<p>Started with D's requirements - twice as big as her high school (= 3,000) and very strong academics in an effort to focus the search.
Went to U of M for countless football games over the years with D, but never saw too much beyond the trip from my old fraternity house to the stadium (sorry, I can't bring myself to call it the B** H****). Also trips to hockey games and gymnastics meets, again on the athletic portion of campus.
Next came summer sports camps at various schools.
Trips began as adjuncts to a family function - i.e., a wedding in southern Mass. in August before junior year.</p>
<p>I think to some degree you have to take your cues from your kid. Some kids may be raring to go early on, but others are not, and pressing the issue of visiting may backfire in unexpected ways. Because we were there to attend a Bar Mitzvah, we visited a couple of Boston area colleges with my daughter during September of her Junior year, before she had begun to focus on the whole process in any meaningful way, and apparently a few months before she was ready to do so. She left with a lackluster impression of both schools. I think that for one of the schools, anyway, the result would have been different had we visited during the Junior year spring sweep, when she was more ready to focus.</p>
<p>wjb, I respectfully disagree. If I waited for my son to be ready, we would not have see any Colleges until, jeez probably not this fall when he'll be a senior. A Spring visit to a slight reach college helped motivate my daughter. Until then she really didn't know what she wanted. We contrasted that school with a safety school visit and she saw what she didn't want. It was a no brainer to see where she saw herself and from that point on, she was ready to look at more schools and also decided to retake her SAT's. </p>
<p>I think there's a lot more pressure if you wait to visit colleges until the beginning of senior year and that doesn't seem that uncommon. When I think of the college visits I've done with both of my kids, all were pretty laid back and (dare I say it?) fun!</p>
<p>Kathiep -- I don't think we're that far off from one another in our thinking. My suggestion was that parents need to take their cues from their kids to SOME extent. I certainly agree that putting everything off until Senior year is a terrible idea. We did the bulk of our visits in the Spring of my daughter's Junior year, which was adequate. In the case of my daughter, based on the result of our Boston visits early in her Junior year, I am certain it would have been fruitless, and possibly counterproductive, to have asked her to begin visiting colleges even earlier.</p>
<p>My husband has gone on most of college visits with all three kids, mostly during the days we have off in NJ for State Teachers Conference. That way the kids are excited cuz they have a chance to drive on interstate highways. Nearby schools we were able to fit in here and there. All the kids have been in marching band so it's been tough to visit during the fall. Two of the three did spring sports so we couldn't really visit during the spring. Luckily we vacationed several times in the two places where
kids #1 and #2 ended up so they had seen those campuses several times on our travels. Kid #3, a high school junior, is even busier and seems totally uninvolved in the process; sure hope it changes. I guess we'll do some summer visits if we haft.</p>
<p>My daughter and I started the process early in her sophomore year. I "left" a few college guides around for her to look through. Imagine my surpise when I discovered she had marked the colleges in which she was interested! So I looked at what the common themes were - small, liberal arts, somewhat quirky, out-of-state (<em>expensive</em>). We went to our college night, and then to a CTCL tour. With several colleges to think about, we requested info, watched Collegiate Choice videos (someday I've just got to meet Jersey Guy), and thought about a road trip. Took her to visit Southwestern, which is relatively close. During the summer after sophomore year, we went on a 3-week road trip touring 10 colleges. LOVE that way to see the country - the drive from Poughkeepsie to Williamstown was my favorite. She still has been to a few other colleges since, has subtracted some from her list, added a few, but now has a good idea of what she needs to do to get into her top choices. She expects to do a couple of overnight visits this fall.</p>
<p>The best reasons to tour early - to confirm that she's on the right track with type of college and motivation.</p>
<p>Well, we are a little different in this respect. My son is a senior and has only visited a couple of the schools to which he applied--one because his brother goes there and he was with us when we took brother to school, and the other because his youth orchestra performed there.</p>
<p>My son's list includes colleges all across the country, and we just cannot afford to take or send him to all of them, or even most of them. So he has decided to wait until he receives his acceptances and financial aid offers, and then visit the top one or two choices.</p>
<p>I know it isn't ideal, but sometimes we have to settle for a little less than ideal. </p>
<p>Susan M</p>
<p>We had time off in Oct and Nov of Junior year. Went to one school on a day trip, then did a four day weekend drive to see different sizes of schools, private, public etc to get a feel of what she liked. </p>
<p>When we had test scores at the beginning of the year, she went to 3 schools in feb, long weekend. Then we did a bunch of east coast around a vacation in August.</p>
<p>She did a weekend last summer at her first choice school, and happily she got in their ed.</p>
<p>She applied to some schools (later withdrew--that we were going to visit--if she got in.)</p>
<p>ooops their--should be there. I am not dumb, just tired.
