after high school.”
Words of advice that you can take or leave: When my second son was two/three I was forever saying “hurry up” and at some point I noticed that the more often I said “hurry up” the slower he moved. Teenagers can be that way if you try to “hurry them up.”
My kids started with a list of around 15 in junior spring and whittled it way down fall of senior year to under 10 (#1 - 4 apps, #2 - 5 apps and #3 -9 apps).
I do realize my D is unusual in that she knows exactly what kind of school she wants to attend, what she wants to major in, and where she wants to live post-HS. If she could, she’d leave tomorrow. But even if your kid doesn’t have a clue, at least looking locally just to see what’s what isn’t a bad idea even for frosh or sophomores.
I had my daughter take the SAT and ACT early (end of sophomore year, and fall of junior year). The scores were not very high but they were in line with her GPA. So, we could target a range of colleges to visit junior year. She retook the ACT June of junior year and the score went up significantly. She decided to hold on the college list and not add more selective schools.
Like @momofthreeboys, the aim was to submit most applications by November (one app going out in January and another in February). This meant breaking down the application process into little tasks. D had a solid, core list of schools by August. This meant she could request transcripts and the guidance counselor LOR in September. (The GC was very enthusiastic about LORs in late September/early October. Not so much in November) I had already sent the ACT to the core schools. D had been working on the essay over the summer, she just needed a teacher to read over it for appropriateness.
The last bit was actually filling out the CA applications. That took some slogging but it wasn’t stressful just tedious. She did well with the Why X school? questions unless she really didn’t like the school. In that case, the school was dropped (it happened twice).
D limited herself to 7 schools. At one point, the list “ballooned” to 9 but she decided to drop two schools when early results came in. She had not visited every school where she applied.
Applying EA s definitely the way to go if the college offers it. Once the apps were out, D forgot about the whole thing and enjoyed senior year. (It helped that one college accepted her within a week of submission).
I agree that rushing your child doesn’t work. My motivation speech was “Do you really want to be inside on Halloween submitting apps?” D submitted her first batch mid October.
My D and I started touring in 10th grade, and she enjoyed the low key visits. The Admissions folks know you don’t have scores and you aren’t in any position to make decisions, so they pretty much smile and greet you and then leave you alone.
My goal was to get her on as many campuses as possible. I wanted to expose her to all the shapes and sizes of colleges. We are fortunate to live in an area where we could make day trips to colleges, so in our case it was not a huge investment of time and money.
Go on the official tours when you can, but also venture off and talk to random students.
We made it a habit to visit the rec centers and the student unions/coffee shops and to strike up conversations with students. We also hit Hillel----you could visit whatever religious organization makes sense for you.
Also, don’t forget to take a good look at what’s NEAR the campus. Is there public transportation? How often does it run? Or does the school offer shuttles into town? Is there a grocery store nearby, or just a corner store where everything will cost much more? What about non-school recreation? Does your kid like hiking and biking, or the mall? Line dancing or an all-ages club? What is your family’s definition of “safety” and does the area meet that definition? Someone from a really insular, small, safe town might feel overwhelmed by an urban area where they’ll need to be careful leaving campus, an urban kid might not mind.
These things may not seem important, but there’s a world of difference between a small town with a single bus going near campus every hour and a city with enough routes that several go right THROUGH campus, or a school where there’s a mountain to hike within a short drive and a city campus where there isn’t a good hike within even a DAYS’ drive. Take inventory of what you’re looking for when you tour.
As a tour guide and a student these would be my recommendation
Visit different types of schools, however, don’t visit 100 schools. I feel like when you look at a lot of schools they just start to look the same. Visit 2 -3 local schools in different settings- urban & suburban
I strongly recommend visiting schools during in session hours if you can - your daughters spring break is a good time to go as most colleges will not be on their break. remember for many colleges the weekend starts on Thursday* this is important because if you tour a school on a Friday it may be dead.
A good indicator of school spirit isn’t actually looking at the t-shirts. At my school students own a lot of the schools gear because my school gives out free shirts constantly; however if I have to buy a shirt chances are I’m not going too, instead look at the number of students participating in clubs/ student government association/ and how many clubs and STUDENT RUN orgs there are. And if you go to an open house look at how many students are helping out. These are typically volunteer positions and its a good indicator of student morale (NOT TOUR GUIDES but people directing you etc )
If your child knows what she wants to major in contact the admissions office for a specialized tour, most schools have tour guides staffed each and every day so these tours, at least at my school are more dependent on when professors for your tour are available to meet.
Open houses a good, very broad tour of the school; I prefer- both as a student and a tour guide- individual or small group/ daily tours as I find them to be more in depth and personal. Also, if the school does a weekend or overnight STRONGLY encourage your student to attend.
As far as what to ask on tour or just in general these are the things I typically discuss on tours
Security
Transportation into town either public or school
Teacher to student ratio AND avg number of students in class (they are different) as well as how big lecture halls are
Involvement opportunities on campus (including jobs and internships if you’re interested)
Medical needs/ resources, ask about mental health services (trust me you never know!), ask about nearby hospitals too
What free services/ amenities are available to students (laundry, tutoring etc)
Ask about the meal plan and if it is debit or meal system
We started when DS was a sophomore. I believe Open House and specially arranged group tours are the way to go. If your student know want they want to study, I would addd a visit to their specific school in addition to the university admission tours if you go that route. Remember to take plenty of pictures so you can reference them later.