Help! Planning college visit trips for DS

College Search & Selection
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<p>Hi there, I am the mom of a rising junior who has a long list of schools he wants to visit. Obviously we can't visit every school he is interested in, so I need help. He has already checked these schools out online (videos etc) and this is narrowed down. We have already visited a couple in Chicago and St. Louis over Spring Break this year, so at least we have made a dent! The other thing is he is not interested in any schools within 500 miles of home (other than Wash U and Centre, which we have already visited). Last thing, we ain't rich, so driving as much as possible, and consolidating as much as possible. </p>

<p>We plan to do one trip over the summer (not the ideal time to go I know, but we have to space the trips out if I am going to pay for them all), then one over fall break, more over spring break 2012, and then summer 2012 whatever is left. Possibly fall 2012 if needed.</p>

<p>Here is the list of schools he wants to visit. I don't think it makes sense to visit reach schools until we get his PSAT scores, unless they are geographically located near other less reach-y schools (Brown, Duke etc). I broke them down into some semblance of zones, but that can be changed.</p>

<p>We really can't visit all these..there are over 50 schools on his list. That doesn't include Northwestern, Centre and Wash U, which we have visited and he loves. BTW we live in Nashville, which is close to NOTHING. But at least a Southwest Airlines city!</p>

<p>Boston area
BROWN (1st choice)
Brandeis
Bentley U
BU
Tufts</p>

<p>Western mass/NY
Hampshire
Amherst
Skidmore
Cornell</p>

<p>NYC area
Columbia
Wesleyan
Bard
Drew
Connecticut College</p>

<p>DC:
GWU
Georgetown
UVA
William & Mary
St. Mary's College
University of Richmond</p>

<p>Pennsylvania
Swarthmore
Dickinson
Haverford
Franklin and Marshall
Case Western Reserve</p>

<p>Ohio
Oberlin
Kenyon
Ohio Wesleyan
Denison</p>

<p>NC
UNC Asheville
Duke
Guilford
Elon
Wake Forest</p>

<p>Other South (nowhere near each other)
Tulane
Rice
College of Charleston</p>

<p>Florida:
Eckerd
New College of Fla</p>

<p>Midwest
Carleton
Macalaster</p>

<p>Colorado
U Colorado
Colorado College</p>

<p>Northwest
Reed
Willamette
Lewis & Clark
UW</p>

<p>California
Occidental
Pacific (Stockton)
Pitzer
Berkeley</p>

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<p>You might be able to cut down the list by Spring of Junior Year with a GPA, PSAT score and class rank. A huge list especially if money is a concern. :slight_smile: And you know you realistically can’t visit them all.</p>

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<p>True, pretty hopeful that he has at least a shot at most of them - GPA is 3.9, he’s 2nd in his class with a healthy list of achievements and activities. Still, we will most likely wait to visit the reach schools until spring of junior year unless they are near other match schools. We would like to visit some of these this summer and over fall break.</p>

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<p>Wow! That is quite a list. If it makes you feel better my daughter will be a senior this fall and has only formally visited 3 schools. We will be visiting several more this summer too. I think you need to look at his gpa, test scores, area of academic interest and then formulate a list. Oh, and financial aspect too! Right now my daughter is considering a wide range based on financial and academic safety. Kent state is a safety for money and academics, but kenyon is also on her list. Right now it looks like you have identified some really top schools but don’t be afraid of those without major name recognition or national rankings. I would try to visit a public uni versity and a lac on your list to see what atmosphere he likes. Oh and case western is in Ohio…Cleveland.:slight_smile: and it is known for science, medical, nursing. We just visited kenyon and Denison on Monday…check out parents of hs class of 2012, cause I wrote a lot about those two. And I see they are on your list. ;)</p>

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<p>Thanks, yes believe it or not these are narrowed down based on academic interest and potential to get in (except for a few like Brown, Cornell and Duke). We have visited a large public university (UT), medium size university (NW, Wash U), and a small LAC (Lake Forest, Centre), he definitely prefers the smaller to medium so we took the larger schools off. He also wants to be in or within reasonable distance to a city, so there’s only a couple of boondocks schools on the list (Kenyon, Skidmore). He loved Lake Forest, so I don’t think he’s afraid of a no-name school, that’s most likely going to be his first pick of the safety schools. I just wish we weren’t so far from civilization! We have Vandy here in town of course, but we can see it from our porch so that just won’t be happening.</p>

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<p>Hmmm…I think it will start to work itself out over the next year! It is funny, I have known people who have only visited 3 schools and our tour guide yesterday said she visited 100 schools, exactly that number. She was insistent that she be far from home, well she ended up going to a school only 20 miles away! Too funny. My daughter has realized after visiting kenyon, which is 38 miles from home, that just because a school is close to home doesn’t mean it can’t be the right school. </p>