Perhaps I should proofread!!</p>
<p>We've been on college campuses for various and sundry things, but the hunt for a school didn't begin in earnest until spring break of jr. year. We tried to combine the college visits with a family vacation. The second trip was during the summer between jr/sr year. Fall of sr year saw the last multiple school trip.. with a long weekend to make one trip, and a local school seen on a HS holiday. To start the visits earlier than spring break jr year would probably have been of little utility, but I also had a kid who didn't need to be pushed a lot. However, once he decided that he might like to apply ED to a school he saw in fall of sr yr, that caused us to fast-track the last trip in time for him to feel he'd seen all to be sure he wanted to apply ED (which he did).</p>
<p>meredes - look at the bottom right hand corner of your next post. It will say "edit" btwn "report offensive post" and "reply". That gives you a chance to fix typos and add stuff, as long as you catch it w/in about 20 minutes.</p>
<p>My S began visiting in sophomore year (for an early graduation). We wanted to make sure that he could talk to profs and students and perhaps attend some classes. Luckily, hs and college breaks are not at the same time, so he did not miss classes. He has been to summer camp on a variety of college campuses and he understand that his summer experience is totally different from what it would be when colleges are in session. He had only a few colleges in mind to apply to, and even then, he was not able to visit two that he was interested in because of scheduling conflict. A student who still has to define the categories of colleges s/he should apply to needs a longer stretch of time in which to fit college visits. As well, I was mindful that the end of sophomore year (junior year for regular applicants) and the beginning of junior (senior year) would be stressful. Between having to perform at top level in classes, and filling applications, taking SATs, APs, etc..., there would not be a lot of time to fit in visits (bearing in mind that most colleges do not hold classes in May).</p>
<p>Parentny, I was in serious denial about college admissions (and my son was in whatever is worse than denial, kind of the atheist equivalent of college admissions; if I ignore it it will go away). At the beginning of his junior year I decided it was time to look into the process and although the eventual outcome was happy, I sincerely wish we had started earlier. I would endorse the getting a general overview during the summer between sophomore and junior year approach.</p>
<p>Because we live overseas (in Southeast Asia as a matter of fact) we did all our visiting in one fell swoop visiting 14 schools in a three week period. Again, it worked out okay, but I wouldnt recommend it. Frequent short visits are easier on everyone.</p>
<p>The American college search and application process is more complicated and difficult than most of us would have imagined before we embarked. Since you evidently have a high achieving kid, you are going to have to be his advocates in navigating the system. I read from your other post that your son goes to an elite boarding school. This most likely means that he will get aggressive and knowledgeable counseling. This is good, but it is not the end all and be all. Trust your instincts for your child. Be involved, be informed. The counselor should be your familys partner, but you need to have a balanced source of information.</p>
<p>Dont underestimate the importance of researching, locating and visiting safety schools. Its easy to pick Harvard (or Amherst or Michigan) and put them on your list, visited or not. This is good but not enough. It is very difficult to find one or two safeties that your son and you dont break out in hives at the thought of his attending. They are out there, but its a trial and error process to find them and will (and should) consume a lot more time and energy than finding a highly selective college. Believe me, your son, despite wonderful qualifications, still needs a safety. </p>
<p>Grades and scores are very important but so are extracurricular activities, interests, talents, non-academic achievements. Id suggest that you try to attend an information session at one of the colleges your son is interested in and learn more about the criteria that they use in selecting students. </p>
<p>This board is a wonderful source of knowledge and experience. Like everything else -- books, counselor, other parents advice there are a great amount of conflicting opinions out there. If you consult a wide range of sources you will hopefully begin to see a pattern of what is right for your son.</p>
