We are headed out to the east coast from our home in Ohio over the 4th of July with our daughter (rising junior). We are planning on spending a few days in NYC, see a play, eat too much good food, the usual. The intent of the trip though is to start looking at schools with our daughter. We are planning on visiting Fordham, Yale, Vassar and Bucknell. We helped her pick the schools with an eye towards differences in size, urban/suburban/rural and a mix of schools where past academic performance would indicate she would have a better than fair shot of getting in (Fordham, Bucknell), a fair shot if everything breaks right (Vassar) and one of “those” schools (Yale). We have signed up for an information session and tour at each school. My wife and I just went through the college selection process with our older son, but he was an athletic recruit so we didn’t really do any of the campus tours, etc. My guess is little of his experience will be instructive this time around. So, my questions are:
1)Other than the information session/tour, what do you recommend doing on each campus to get a better feel for the place, particularly in the summer? My son’s visits were pretty long for the most part, but they usually involved meetings with coaches, a more in depth tour of the athletic facilities, touring the dorms, cafeterias, etc than I think my daughter will be afforded at this stage.
2)Are four schools too much for a trip like this? We have budgeted a day on each campus.
3)Other than casting about on the net looking at each school’s web site, and talking to her brother who was recruited by three of the schools, what would you recommend a kid heading out to visit her first set of colleges do to prepare? We want her to enjoy herself and treat this as a preliminary “what am I looking for in a college” type of trip. On the other hand, these schools are a full day’s drive for us, so I would like her to get what she can substantively from each visit.
My piece of advice from having taken twins to a dozen or so colleges? Don’t make any comments, good or bad, about what you observed (even if you think the place is heaven on earth, or even if you think it’s one of Dante’s circles of hell). Let her make the first move in terms of HER observations, etc. Do suggest she briing a notebook to write down her observations.
A day per school is adequate time wise but plan on something else the balance of the day or some true down time to break it up. We have found it takes some time to mull over what you have seen and NOT seen. Why does one school show you X and the other only shows you Y? Also, maybe a simple list of criteria she thinks she wants so she can compare. The importance of each one may change over time.
Actually your plan sounds great. You might have other colleges / activities cued up that are quite nearby in case you find that a half day is all you need.
Also, you might have some questions ready for the info sessions. Most of the tours/info session are pretty formulaic (everybody has an amazing number of books / can start a new club is you can’t find one / a quirky tradition or two), and a lot of the questions could be easily answered from the website. Asking a slightly different question can sometimes add a little color.
I don’t know that I would put as much weight on walking around the towns as menloparkmom- but that is obviously an individual thing. A question you could ask tour guides is where students tend to go in the local town- and how often they go there. For example, Vassar is actually in a suburb of Poughkeepsie called Arlington, which is about 2 dozen shops just off campus (with a surprisingly good sushi place tucked away). The students that I know rarely go into Poughkeepsie- they are more likely to go the shopping center (Target, movies, etc). The ones I know at Yale go to a few fairly defined places, but don’t venture anywhere else, so the seamier side of New Haven isn’t really an issue.
Thanks everyone for the quick responses. I was in New Haven twice with my son, and I agree that while the campus is beautiful, New Haven itself is a bit “dodgy”. My guess is my daughter will not like Yale for that reason, something I have tried to explain to her, but she is hard headed (I swear she gets that from her mother). @Cheeringsection, that is a really interesting perspective. I hadn’t thought about what could be learned from what a college chooses to highlight on their tour. @collegemom3717, the information about the sushi place near Vassar is something I have taken particular note of.
I’m sure others will disagree but if I were coming across the country, I’d try to squeeze in more college visits even if its just a drive by or walk through visit. While in NYC, perhaps visit Barnard and Columbia. Bard isn’t too far from Vassar. Stopping by Lafayette on the way to Bucknell wouldn’t add too much extra time. I’m sure there are other schools that could work but those examples come to mind.
For the smaller schools like Vassar & Bucknell, have your daughter interview while on campus if it is being offered.
The visits will definitely be shorter than the athletic recruit visits you experienced with your son. Normally, I’d say sit in on a class but that’s not possible during the summer.
I’d plan some way to escape if she really doesn’t like it immediately. Our very first school was at the invitation of a coach, and we weren’t really interested (knew it upon driving into the parking lot) but ended up there for 3+ hours waiting and waiting. I wished we had said “Hey, we need to be gone by 4 pm” at the beginning of the day and then been able to stay if we liked it and leave if we didn’t. It was just too boring by the end. If she hates Yale, could Brown be substituted, even at noon that day?
“I’d plan some way to escape if she really doesn’t like it immediately.”
good idea!
I’d forgotten how fast we left some colleges after looking around for 10 min- “nope” my son said and off we were to the next one.
@doschicos, well, driving from Ohio isn’t quite travelling across the country, but I get your point. We talked a little bit about Columbia, but the core curriculum was a turn off. Barnard is out because she goes to an all girl’s school now and wants a co ed experience in college. I will have her take a look at Bard though, thanks. I will check into the interviews as well, although I don’t think those are offered for rising juniors.
I would really like her to go look at Wesleyan the day we are at Yale since if I recollect it is about thirty minutes away and I think it would be a good fit for her. I am trying to thread the needle between enough schools to get a good solid look at some options, while not turning this into the over scheduled trip from he double hockey sticks, know what I mean?
I thought a bit about Lafayette, but I think Lafayette and/or Lehigh fits better in a trip towards Philly/DC we are planning in the fall to visit her brother, see Swarthmore, Villanova, maybe JHU. Really, a lot of this I think will depend on what “trips her trigger” in a couple weeks. Looking at it right now, I am not sure Lafayette or Lehigh are good fits in any event. But I have yet to really figure out what makes a 16 year old girl tick, so what do I know?
