<p>I'm the oldest in my family, and it's been a while since my parents visited schools so were a bit clueless about where to start. I'm going to be a junior and I know this is a good time to get going, but I just am not sure how many schools to visit and when. My frontrunners are Cornell and university of Rochester but id like to explore te Boston area schools and some other locals (rit and rpi). So should I do these all at once, or go up to one school some weekend? And should I do a campus tour and a college info session in one trip or are these at separate points in the application process? I have a pretty solid idea of my major</p>
<p>Tour and info session usually go together. If you go on a weekday when school is in session, then you can sit in on a class as well. Eating in the cafeteria is also a good way to see students interact and try the food. 
You can also tour on weekends for those that are close to home, you just won’t get to go to class.</p>
<p>Check the admissions website for each college to see if you need to sign up for the tour and info session, or if you can just show up. The web site usually tells you when the sessions are. Otherwise they have a way to contact admissions and they can tell you. If you are going on a weekday, admissions can also tell you if/how to sit in on a class, too.</p>
<p>A lot of people use spring break to tour several schools in one week. But you will want to check to see if the schools are in session (usually okay to go when they are not, but not many students on campus/no classes in session).</p>
<p>You can usually sign up for a tour and info session in one visit. I would recommend not doing too many visits too close together. Once you get beyond two in a row, they all start to look the same and you feel like you are hearing the same things over and over. Ideally, most students apply to 5 to 10 schools and they tend to visit more than they actually apply to because they weed some out. Your initial visit would just be to get an overall feel for the school.</p>
<p>Also check with your counseling department, at my school we’re given 2 excused absences to visit colleges. If your school does that it’ll be easier to visit during the week.</p>
<p>Our kids also had a four day weekend in October and one in April. Those were also good opportunities. And we used some summer trips (visiting relatives, summer program/drop-off pickup) as an opportunity to see a few schools along the way as well. It isn’t quite as good to visit in summer, but my D2 just started last week at a college we first visited in the summer when no classes were in session.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone! So when you sit in on a class, is it just a random class to see what it’s like or do you choose one? And should I visit all the schools I’m thinking about applying to? About how many visits is average?</p>
<p>There is no set number of schools. My younger son visited 12 schools. Of those, I believe 2 of them were eliminated because of the ride. A couple were elimated just by driving into the campus. All the schools my son and I visited had an info session followed by a campus tour. So you will do this in one trip. Usually, there are morning and afternoon sessions if the schools are close enough you can do 2 visits in a day, e.g. U of Rochester and RIT. In the case of the Boston area, you might be able to hit 3 or 4 in a weekend. My sons saw 4 schools in 2 days (all within a couple hours) and 4 in 3 days (when travel was required).</p>
<p>Once you whittle the list down, apply and get your acceptances, you can visit again on an accepted students day. But you also might look into a longer stay to really get the feel of the place and the people in your major department. And don;t be afraid to call the schools or departments to get additional information.</p>
<p>My son (a Sr.) has done about 7 visits. </p>
<p>You should ask the college about sitting in on class. Some will have specific classes they recomend. Some will let you choose anything. Still others may invite you to meet with one of the professors in the area you are interested. </p>
<p>Most people consider the visits fun and interesting, but they may get redundant after a while, and they can certianly be expensive if the school isnt close. Make a priority list and make sure to visit your top choices first. </p>
<p>Other things to check out
- The student union
- The library
- The commercial areas close to campus
- Be bold. Approach students and ask them questions. Most are eager to talk about their school.</p>