My parents work a lot, and do not like traveling very much. I am really interested in colleges out of my home state, and was thinking about driving myself to see some of them. I live in Pennsylvania. Should I stick to only visiting colleges in nearby states (Ohio, Maryland, New York…)? Also, is this unheard of? I don’t want to look strange being on a tour without a parent when everyone else’s parents are with them. Are there other people that do this?
It would be fine to be on a tour without your parents. No one would be surprised at all. As long as your parents are ok with you driving the distance, that’s ok too. However, it may be hard, if not impossible, to stay overnight in a hotel, as there are often age restrictions on that.
My daughter toured the school she is at by herself, though it was not the first visit. She met with a professor who was very impressed she was alone. I think it is ok to tour alone, though you may want input from your family on subsequent visits. Separately, some schools (and families!) separate parents and students on the tour, so I don’t think anyone will notice or care. It is whatever is best for you and your family.
It is fine to tour without your parents; however, you may need to research the logistics a bit as many hotels won’t rent a room to anyone under 21.
I am 18, so I am hoping renting a hotel or motel room won’t be too much of an issue.
My kid wants to do at least some of her visits with no parents. Hotel, as others have said, is really the difficult part.
1 Like
You and your parents could look at the “virtual college tours” from home together. These can be found on many college websites and on other websites like youvisit.com, ecampustours.com, and campustours.com. Then for colleges that you’re really interested in, work out a way to visit them (on your own or with your parents). Another thought, do you have an aunt, uncle, grandparent, or an older cousin or sibling that could go with you?
I agree with @donnaleighg. No one will care if you’re there without a parent. I’ve been on a lot of tour with kids flying solo. In fact I think they’re seen as independent and proactive.
As to the hotel thing, donnaleighg is correct that some hotels have age restrictions but IME they’re easy to get around. Make the reservation in advance, stride in confidently pulling a rolling bag, and pull out a credit card. You can use your parent’s (your mom’s if you’re a girl, dad’s if you’re a boy). Act like you belong and it’s extremely unlikely you’ll be questioned. My kids have done this multiple times. If you get busted, for instance if they ask for a license and notice the age, just say Mom or Dad’s coming later and they asked you to check in.
Another thing you can do is ask admissions for places to stay as a solo visitor. They may have college-affiliated accommodations you can stay in.
The bigger complication with seeing out of car range schools will be that you usually can’t rent a car under the age of 25. That’s a restriction you won’t be able to get around by faking it. It means you won’t easily be able to fly into an area and see multiple schools on one trip unless they’re tightly clustered or in a city. You could easily do a tour of Boston schools because they’re easy to get to by public transportation but doing a tour of Northern New England schools would be impractical without a car.
ETA: Do you have a friend whose school list is similar to yours? Would you want to do a tour together? It can be more fun to do a trip like this with someone else and you could do a longer trip in the car if you had someone to share the driving and expenses with.
I would caution you on expecting to stay in a hotel without someone over 21. My daughter (18) was not allowed to check in without me, even with a prepaid reservation. Airbnb might be a safer option as you can correspond with the host in advance and ensure that you will have a place to stay.
There are several Ohio publics that give pretty good merit scholarships. It depends on stats whether you will be able to get enough merit to bring the net cost to affordable range.
In NY the SUNYs run around $30,000 a year for OOS students I think. Some of them give some merit for certain majors, but not huge amounts.
UMCP is not that generous with merit either as far as I know.
Rowan in NJ might offer merit. Rutgers is pretty competitive for merit.
If your family income is low enough to qualify for a PA state grant, it might be worth it to stay instate. It depends what aid you can get OOS.
What is your GPA and SAT score? What is your major goal? What kind of colleges would you be interested in attending instate/OOS?
What we have done in the past with regards to 18 yr old checking in by themselves is that I have contacted hotel a few days before checking in
They usually ask to either email or fax some type of paperwork along with copy of credit card and prepaying
Told them I am working late and will be arriving late that night
This has worked for my kids multiple times going to travel meets when my kids have been driven by another parent until I would arrive
Good luck
I agree with fleishmo6’s methods. Also Airbnb is a possibility. Finally, many colleges will let you stay overnight with a student if arranged in advance. Admissions arranges this so kids can really get a feel for the school, even when parents are around.
I was always impressed by young people looking at schools on their own and I am sure colleges would be too.
But long distance driving is best done with someone else unless you limit it to, say, 5-6 hours/day.
(In the early 1970’s my parents didn’t come with me to a single visit…more standard back then!)
