<p>Hi,
I have a couple of questions regarding college visits. When do students normally begin the college visiting process and how long is spent at an individual campus? How many college visits does the normal student do? I think maybe the latter question would be better anwsered as a percent of colleges visited out of colleges applied to as different students apply to different numbers of colleges.
thanks</p>
<p>We visited about 75 percent of the colleges to which applications were made, and I recommend visiting as many colleges as possible. For each we went to an information session (if offered) and a tour, which usually took about 2 hours. We generally also poked around – perhaps having lunch – for another hour. If interviews are scheduled at the same time, that is generally another hour. </p>
<p>Several suggestions:
- It is very important to visit the schools being considered as safeties. The student must want to go there, or it isn’t a safety.
- Generally it is good to have a few visits at first that don’t include interviews, to get a feel for the whole process. We went back to a few schools that rose up on the list to have interviews (but generally did not repeat the tour/info session.)
- Don’t have the student’s first interview be at a school that is very, very important to him/her. On the other hand, to approximate the experience (and not to waste time), it should be a school that is at least a resonable contender. Practice in advance is important, too, of course, but it seems nothing really approximates the interview experience itself.
- We found it was worth identifying a school that isn’t likely to be a good fit to get a sense of what that feels like. At first, at least for us, all the schools seemed great. What was not to like? Finally, we had to find one that was, in fact, too big and too conservative feeling – and that gave a better sense of what was good about the others.</p>
<p>All in all, it is worth visiting where you can before applying. There are always people admitted without visiting – especially when they live far away or where finances are a limitation. But schools notice if you are a few hours away and don’t visit/interivew, as making the trip signals real interest. Sometimes, there are programs for families who need financial support to make the trip.</p>
<p>Once accepted, we returned to the schools our kids were serious about. At that point, they stayed overnight with students, if possible. </p>
<p>All in all, though the whole process has its stresses, we found these visits (especially the accepted students events) a pleasure and a good chance to spend time together.</p>
<p>Good suggestions! You may want to avoid, though, getting all excited about a bunch of reaches. If you are quite certain you would go to Harvard if you got in, maybe you don’t need to visit until you get in. Ivies and some very selective universities don’t really care if you show interest. So it’s important to focus on low reaches, matches and safeties. It’s very helpful to find a match/safety early on that you feel fairly enthusiatic about, so if you can do a visit the summer before junior year or fall of junior year that includes a low reach, a match and a safety in the same geographic area that’s a good start. (i.e. Tufts, Brandeis and Northeastern, for example). Also getting a sense of different sizes early on is helpful (U. Penn and Swarthmore, for example). I think it’s overkill to drive hundreds of miles, though, unless you really want to. To see Kenyon, Oberlin, Grinnell and Carlton, for example, is a lot of driving. You might be able to see 2 and read about the others! Then see how the acceptances go and visit then.</p>
<p>I have a question about college visits as well, and that is the interview portion. We’ve only been to one college tour, and they said they don’t even keep track of who came. For future visits, should we be making a point of getting an interview set up in advance? How do those work, and what should one expect?</p>
<p>Visit when classes are in session! That will give your child a chance to look around at the other students & ask himself/herself “Could I picture myself here?” “Would I be happy?” </p>
<p>If your child feels the students there are too “geeky” “nerdy” “hipster” “crunchy” etc, then perhaps he will decide not to apply! You never know how they will react! I have been through this with four children, sometimes you think they will love a campus, but then, no! Don’t feel obligated to stay on the campus if your child doesn’t like it, you can leave, cancel the interview if you must. Don’t waste your time!</p>
<p>My kids visited, talked to kids and profs and did tours, but did not officially interview with any of the unis they got admitted to, so I wouldn’t worry about interviewing at all.</p>
<p>Lots of good info here.</p>
<p>When to start? Depends on you, your schedule, your location, the student. For my family, we start slowly in 10th grade. Just to get an idea of size, location, then can narrow down and really focus on where to visit in 11th grade. Since we are in the northeast, there are so many schools driving distance. We just do two at a time because otherwise it’s overwhelming. Early on, we like to combine it with other trip purposes so it’s not intense. For example, visiting a Boston school when visiting relatives for the weekend there.</p>
<p>Some schools really value how much you have “shown interest.” If it fits your schedule and budget, try to visit these. </p>
<p>My D applied to 9 colleges, I think she had seen 7 of them before she applied. But she also visited many others that she didn’t end up applying to. </p>
<p>S (the sophomore) has seen 2 already. One he loves, one he won’t apply to when the time comes.</p>
<p>I would generally suggest not doing more than one a day, even if the schools are close together. It begins to feel like a grind and the schools blur together. Generally, we enjoyed exploring the neighborhoods around the schools, had lunch in the cafeteria, and the kids took time at the end of each day to jot notes on what they really liked and disliked about schools (unless it was obvious that they didn’t like the place and weren’t going to apply.)</p>
<p>Many selective liberal arts colleges do care about interviews, and say interviews are “highly recommended” on their websites. It is possible to be admitted without being interviewed, and students who truly are not good at interviewing (but otherwise strong candidates) might want not to do so. But where possible, for those schools that offer interviews, it is worth doing. </p>
<p>Another alternative is to visit, and then later schedule an alumni interview closer to home. Or, just to do an alumni interview.</p>
<p>Personally, we found starting vists during the spring of junior year was fine.</p>