My daughter visited colleges on her own at age 17, flying across country (from west to east coast) on 2 separate trips. And my son also did college visits on his own, also at age 17.
No hotels.
There were either overnights arranged with the colleges; or my daughter stayed with family friends who lived near enough; or my daughter stayed in college dorm rooms with friends attending nearby college; or in one case my daughter spent a night or two in a youth hostel with a friend who was over 18. The informal dorm room hosting was the best option â it was never at the colleges she was actually planning to visit, but she was focused on urban colleges, so she always seemed to know at least one friend from high school who attended a college in the same city.
In one case the dorm stay caused her to change perspective and add the college where she stayed to her list â while confirming her decision to drop some others. (That college ended up being unaffordable, but it was still something that she got from her solo visits that helped refine the college search and would never have happened if there had been a parent around and a hotel room.)
Staying at a Marriott at 18 is allowed, several of my kids traveled solo at 18 in the U.S and abroad. They always stay at Marriott hotels with no problem. Many think you have to be 25 to rent a car, but several companies have rates for 21-24 year olds as well, they are just higher than the 25+ rates.
OP, mine also did a few school tours on their own as well, that is completely fine to do. I would do the first one solo closer to home so you get a feel for how they work. Frankly, figuring out where to park at the school can be the biggest challenge. But no problem being solo on the tours at all. A lot of kids probably wish they were too.
Logistically, this could be a headache and pricey for you. Back in olden times, when there was no internet, visiting a ton of schools all over made sense. How else would you find out about them? Now, with the world at your fingertips, digitally, you can get so much information on a school without ever leaving home. Maybe you could visit closer schools (those you get to and back in a day) now, and save the more long-distance schools for when you actually get accepted.
Hilton Honors has digital check in, so it is possible that they wonât even see you. But, I would make phone calls ahead for sure. Hotels in college towns can be tricky. Some are OK with younger guests because they want the college business (especially those Greek formals) and some are against it because the younger guests (especially those Greek formals) have been known to trash hotel rooms.
But, as has been mentioned before, a lot of colleges have programs that allow you to stay on campus. If offered, I would go this route. There are several advantages, such as getting a first-hand experience staying in the dorms and seeing what the social atmosphere is really like and you wonât have to worry about trying to find a parking place.
PA is a pretty big state, and youâre further from many good schools on the Philly side than you are from those in Ohio. If youâre really interested in smaller schools, donât write off all those solid LACs just because you share a governor. The ones we visited include Dickinson, Franklin & Marshall, Gettysburg, Susquehanna, Ursinus, Muhlenberg and Moravian, but there are a ton more that are either more or less selective or a bit larger. Many, if not most of them, are test optional, which might or might not make sense in your case.
Some of these schools give very good merit to good students, although you might need to improve and submit your SATs, depending on their merit requirements. Generally this keeps the cost competitive with the state schools, which isnât hard in PA - Penn State and Pitt arenât cheap. I donât believe you mentioned your financial need - generally those that are more selective will meet more of it (and offer less merit).
Donât count on being able to stay in a hotel. I donât know of any that will allow a person under 21 to check in. Plan out where you will stay before you even book your college visits!
How would the school know who arranged everything or remember that by the time applications came around? For us it was filling out a form on the website and they have no idea who did that.
When my west coast daughter visited east coast colleges on her own she was also scheduling on-campus interviews, and they definitely did notice that she had come alone (and I am sure they would have noted that in their files). They could see that they had a student who had taken a cross-country flight. If the goal is to âdemonstrate interestâ then the fact that the student has come despite parentsâ inability or unwillingness to accompany them would certainly get the point across.
That being said, I donât think visits are necessary to demonstrate interest â so no student should go to the expense of visiting a college if it is a financial hardship. And many colleges donât offer interviews â so simply showing up and attending an info session and tour may not do all that much for the application. The student should visit if they feel it is valuable to them â and if it is something they want to do â not simply because the student thinks it will improve chances for admission.
If youâre going to tour without your parents, consider bringing a friend along. Whether or not that friend is interested in the particular schools youâre visiting, itâs always good to have the perspective of someone who knows you.
And, probably more important, thatâs a lot of driving for an 18 year old kid to be doing alone. Having company would be a whole lot safer, particularly if that friend also has a licence.
I always admire kids touring schools on their own. In the mid 80s I toured all my schools of interest solo, it was really no big deal. You have gotten a lot of suggestions on lodging. I drive a lot! I would suggest taking breaks as you tire out, go to the large rest stops with stores and places to eat. Be careful where you park. If you decide to rest up in your car, park near the other cars in well lit areas, lock your doors. Know your limit and if possible, consider public transportation. Driving for some distance can make your mind go in auto pilot, prepare a nice playlist, I prefers rock, gets me going, I sing along and it keeps me alert.
Kudos to you for touring colleges on your own. Make sure your AAA or roadside assistance card is up to date. Look at at airbnb as HMom16 said. Lots of times you can rent a room and bath and meet nice people too. Good luck!
My son could not decide between his top 2 colleges. We let him on a trip with 3 friends over spring break. It took some calling around because there are towns who will not rent to kids younger than 21. New Orleans was one of them. He definitely got a good taste and treated very well.
Blanket statements that Marriotts and Hiltonâs allow checking at 18 are inaccurate. Most are franchises and set their own rules. We had major issues finding hotels my son could check into as he drove from college in FL to home in MA. Marriotts were particularly challenging despite spouse being a platinum member and making the reservation for son. Sometimes there would be two Marriotts side by side, e.g. Fairfield and Courtyard and one would allow checking at 18 and the other wouldnât or more commonly neither would. Excuses included the fact that they sold wine in their little markets. Thankfully he is 21 how so no more problems.
After our college visit yesterday, I think my son might like to go on all college visits by himself. We were on a tour of the engineering department. My husband knocked over some cardboard tubes in one room and when we were in the computer lab, he leaned on a network switch and set off an alarm. :-S Lots of laughter around our dinner table last night.
When I was doing some college touring with my son, on one tour there was a particularly obnoxious parent who kept asking about drug and alcohol policies, etc. His daughter looked like she was going to throw up whenever he opened his mouth. She kept trying to make herself as small and unnoticeable as possible. All the time I was thinking he looked really familiar.
Chuck Schumer.
Anyway, I had great sympathy for his daughter, who clearly wasnât going to go anywhere other than Harvard anyway. I hoped she had a chance to visit some colleges on her own without a grandstanding dad.
Not all Hilton family hotel allow check-in at at age 18. Check the âHotel Policiesâ on the website for each individual hotel for their minimum age policies. Even in the same city, there will sometimes be a variance because most of their hotels are operated by franchisees who can set their own policies.