<p>I understand if you don’t have a lot of options close…that would be tough and expensive to go on all those visits. But good luck! Keep us updated!</p>

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<p>With my oldest we looked at about 20 schools in one week (including drive bys) … and with my second we probably went to about 30 schools or so on a bunch of trips … and I think seeing all those schools helped them know when they had found the right school.</p>

<p>The trips I took were more geographically close which made visiting lots of schools prettty easy … your list is spread all over the place which will be challenging … and, if it were me, would lead me to want to cut down the list some. A couple possibilities stand out to cut down the list. </p>

<p>1) You mentioned not wanting a big school and there are a couple huge schools (BU and Berkeley) and some big ones (Colorado, UVA, UW, etc). </p>

<p>2) The rest of the list looks more similar style and academically but the “vibes” of the schools are over the map … for example I would think it is unusual for someone to like both Hampshire (crunchy granola alternative place) and Connecticut College (tends to the preppy side) … what kid of vibe is your child looking for?</p>

<p>3) If Skidmore is considered a boondock school … then a bunch of schools are in similarily small towns (Amberst, Hampshire, Dickerson, Wesleyan)</p>

<p>I had a ball on the trips with my kids … I’m sure you will also. Good luck!</p>

<p>A couple other hints. First, a GPS is your best friend! Second, after visiting a school take a few quick notes or take a couple pictures otherwise the schools can start to blend into each other. Finally a bunch of posters may advice only visiting 1 school a day … however given limited time, money, and needing to travel a long way to get to schools both my kids wanted to see as many schools in the “neighborhood” as possible even if we only did a 15 minute quick walk through (we could comfortably do two real visits a day as long as schools were within an hour or two of each other)</p>

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<p>Thanks, yes it is unlikely he would like a school as big as Berkeley or BU, he just kept them on the list because we will be in SF for a wedding over Labor Day (we can knock out Berkeley and U Pacific that weekend!), and we will be in Boston anyhow. The other big schools were the only ones he didn’t want to remove from the list for some reason, after he decided he “probably” wants a small to medium sized school. My son leans more on the liberal side, but not hippie-Brown-Hampshire liberal, more of a Tufts type but he prefers liberals to conservatives so would be ok at Brown. That being said, he has grown up in some very conservative parts of the South, and gets along fine with Repubs too. Probably wouldn’t do well at Sewanee or Millsaps, but probably would be fine at Wake Forest or Elon or CC. He’s not real political. A goofy, laid-back musician, not too interested in the Greek scene or athletics - he is a hockey fan though and wouldn’t mind a school with a team!</p>

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<p>SF can be cool (50s) in the evening but Stockton (UoP) is likely to be hot, hot, hot (as in the triple figures). Make sure you bring clothing for both and check the weather before you leave – since you may also get SF temps in the 80s.</p>

<p>Quite a list. My friend in Portland told me the paper has been filled with reports of heroin OD at Reed. One data point, but Willamette is definitely more mainstream. I have seen Pitzer described at hippiesh, but when we visited we were not struck that way at all. However, it seemed more environmentally conscious than most other places. Somehow, Oxy felt more mainstream and very affluent.</p>

<p>Something for him to think about: Public schools pull mostly from that state, and some of the private schools pull mostly regionally. This could be an admissions plus for him, at least at the privates. Would he feel comfortable being the only one or one of a few from Tennessee? Also, music is universal but taste in music isn’t. I remember when we visited schools my daughter asked students what type of music was popular at the school. </p>

<p>For the lowest stat schools (I identified two on your list), I would have your son sit in on a discussion based class. My daughter visited a school that awards generous merit scholarships to very good but not great students. The professor was fine, but students were not engaged and were texting in what she thought was an upper division class. Ugh!</p>

<p>I take it that your son wants to go 500+ miles away so as not to go to college with any of his classmates? Sometimes that happens, sometimes not! Or is it that parents aren’t supposed to ever visit?</p>

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<p>You mentioned that you don’t want to visit the big reaches until you have test scores, etc. (Makes sense). So this summer, it might make sense to visit the Ohio schools and NC schools and possibly the FL schools. There are some reaches in there, but not as many as in some of the other geographical areas.
Also, just be aware that CT College is closer to Brown than to Columbia, so you might want to visit Conn on the Boston trip. And if he likes hockey, and has the grades, scores, etc. he should definitely visit Cornell. It has a great hockey tradition and a fanatical fan base among the students and the local citizens.
Also, Case Western Reserve is in Ohio, not PA. Perhaps you meant Carnegie Mellon?</p>