<p>GMTPlus7, college websites always include admissions pages. There are links from those pages to the tour/information session schedules. </p>
<p>Colleges follow different schedules, so they’re not all in session at the same time. Some colleges offer summer sessions to their students, so sometimes you can see “real” college students on campus during summers. </p>
<p>If the college is on break, admissions offices may be closed. Check ahead.</p>
<p>Many colleges request/require visitors to register before visiting. I think it’s because they want to inundate you with marketing materials afterward. Also, demonstrated interest plays a role. The handful of colleges at the top don’t require registration, but many do. Happily, the calendars are usually posted online well in advance, so you can plan family trips in advance.</p>
<p>I forgot to add… College admissions officers do visit high schools. They will visit your child’s boarding school. Make certain your child (when he/she’s a senior) knows to keep an eye on the schedule. It’s a great idea to meet the college admissions officer who might be in charge of your region.</p>
<p>At Amherst, I thought my kids eyeballs would roll so far back into his head that they might not return. The guide talked enthusiastically about the safe “bubble” the school provided, the close contact with teachers, the seminar style of teaching, the school’s emphasis on attracting a diverse student body…to him, the whole place seemed like Exeter with worse food. </p>
<p>I agree with Benley that a student coming out of a school of 200 might find a school of 2 thousand a significant change. I’m suddenly remembering our Groton tour guide, however, telling us that his first choice school was UVA, mostly because he wanted something different. There is undeniably something about those small liberal arts schools that does seem to echo “four more years…” </p>
<p>At any rate, I found that size was the first criteria that my kid used to cut out a significant chunk of colleges.</p>
<p>@granny2: You know, that was one nice outcome of the Penn visit…7Daughter circled a few of the majors on their info handout that seemed interesting to her — and crossed out a few that didn’t!</p>
<p>She is a young woman of many interests and extreme curiosity, so who knows what she’ll want to study 2 years from now? That said, as of today there are two mutually exclusive vectors that she seems to find more interesting than others.</p>
<p>I also have a rising junior and during her summer travels we have made stops at 3 schools for visits. We did University of Chicago and Northwestern on the way back from a STEM program and visited Brown after a family vacation in New England.</p>
<p>We didn’t encounter any of what is described in this thread. While the sessions at all the schools were well attended, the crowds were managed well and it wasn’t overwhelming in any sense. The parents were all well behaved and we didn’t observe any aggressive or obnoxious behavior. There were a lot of questions on financial aid but there were also some thought provoking ones on gap years and job placement/graduate school placement data.</p>
<p>I also think that for us the information sessions added some value. The assistant director of admissions at Brown gave a good tip on how to handle teacher recommendations that were not getting done, and at Northwestern there was an excellent discussion of internship opportunities and a co-op program that I do not remember stumbling across on the website. University of Chicago’s session was very helpful in that it made my daughter think seriously about the issue of “core requirements”. University of Chicago and Brown are polar opposites in that regard. I also think the presentations themselves, who gives them and how they are handled, gives some insight into the school. It was very clear to us that University of Chicago is a serious place for serious students.</p>
<p>This process has all come upon us so fast that it is hard to believe we are here already. In some respects I feel like we are still recovering from BS applications. Personally, I feel much more relaxed going into the college application cycle, perhaps because I now know that everything works out for the best in the end. Although I had a strong preference for BS, my D went with her own instincts and chose to attend another school. In the end it was the right decision. So for college, I view my role as a sounding board and perhaps a little of an expectation manager. The only issue I see at present is that my D has really liked all the schools she has visited and can see herself attending any of them. Not sure if this is a good or bad place to be right now. </p>
<p>D has also spent some time over the last 3 years at a few of the Ivy’s for summer programs and sports camps. I do not think we will re-visit those schools as we don’t think it is time well spent. She has a good feel for those schools and all of them have very good programs in her areas of interest. The hard work is ahead of her as she now needs to identify some safety schools that she would be happy attending.</p>
<p>As far as the whole “name obsession” thing is concerned, I think it is really much less of an issue on the CC college forums. I think we all know and accept that very few would turn down an Ivy acceptance if the fit and monetary considerations were right. They do as good a job as any at preparing our children for what lies ahead, and I don’t think that one can argue that the name doesn’t hurt when seeking employment. I have no problem with my D including them on her list so long as she remains cognizant of the admissions data.</p>
<p>@Afirstgenbsp112, thanks for joining in and good luck to your new BS student this fall.</p>
<p>Take a look at the Phillipian state of the academy report (online, back in May). Most students think BS hurt their chances of Ivy more than it helped. They should hand that newspaper out on those pre-prep bus tours - tigers beware!</p>
<p>By the way, I have a daughter at Exeter, not a son, but she had the same reaction to LACs as classicalmama’s son - not 4 more years of the same, and refused to look at any more LACs or to apply to even one. Personally, I think a LAC would be a wonderful choice, so it’s a disheartening surprise, but be that as it may…big research uni or state megalopolous are in our future, somewhere. </p>