<p>momrath -
"and my son was in whatever is worse than denial, kind of the atheist equivalent of college admissions; if I ignore it it will go away"</p>
<p>LOL!</p>
<p>A good way to get started is to visit a local college that might be of interest, just to get a feel for what college is like. S's visit was on Good Friday during his sophomore year--just took mass transit, participated in a tour, and had a couple of appointments that I had set up with friends who worked at the school. Other visits occurred during fall and spring of junior year with one overnight the fall of senior year.</p>
<p>D started in August before junior year and finished the following April with the exception of a weekend away during fall of senior year. I agree that summer is not that great a time to visit unless summer courses are held on that campus. But if it fits with vacation plans, then chatting with whatever students you meet helps.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Our experience was sort of a combination of Kathiep's and Marite's. </p>
<p>When my S announced midway through his sophomore year that he was not only dropping AP calculus but also any plans to attend college after high school, I figured college trips were a non factor for us. But he went off to a CTY camp at Johns Hopkins that summer between sophomore and junior year (we had already signed him up and grandparents had paid, or we would have canceled the camp and told him to get started on that great fast food career he would need after high school, since he wasn't going to be living with us). </p>
<p>He'd been to three other CTY camps on the west and east coasts and a few computer camps at UCLA and Stanford, so, like Marite's son, he definitely had more exposure to college campuses than my H and I ever did. </p>
<p>Something must have clicked in with him over the summer because he made a turn-around and started his junior year with enthusiasm, excellent grades and a passion for some new ECs. So much so that I started thinking the October week break might be a good time for us to check out some colleges. </p>
<p>I picked strategically: two UC's that were a match and a big reach and the ugliest commuter Cal State safety I could find that was along the route home. UCSB was first and closest and was where my dad and I attended. As I thought he might, he turned his nose up at what he perceived as a lack of intellectual intensity (must have been the 75 degree weather and lull of the ocean) and so we headed up the road to Berkeley. He loved it -- the architecture, the class he sat in on, etc... -- and when he saw what the requirements (GPA and SAT) were, he saw exactly what he had to do that year to become a reasonable candidate. It was a big reach for him, but it gave him a concrete goal... bring up your GPA to this and get your SAT to this. He calculated and said, "it's doable."</p>
<p>Our trip back home necessitated a stop in Bakersfield to pick up tickets for some Lord of the Rings opening night deal that he and his friends planned to attend. We drove past CSUBakersfield but never went on campus. Bakersfield is a hot, dry, dusty, farmtown. The campus is not visually appealing either. Knowing that visions of Berkeley were floating around his head, I kept telling him to keep an open mind about Bakersfield because it was a realistic college for his previous year's academic effort and results. I said this with a lot of sincerity and compassion in my voice, but it was also an attempt to get him to commit himself to a better deal (like Kathiep's daughter, he didn't like what he saw at the safety school). It must have worked because he finished junior year with all As, got NMSF on the PSAT, aced some SATIIs and turned in an excellent SAT1. Enough to make Berkeley a match. And over the course of the year, he thought about heading east. </p>
<p>A year exactly after our trip to Berkeley, we traveled out of state to visit five schools in six days. Long story short, he's in EA at UChicago and waiting on four other schools' decisions before he commits. </p>
<p>That first trip at the beginning of that junior year came at exactly the right time for our S in terms of motivation and confidence, but it was a leap of faith for me to even plan it, coming off the horrible sophomore/freshman slump of his. I just had it in the back of my mind to plan for the kid he could be, rather than for the kid he was. </p>
<p>The second trip a few months ago was a little unreal but also highly motivating. And my freshman D got an eyeful and is pretty sure she doesn't want to go out of state or away from the beach!</p>