And I definitely agree with you and @pizzagirl. I said one thing to my son in all of our travels to look at schools, because I just couldn’t help myself. We were driving away from one school after I think his third visit and I said “If you don’t go here, you are nuts”. He’s not going there.
Sounds like your strategy is solid. And you’re right, coming from Ohio is not across the country but it might feel like it.
I’m a big fan of Wesleyan so all for visiting there. Bucknell seems more like a Lafayette/Lehigh than a Vassar/Wesleyan to me, but its good to get a cross section at this stage of the game, as you have planned.
Not sure what route you are planning on driving from Ohio, but Dickinson might be another school to consider with a little easier admissions stats.
@twoinanddone, I had one of those with my son on an unofficial visit as well. Fifteen minutes in to a tour with a current player, and I could see that my son was already thinking “there is no way I want to play with guys like this for the next four years”. Makes for a LOOONG day, I agree. We could get to Brown on this trip if one of the visits goes sideways I guess, although as I said above I would rather have her take a look at Weslyan. Is it usually a problem to show up and hop on a tour if you don’t pre register?
And just for clarification, we are currently planning a couple trips over the next year. This one to NYC and environs, a long trip to Boston to see some selection of Cornell, Colgate, Williams, Amherst, Tufts and Brown, a trip toward Philly and maybe DC to see Swarthmore, Villanova, JHU, maybe Georgetown and a trip to Chicago to see Northwestern and UChicago (and eat pizza).
I would not necessarily make a special trip to Barnard, but if another college in the area turns out to be a 10 minute drive-by and “nope,” it might be worth a visit. One really gets the best of both worlds at Barnard; most Columbia classes have Barnard students and many Barnard classes have guys from Columbia.
@doschicos I’m a Bucknell alum and that is one of two colleges she has visited to date, which is why I think it is on the list. And yeah, it is a very long ride across Rt 80. I used to do it on an old Honda 750 motorcycle. If I tried that today I would be in traction for a month. I will have her check out Dickinson, thanks.
@skieurope, good point. We have a couple days in the city just eating too much and seeing shows, so maybe I can talk her into taking a look. Thanks.
"We were driving away from one school after I think his third visit and I said “If you don’t go here, you are nuts”. "
that happened to me as well, but it was on an accepted student visit to an Ivy . He was supposed to stay overnight too.
nope!
I was speechless at the time, but it all turned out just fine.
Just my two cents, but your NY/Boston/Chicago/Philly trips seems to include a lot of schools that lean toward the reach category if you thought Vassar is a reach. Most seem at least as difficult as that in terms of acceptance rate. Maybe pepper in a few more closer to safety types.
@nehiker It’s hard to tell what will be a reach/match/safety yet without the standardized tests. Based on past performance, she should score in the top 1-2% in the SAT or ACT, and given her personality, she will either graduate with around an unweighted 4.0 or her head will explode. She will be a four year marching band kid and two year section leader, lots of involvement in school and community theater, two year president of Key club, some other things. She is a pretty smart, driven kid, and as crazy as it is to assume that schools with a 20-30% admit rate are good bets, I think she can safely apply to schools in the Bucknell, Colgate, Vassar range with a reasonable shot at admission. Fordham and Villanova are probably a slightly safer bet, if she performs on her tests as expected. If she pops NMSF scores (she was on the bubble as a sophomore this year), then Fordham becomes a safety for her, assuming she likes it. She likely will apply to one or more “true safety” schools a bit closer to home as well. We are quite intentionally planning on having her see more “reach” type schools, because I think that an unhooked kid’s best shot at getting into one of “those” schools is if the school really speaks to the kid, and the kid can communicate that sense of connection in the application. So we are trying to let her see a number of really world class schools, to see what inspires her. Plus, my wife has never been to Boston and wants to go ;).
This is the part of the process though where our experience with our son really leaves us in the dark. He applied to one school, and really only seriously looked at five or six. Her net will be wider. I am really trying to figure out how wide I should advise her to look.
This is a very good idea, especially if it’s likely that she will be living off-campus at some point. (Check the college websites to see whether they guarantee housing for all four years. If they don’t, she will probably end up off-campus eventually.)
Unless you are routing your trip home from Boston through Ithaca, or have a genuine interest in Cornell, Ithaca College or Colgate, I would recommend not trying to see Cornell on that trip. It’s a long way to go for a look-see.
Imo you are doing the best thing by keeping it low key.
It helps to remember how much they are changing, even if it doesn’t look like it. My older D- who saw college search as her kind of shopping- started looking at colleges (on her own!) summer after Grade 9. By the spring of Grade 11 she had an absolute, definite final list, including an ED choice. She changed enough between April and October that the final list she actually applied to was 100% different from that list.
By the way, some colleges (including Swarthmore and Tufts) have mock ‘be on an AdComm’ sessions which are great for both parents & students- keep you eye out for them (Swarthmore you have to do there; Tufts does it in their road show)
Sushi: Tokyo Express, 8 LaGrange Avenue. Tiny, and you wouldn’t walk into without knowing something about it, but excellent
One college per day is fine. Depending on their summer tour/info session schedule, I think you should try to do Yale and Wesleyan in one day. Over spring break, we doubled up three out of five days and those days feel a bit rushed but you also feel efficient. We did MIT and Brandeis, Penn and Swarthmore and (this was pushing the envelope, particularly because it was snowing that day) Johns Hopkins and Princeton.