<p>Lastly, Exeter has a policy that if a student is admitted ED or SCEA or EA to a school with a less than 10% admit rate, they are done, no other apps/letters/transcripts/eforms will be sent out to any other college by the college counseling office. Basically, choose wisely because SCEA or EA is really an ED if it is to a highly selective school (basically, only a few are < 10% admit rates including HYPSM, Columbia, Chicago). If comparing financial aid offers will be important, I guess don’t apply early to highly selective schools. This policy is reportedly to let colleges know that the early round kids are very serious, and benefits the whole class matriculation profile. Any opinions?</p>
<p>^^How could she not be? 'cause “If you’ve made this effort to be in this room, how could you be asking such a basic question about the school/the process?” Right? Seriously, how many 11th graders in boarding school don’t already know the big name schools are VERY selective. And even if you don’t, it doesn’t take long at all once you start the process to become aware of it. </p>
<p>@2prepmom: I’ve heard about the CC policy at Exeter as you described. Not sure how many BS have a similar policy in place. I know Andover doesn’t although I’ve been told that CCO in such cases would discourage the application to apply to more of the very selective colleges. They just wouldn’t go so far as “forbidding” them from doing so. I think it’s fair to ask these students to at least give the situation some serious consideration. Winners taking all is not the goal here, which does sometimes take away your classmates’ chances and it’s not helping you either because you can only go to one college in the end. While the financial aid consideration is legit, most of the SCEA schools are known to be the most generous to begin with. Although in reality HYP may not give a family exactly the same amount of financial aid, if you believe all of them are reasonably generous and would meet 100% of your financial need, I guess you just have to risk taking some “loss” for applying and getting in your dream school through the EA program!</p>
<p>Benley…so tiresome. Though bonus points for trying to throw my words back in my face. As noted, Penn is my alma mater, so that’s why we visited.</p>
<p>SevenDad, it’s just a point I was trying to make that boarding school students are more savvy in the college application process than they are given credit for. Don’t take it as criticism of you please. And, I hope I didn’t imply that you shouldn’t have visited Penn. It’s you who complained about the visit. I was just tagging along and suggesting that you might want to skip these big brand name schools since it seems they are not your cup of tea anyway based on your taste on BS as you shared. Anyway, I can see you were annoyed. Sorry!</p>
<p>Benley, Stop telling adults/others what they should or shouldn’t do. If you think it is OK, I’m happy to tell you to get off CC for the good of the CC community.</p>
<p>I can’t even believe I’m posting… but we’re looking at colleges for K1 and I saw this thread. We’re going through something you might encounter down the road w/ SD2, SevenDad. </p>
<p>While traveling, training and competing this summer, we looked at many schools along the way and it was all very relaxed and fun. Last summer, we attended College Fairs at various venues with K1, but this year he chose to opt out. He had a list and he just wanted walkabouts. When recruitment calls and letters didn’t happen ( right after July 1st), I got a little nervous and questioned our (his) approach. He said he had no interest in being recruited- he wanted to apply and attend on his own terms. If a college offered his sport(s)- fine. If they didn’t that would be okay, too- he’d just pursue his sport at home during breaks and summer.</p>
<p>When we returned from a trip recently, our voicemail had several messages and he had also received letters of introduction/ expressing interest in the mail.</p>
<p>What’s interesting is how the voicemails and letters added a whole new demension to an already stressful process… not for him (yet… I’m willing to wager), but for me!! I am sitting on my hands as we speak. </p>
<p>It’s already shaping up to be an interesting/crazy year and it hasn’t even begun yet! It will also be interesting to see if I can resist my own best advice and not let one sport play a big role in college admissions…</p>
<p>We’re a year behind 7Dad on this, but I had already been thinking that we would tour a sampling of schools just to settle on a “type” and that DD would not necessarily tour every school she ends up applying to. Since kids apply to so many colleges that would take a huge amount of time, and when it comes to college I’m not convinced that the sense of feel you get from a visit is as important as it is with boarding school. So, I’m thinking that we will visit a handful of schools and then DD can decide on an overall direction, and we’ll find a range of schools that meet those criteria.</p>
<p>Thank you all for not making a big deal out of my unintentional offense. I wish you all good luck, and am sure your kids will end up in the college best for them! Here’s a hilarious piece on WSJ to showcase how different an animal college has become from the old days! Happy Saturday, everyone!</p>
<p>Oh, no. I was not aware of Exeter’s policy. Thanks for that info 2preMom. This puts a whole new light on ED, etc. I have a friend with a D starting her junior year at an Ivy. When she got accepted RD, she received a FA that was significantly less than other schools. M approached the school with the other offers in hand, and they ended up matching her other offers. She probably would not have been able to attend the school without this happening. </p>
<p>SevenD, after spending the night at the Penn Museum (so much fun) with 9 yr old D and neice, we decided to walk around the Penn campus. We were having a nice time until I went to throw something in the trash can. To my great surprise, just as I had my head over the can, a squirrel jumped out. My loud scream garnered many stares, as the girls were laughing hysterically behind me. Penn may be on D’s list, but her father will have to go with her for the tour!</p>
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