We’ve also run into the hotel problem with my D who is under 21. I call around and usually there is at least one option that will allow an 18 year old to check in. One place had a waiver I could sign to allow her to check in. I wouldn’t risk leaving my kid without a place to stay for the night, so I only book places that I know it’s okay.
I would start with schools only a few hours away.
Have someone knowledgeable check your car over (oil, tire pressure), and have a full tank.
Don’t go to an interstate reststop alone. If you need to use the bathroom, choose an exit that has fast food restaurants. You can buy a soda and use the restroom there.
@mommdc My uw gpa is estimated to be between 3.6-3.85 as of right now (probably not going to apply anywhere early besides Pitt as I want colleges to see my first semester senior grades). My weighted gpa is estimated to be between 4.0-4.3. My school doesn’t really inform us how they calculate our gpa’s. Freshman year I took-Algebra 1, Advanced Bio, Advanced English, Advanced US History 1, Drama, a tech class, and French 2, sophomore year-Honors Geometry, Honors Chem 1, Pre-AP English, French 3, another tech class, a screenwriting class, and Honors US History 2, junior year-AP Lang,AP Psych, AP Physics 1, AP Bio, French 4, and Honors Algebra 2, and senior year I will be taking Honors Pre-Calc/Trig, Stats, AP Chem, Honors Anatomy and Physiology, Biology/Chemistry Forensics, AP Lit, and AP Gov. I’ve also taken gym and health freshman-junior year, but that’s kinda irrelevant, soooo… I kinda had a rough junior year due to mental health issues, so hoping to really stand out with an improvement in my senior grades. I feel like I am more into somewhat smaller schools, although I am not opposed to attending a larger one (like UConn). I am planning on staying on the east coast. I’ve been doing extensive research on colleges, so I will not waste my time visiting a college I have no or little interest in. I am really interested in Johns Hopkins, Pitt (not far from where I live), Rensselaer, Vanderbilt, URochester, Cornell, Ithaca College, Bowdoin, University of Vermont, UVA, Virginia Tech, UNC-Chapel Hill, Purdue, Northeastern, Drexel, Penn, Temple, Colby, Colgate, Emory, and a few others. I still need to really narrow down my list. Vanderbilt, Purdue, and Emory I am most likely not going to be able to visit until I get accepted (and really find a visit worth my money spent traveling). Johns Hopkins is my dream (top choice) school, so I would love to make it a priority to visit even though it’s very selective. My SAT Score was an 1110. Obviously not too great, but also pretty decent for my school where students regularly get a score in the 800-900’s. I’m taking the ACT in July and am definitely going to do better on that. It is so much easier in comparison to the SAT (except for the math, which is brutal-def gotta hardcore study the math section).
Oh, and I am also planning on majoring in chemistry, possibly biochem. But, more colleges offer chem in comparison to both chem and biochem, so I will have to see where I can get into and then decide. I am also interested in maybe double majoring or minoring in biology, genetics, microbiology, oceanography, or something else science/medicine related. Like I said, it all comes down to where I can get accepted into.
The Hilton chain of hotels permits check in at age 18. Alamo policy is to rent cars to 18 year olds with an expensive surcharge.
The hotel across the street from ABC college will be used to having underage guests. Call the front desk of the hotel directly, tell them your age and why you are staying there for one night. Simple.
Another option for staying overnight may be a hostel. I had no idea there are hostels in the U.S. until I ate in a restaurant in San Diego that was downstairs from one. I’ve since learned that there are hostels in a number of cities in the U.S. A hostel is definitely not going to mind that you are under 21, although, as several other posters have experienced, my under-21 has had no problem checking into hotels alone. She makes the reservation, she gets herself there, she checks in; I have never had anything to do with it. I suspect that this is something that is enforced in Florida over spring break but is often ignored everywhere else.
Your GPA is good. And you challenged yourself with AP classes. You need to really study and try to improve your test score.
I think Pitt likes to see at least a 600 in EBRW and math.
There are test optional schools too. I think Temple allows you to apply test optional.
Instate you are looking at about $30,000 a year for Pitt and Temple, if you don’t qualify for federal or state grants.
A lot of the schools on your list will be academic reaches for you, unless your test scores improve a lot.
You can study chemistry at several PASSHE schools, and if your ACT score is high enough, you could apply to the honors college, and get some merit. You are probably looking at grad school as a chemistry major, so keeping cost down for undergrad might be a good idea.
Have you talked to your parents about what they can afford to pay for college?