College visits in sophomore year -- too early or are they worthwhile?

Applying to College
1

<p>We are planning to visit our sons at a college that is 5 hours away. We haven't been on campus since 2011. We just don't get a chance to get there very often. Since our visits are rare, we thought we might combine this with an official campus visit for our daughter who is currently in 10th grade. It seems so young since she really isn't into the college search mode yet, but on the other hand I hate to waste a chance to do this because we might not get back there for quite a while (except for graduation weekend in May). </p>

<p>Do you think we are jumping the gun here? I'd like to hear from some others that did visits that young.</p>

2

<p>My daughter is in 10th grade and we did the same. My older daughter had siblings weekend at her school during February break so we included a few college visits. We are visiting 3 more schools during spring break. I feel like our list is so long that we don’t have a choice. My daughter does not mind.</p>

3

<p>10th grade is not to early. I went on my first college visit in 9th grade. I think visiting colleges early was a good idea for me because it motivated me not to slack off in school like my other friends. I have been accepted into plenty of good schools and I could definitely say going on the college visit in Freshman year definitely contributed to me working hard in school.</p>

4

<p>Early college visits are great. Whenever we travel to a conference site for my father’s work, my parents took me to visit the colleges in the surrounding area (if they were any good for STEM majors). I visited Georgia Tech the summer of 8th grade, and I was hooked until my senior year, when I found more competitive scholarship packages at other institutions. It would get your sons thinking about college applications, and making sure they look good on those applications. Also, they are likely not as busy with schoolwork, test-prep, and extra-curriculars at this point than they will be a year from now. My high school years became progressively busier. Good luck to them with their college decisions, they have some time to mull it over.</p>

5

<p>I think it’s great to start early (as long as it’s not too early). </p>

<p>I wish I had visited schools sophomore year. My first visits were summer after junior year and because of that, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do. So, I didn’t start my applications until later and missed out on a few early decision/action opportunities I wish I had taken advantage of.</p>

6

<p>It’s not too early. What you learn could be valuable.</p>

7

<p>Not too early! We toured several schools the summer after D’s soph year of hs while visiting family in the area. Did not have interviews (most schools wouldn’t do them that early anyway) and knew D would want to revisit during school year any school that wound up high on her list, but since we live 1200 miles away, we figured it was worthwhile. In addition to getting a sense of the individual schools, we learned a lot about how to get the most out of info sessions & tours. One of the schools we saw on that trip became her first choice.</p>

8

<p>It is great to visit colleges whenever you can, junior and senior year come way to fast and it hard to fit everything in. What I suggest is to pay attention to the general atmosphere at the college as much as the particular college itself. Do you like a college set in the middle of the city? Countryside? Large or small? We visited colleges in our hometown even though my daughter wants to attend outside our state. On your tour, encourage your daughter to go up front and listen to the questions students ask, get a feel for what to ask. It is great to soak up feelings and information, it will better prepare her for the time she gets serious about her college search. Have her start a college visit journal with her impressions. It is easy to forget, everything starts to mix together!</p>

9

<p>I’m glad to hear some good stories about this. It’s a great idea that somebody mentioned about keeping a journal, too. I’m sure after a few visits they start to blend together. With my boys, I think we visited 4 or 5 places each. My my daughter, I hope to do about the same number, even if she thinks this first place is the right fit for her. I want her to be able to compare and contrast a few different things to make a good decision.</p>

10

<p>I went on my first college visit in the 9th grade. I have family up in Cambridge, and we went to go see Harvard. It really isn’t early. It helped me get a feel for college. In 10th grade, I also went to go see Tufts, another school I was interested in.</p>

<p>Doing it now might get her even more motivated to now slack off in 11th grade, which is a really important high school year. I know after seeing Tufts I tried really hard in junior year to go to my “dream school”</p>

11

<p>Soph year is good - we did the same thing as you, visiting a sibling far away. The only negative for us was not having a test score to share. But we did get to go back the next year - with a test score - and they rolled out the red carpet, gave him a free T-Shirt and introduced him to the Honors Program. </p>

<p>Unfortunately for that college, our son made up his mind where he wanted to go when he was in jr high…and it was a different school.</p>

12

<p>I thought junior year was fine - many people we knew told us how “ahead of the game” we were - but by the start of senior year I realized (too late) that we should have started in freshman or sophomore year at the latest. Here’s why:</p>

<p>Show your freshman a print-out of the Common Application, and spend some time on the Extra Curricular portion especially. Middle school is not too soon. This is the one thing I wish I’d done to help my son understand how his high school performance and experience would be evaluated by colleges. It’s also important to begin thinking about summer programs, teacher recommendations, etc. by no later than sophomore year, especially since many summer pre-college programs take applications December-February.</p>

<p>Summers are OK for visits, but spring breaks are better if timed so that colleges are in session. Also, every fall there are college open houses, usually on Saturdays, where they can hear lots of information from someone other than you :slight_smile: that will educate them about the college search itself.</p>

<p>Go to colleges that meet your/your child’s criteria, even if that particular college is not “on the list” - Small or large? Rural, urban, or in between? Liberal arts college or public research university? Big Greek life, none, or in between? Athletic, music, or other special program? Residential or commuter? Etc.</p>

<p>“Fit” is unique to each student, and these kids grow and change during these years, so leave enough time to chase a moving target. DS attended an engineering camp the summer after sophomore year, and junior year we focused on engineering schools. Then the summer after junior year he completed some interest inventory/ability assessment targeting careers, which took him in a slightly different direction, at about the time he decided he wanted smaller private more than big-football flagship. You need time to pivot!</p>

<p>Start your filing system, spreadsheets, etc to track all your impressions as well as information.</p>

<p>Print out a copy of the FAFSA and CSS forms, along with instructions and a guide to their differences. If you have issues with the CSS information, for example (say, a non-custodial parent who will not file his/her form, requiring an application for a waiver) then you will want to be aware of which colleges use CSS (and for which deadlines - some require it for ED or EA but not RD)</p>

<p>Your base year will be the calendar year ending in December of your child’s senior year. This is important, because your tax return for that year will drive your EFC for financial aid purposes! It is not too late to do some planning that might help your situation.</p>

<p>By the time your student is a senior, absences for college visits will be more “costly” and/or restricted to some number of days, and you’ll want to use them for admitted student days.</p>

13

<p>With both kiddos we started soph year with tours. It was well worth it.</p>

<p>soph spring break:</p>

<p>With K1 we flew into a city and stayed put–saw many schools there and regionally…saw 7 schools…
With K2 we flew into a region and drove a bit more saw 4 and that was all k2 cared to do-though we could have fit in one the last day…k2 was “done”/overwhelmed.</p>

<p>Jr yr spring break:</p>

<p>Flew and took trains/Saw 4 schools with K1 and got home for the Easter holiday. Then during the summer we did a quick weekend to see 2 schools that look for your “love”.</p>

<p>With k2 - we have 9 on the list (2 repeats from last year) and we expect to be home for the holiday. I think we will do 1-2 summer loops as there are 4 schools more regional to us so we dont have to fly.</p>

<p>Both kiddos got a good bit out of looking–even to just grasp “what does a college look like”/“how will I feel here alone” etc</p>