<p>Okay, my S is a junior and he has been hammering over the brochures. I was wondering for those that have previous been through this. Is is worth it to do college visits over the summer as I know school isn't in session, but I'm afraid if we wait until the fall it will be too late. Thoughts?</p>
<p>If you S has no idea if he would prefer a BIG U or a small LAC, then doing some visits to colleges representing a range of sizes is a good idea. If he has already narrowed his focus to a particular "type "of college, then you can adjust your travel plans accordingly. I would strongly recommend you do some research / calculations first to determine if you will be needing financial aid [ ignore this if you make over 150,000 or writing a check for $45,000/ yr is not an issue] Finding a safety college[ both financial and academic] that a student would love to attend is often harder than finding a reach college, so taking your S on a trip to see only well known colleges that are reaches for him may result in him falling in love with a school where acceptance is far less likely. So do some careful planning before you hit the road.</p>
<p>Depends on your fall schedule and where you want to go (how far to travel). If your son doesn't play a fall sport and isn't terribly busy in the fall, that's fine. But I'd suggest getting started over the summer. It is better to go when students are around, but you can get a feel for the campus & surroundings in the summer. Your son may be "hammering the brochures" but I guarantee the brochures won't show the sketchy neighborhood that's a block away! Some schools do run summer sessions so there may be some kids there. Also, some schools have Open Houses over the summer - you can get a look at the other kids touring there, they are his potential classmates for 4 years.</p>
<p>When I went with my family to visit colleges it was usually during the holidays (either summer or winter) just because it was more convenient. Some colleges do still offer tours during the holidays, so while you may not be able to see the college "in session" you can at least get a feel for the campus, ask questions, and there usually are still some students around taking summer classes.</p>
<p>I don't know what your son's school schedule looks like, but for me, the fall of my senior year was packed and very busy; I wouldn't have been able to squeeze in any college visits without adding an incredible amount of stress. So that may be something else to consider.</p>
<p>I agree with parents that the fall of sr year is incredibly packed. The only fall trip my son took was able to do was a 2 day/ overnight visit to a college that we had identified earlier as a likely match school for him. We did see the college in the summer before.</p>
<p>Thanks. We live in Upstate NY and I'm trying to convince him to at least visit a SUNY school or 2 and then he has others on his list also. Guess we should look about making a "road trip" sometime soon.</p>
<p>I had to drag my son with me on his college road trip the summer after his JY year.It wasn't fun at first, but by the end of the trip he was finally thinking seriously about college.</p>
<p>We went to somewhat local colleges that we would be able to easily revisit in the school year if the kids wanted to.</p>
<p>Being in a home with two children who are having trouble deciding on a school ( 7-8 excellent LAC's/universities, I would humbly, but strongly recommend visiting schools when students are on campus and classes in session. </p>
<p>Last summer we toured 2 schools-both of which D/S were both admitted to and received nice merit $. However-one school was virtually a ghost town ( no kids for summer) and the other still had student ambassadors on campus plus other kids for summer session. It is hard for a student to truly get an idea of the campus culture-let along ask questions about the students opinions.</p>
<p>In hindsight, we should have done more visits during junior year and perhaps gone back for a second look over the summer or early in senior year.</p>
<p>In upstate NY, you might consider visiting several types of colleges quickly now as day-trips, before the students go away mid-May, whether on a weekend or random weekday when he knows he has fewer obligations (no exams). At least now he knows his courses and when he can break away for a day. He can try out a tour and get the hang of which types of questions to ask. Maybe pick one SUNY, a small private LAC, and a bigger private university such as Syracuse or Rochester to visit within the next l0 days or so. Or see if the big university has a summer session and save that one for July. I thought the smaller the college, the less we could figure it out during the summer months, while the bigger places have more summertime courses and students stolling around, even if they don't exactly attend there fulltime. Don't walk around a ghost community in the summertime if you can help it.</p>
