<p>Most, though not all schools, are pretty much moth-balled in the summer. Special summer programs are running but the normal undergraduate body is not there. I would have guessed that lots of what one needs to learn is what you get from the students and not the buildings or the tour guide. If so, do you learn enough in the summer to make a college visit worthwhile or do you find that you have to go back when the schools are in session?</p>
<p>Because my son is taking a gap year, he probably will have more free time during the fall for visits than he would have last year.</p>
<p>As you suggest, visits in the summer have limited value because the students (and often most of the faculty) are not there [summer programs often have a mix of regular and special summer faculty]. Obviously, you can see the campus and facilities as well as the neighborhood so it has some value. Summer visitors can be easily mislead because the regular vibe is different (or nonexistent) in the summer. But as long as you recognize that--you can at least get an idea of whether the campus works for you or not. Perhaps you can then whittle down the list, and revisit you favorite places during regular school sessions.</p>
<p>Thanks. I suppose that you may find some faculty members and grad students there who are of interest, but the faculty would probably have to be scheduled ahead of time.</p>
<p>If summer is the only time you have to visit, then go. I know several kids who liked campuses they saw during the summer so well that they applied ED, and were very happy there.</p>
<p>It is much better than not visiting at all - you still get a "sense" of the place even without students. And if your kid is like mine, and wouldn't go up to a student & ask a question if her life depended on it, having students there may not matter that much anyway.</p>
<p>I have only been able to search for colleges in the summer so far due to my parents' work schedule and school for me, but it is more beneficial than not visiting at all. The main difference is that there aren't as many kids running around the campus as there would be if you visit during the school year. I have been able to get a good sense of the school for the couple I have visited so far. Still trying to find that perfect match though!</p>
<p>Yeah, it's better to try to visit in the fall. Some schools have programs where you can visit the school for free. Contact the colleges and find out. I visited Reed in the summer, and even though I didn't see any students, I found out that the campus was way too small for me.</p>
<p>When do you guys find time to visit during the fall? Do you miss a lot of school for it? I'm one of those people who, if I miss school, I get totally bogged down by make-up work; my only option is to make summer visits. Can I at least get a fairly accurate portrayal of the college by visiting in, say, July or August? (sorry for sort of hijacking this thread, lol.)</p>
<p>Absolutely, positively visit while school is in session, if at all possible. There is such a different vibe when a place is full and when it is not. And it is often that indescribable element that you pick up on when the students are there that can make all the difference in choosing a college...or not. </p>
<p>One other suggestion. If the schools under consideration have different social scenes, then I can't recommend strongly enough that some activities be experienced first-hand. For example, experiencing a football weekend at someplace like USC or Stanford or Vanderbilt or Notre Dame or one of the major publics is something that you just won't find in other environments, ie, LACs and Ivies. These football scenes may not appeal to everyone, but for those who have not seen this directly, it can be a different and very fun experience.</p>
<p>Take a look at some schools, nonetheless. It is difficult to schedule many visits during the fall, and if you are a rising senior, it is getting close. Timing visits is always tricky. If you visit on a bad day--pouring rain, blizzard, it can be an atypical shot. Or if you get the wrong tour guide. Or if you go during some big football weekend or party weekend. That's why I don't like some of special accepted student events. Not at all indicative of life at that particular college. But timing every visit at the most ordinary, representative day is not easy to do. You do what you can.</p>
<p>I think you can get a feel of what the school looks like and what the classrooms will look like, but you won't know much about the students, and that's an important part to pay attention to when visiting colleges. But I think visiting an empty college during the summer is better than not visiting at all.</p>
<p>visiting in fall and spring would obivously be best.. but if theres no other time summer will do becuase youll still see the campus and learn the essentials. if thats the case, then get a lot out of your tour guides too.</p>
<p>You can use the summer to examine the facilities and the surroundings carefully. As noted, you won't get a true picture of what the students are like though there may be a few around who will probably be very happy to take the time to chat. The big advantage of summer is you have more time to explore the environments at a large number of schools and you will have a basic understanding of the schools layout when you hopefully can return during the school year to explore your top choices more closely.</p>
<p>shawbridge, I'd say yes, it makes sense to visit in the summer. Colleges may not be in full-swing academically but the admissions centers are and even if the schools don't have summer sessions there is enough of a representative of students and administrators on campus to get a good impression of the character of the place.</p>
<p>Because we live overseas, summer was the only choice and since returning for a second look or overnight when school was in session was was not an option for my son, he had to make the most of each visit.</p>
<p>We planned a whole day for each school (including travel time to or from the previous or next stop). We took the tour, attended the information session. Our son interviewed whenever available. We made sure to visit sites that were of special interest to my son -- the museums and the art studios. Most of these were open during the summer, but I confess, we had to look in the windows at a few campuses.</p>
<p>We ate in the cafeteria at all campuses. We spent the night on or near campus. We spent down-time walking around campus, shopping, just sitting and observing.</p>
<p>It was relaxing and lots of fun for all of us. My son made up his mind on his number one choice after being on campus 10 minutes. He's now a graduate and would say that his first impression -- even in July -- was 100% accurate.</p>
<p>I think relaxed summer visits to a wide range of schools combined with one or two fall overnights would be the ideal strategy.</p>
<p>My $0.02: it’s better to visit while school is in session, but it’s not worthless to visit during the summer. Ages ago, <em>all</em> my college visits were in the summer. I applied ED to my fave, got in, and got a wonderful education there. YMMV.</p>
<p>I visited Cal Poly SLO during Spring break. It was a ghost town; I literally saw maybe one person walking around outside. I hated it and never ended up applying.</p>
<p>I visited UC Irvine during the Summer and there weren’t very many people. I liked the campus but was very bored during the tour and wasn’t inspired to go there. I applied but would likely never go there.</p>
<p>I visited UC Santa Barbara during my spring break, but before the University was let out. I absolutely loved it, as did the rest of my family. It had a great feel and I could imagine myself there.</p>
<p>I visited UCLA during the Summer, and because it’s UCLA, it was packed. I loved the campus and everything about the visit. I didn’t even have a tour guide. Definitely high on my list. </p>
<p>I visited UC San Diego during the summer, and because it is a large research university, there were still a fair amount of people on campus. I loved everything about the school and it is now my #1 choice.</p>
<p>So basically, the more people on campus, the more I enjoyed the school. I don’t know if this is a coincident or not, but definitely something to consider.</p>
<p>I am pretty sure you are new to the whole college scene. But typically, during any university’s longer break period, it is usually quite dead. Even if you visited a research university.</p>
<p>Try visiting Harvard during summer or winter break (my alma mater), it is quite slow.</p>
<p>So I think you really need to visit the various universities you mentioned while school is in session. I visited both UCI and Cal Poly while school is in and out of session, there was a world of difference in terms of energy, activities, and the number of people on campus.</p>
<p>Also, if you visited college towns located in more isolated areas versus LA or SD which are city centers, you will also see a huge difference in number of people during academic breaks. This is simply because cities are still packed with people even on break and college towns are not.</p>