<p>I'm going to be a senior this year. I'm probably the only one who has yet to visit a college. My parents say they don't believe in them because you go to college to study, so anything else shouldn't matter. Summer is ending, and I'm going to be bogged down with work as school starts next week and won't have time for any visitations. What can I do to convince my parents to at least visit nearby colleges? Has anyone else ever gone through this?</p>
<p>How nearby? Could you go on day trips with a friend who can drive?</p>
<p>@momfromme I live about half an hour away from Philadelphia, which has great schools. The problem is, all my friends have already visited surrounding schools.</p>
<p>Can you take the train or a bus? I visited Haverford, Swarthmore and Penn via public transportation. It can be done.</p>
<p>You might point out to your parents that picking a college that you don’t like and needing to transfer later can really cost money. If you are eligible for merit aid as a freshman at a given school, you are much likely to get a similar merit offer at another college if you need to transfer later. You also might point out that some colleges are in safer neighborhoods than others, so it would be a good idea to check them out before you apply. (Just trying to think what hot buttons are for parents – money and safety are always good ones!) :)</p>
<p>Also… if you know what you want to major in, you can learn a lot about a school’s program by meeting with a prof in the department you are interested in (again, making it more likely that the program will really meet your needs and you will get the most out of the money you are spending at college).</p>
<p>another idea … you may be able to tag along when some classmates go on visits. Do you have a license so you can drive yourself to local schools?</p>
<p>Well if you and your parents go in person you they could make an appointment to speak with the bursar’s office and maybe learn about some ways to help save money on your tuition (at least this is what you can say to your parents). At the very least it would give you and your parents an opportunity to compare approximate prices between different universities.</p>
<p>I think that if you can make an argument that visiting the universities in person might potentially save your parents some money they will cooperate.</p>
<p>Don’t stress too much about being late going on college visits compared to your friends, I never visited any of my prospective schools until mid fall in my senior year (I think it might have been only a month or two before applications), and it turned out all right for me. Of course my case was the reverse of yours where my parents were bugging me to go look at schools and I really wasn’t that interested in visiting before the 11th hour, but still.</p>
<p>If you absolutely are not able to visit your perspective schools in person you can still look for video tours on the internet, either done by the university itself or by students.</p>
<p>Intparent said exactly what I was going to add. Many colleges and universities will arrange meetings with faculty, coaches, and other administrators as part of your visit. It is also important that you see how comfortable you feel on each campus.</p>
<p>If your parents are concerned about cost, some colleges (Wheeling Jesuit, Rockhurst, and I’m sure many others) have small scholarships or grants to help cover the cost of visiting. If you’re looking at schools near home, you may not be eligible, but it’s certainly worth keeping in mind.</p>
<p>Finally, many colleges do weekend open houses or visit days. Check the admissions office calendars of each school you’re considering. If you’re a senior, you may also be able to take an excused absence on PSAT day to schedule a college visit.</p>