<p>Then, I'd recommend planning up the first 3 weekends in September to visit some schools of keener interest to him, including the possible need for motels or advance planning. Remember that most schools will give excused absence days for college visits. In a new course, tests won't begin in September and they can often break away with less damage that month. You can check each school's calendar and determine when their freshman orientation is over, and the classes begin for that year. That's a good time to visit, I think. In some cases, that might even be in late August, but certainly by early September.</p>
<p>Seeing any schools now, in the coming 2 weeks or so, will get his mind working in a different way than just viewing the brochures. It doesn't matter if he sees "the" schools, but I think he should see something before summertime. Getting his feet on any campus will help him formulate questions in his mind to research about the schools he really cares about.</p>
<p>Big research universities with strong summer school programs are okay to visit in the summer. Also a local school or two are fine as a way of warming up on key visit issues and practicing interviewing. However, no reason why the latter can't be squeezed into late spring or early fall.</p>
<p>I would not visit others simply because students and professors are typically not around in any significant numbers.</p>
<p>Go to the websites of some of the colleges he might be serious about and check their calendars against your h.s. calendar. Our CA h.s. has a late start, usually after Labor Day, so I do plan to arrange some college visits in late August and early Sept for S2 (a h.s. junior now.) Particularly for the Midwest and possibly upstate NY locations that will look their best that time of year. Don't want to repeat the mistake made with S1, taking him through gloomy winter weather visits to colleges in the NE that might have been perfect for him but didn't "show well" due to the time of year. </p>
<p>We did take a trip through the PNW this last March, culminating in one visit to D.C. (family event) and for the most part, just that visit focused some decision making. He really started to turn off to smaller colleges and locations that involved effort --- buses, shuttles, waiting around --- to get somewhere interesting off campus. I think there's a city boy in there somewhere. </p>
<p>Use the summer, but target the dates for some action going on on campus if you can --- summer sessions midsummer and the start of the new school year in the late summer. Good luck.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the help. I feel like we have a late start and knowing that the college get done so much earlier than school. His GC suggested visited over his spring break, I told him I don't get that week off. Wish I did as it would have been easier because now I'm feeling the pressure. I just don't want the visits over the summer if we go to be a waste of time.</p>
<p>Two more things to hold in mind:
At some schools in the summer there will be lots of kids who are enrolled in programs for high school (or younger) students. Ask about that before you make decisions based on the students seen. Do they all seem geeky and immature? Well, they may all be 14 year old robotics camp students.
If any schools he is interested in are on the quarter system they might still be in session when you can visit but it will be finals week and dead. We saw Stanford then and it was very quiet. One kid on the tour whispered "I don't think anybody here has any fun." Beautiful day and everyone was in the library.... Two weeks earlier he'd have had a different picture.</p>
<p>Good point above. Even during the academic year make sure you check individual schools' calendars before you set your visits. Breaks can be all over the place. Some schools are ghost towns on Friday afternoons. Finals week means no classes to visit.</p>
<p>This all depends on your kid:</p>
<ul>
<li> what the kid expects to get out of the visit</li>
<li> what kind of personality the kid has</li>
<li> what priorities the kid has</li>
</ul>
<p>Looking back to when we did road trips, I share the following observations:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>any trip jr year did not count for a whole lot because kid was not yet focused enough on the "big" decisions. We rather dragged her on a one week 10 school spring break trip.</p></li>
<li><p>a trip just before HS started fall of sr year turned out to be great. Some schools were in session, some weren't. did not matter to kid. She was focused on the ambiance of the campuses and surrounding communities.</p></li>
<li><p>my kid had no desire to visit classes, so visiting during breaks was fine. </p></li>
<li><p>my kid had little patience for info sessions and organized tours, although we did a lot of both. Curiously, she ditched the tour part way through at the school she finally chose. </p></li>
<li><p>visits most certainly did affect choices, but not with any pattern I could ever figure out.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>your mileage will vary of course, but my main suggestion is to visit when you have the time and enjoy the process. Many campuses are beautiful places in wonderful settings. Take the time to enjoy. For example make time to visit Monticello if you visit U VA.</p>
<p>Most importantly, LISTEN TO YOUR KID about what they want.</p>