<p>I am hoping to make good use of the last couple weekends that colleges are in session for the spring and visit while the students are there. We are considering visiting USCarolina, because of their honors program, but we can't get there until a Friday evening, to spend the day Saturday. The Saturday tours don't have an info session, or tour dorms or have anything specific to honors. It's a 4-5 hour drive. Worth it, or would we be better off to wait until summer, even though students won't be there then?</p>
<p>Is your student a junior in HS? If so, I would recommend attending one of the Fall Open Houses. My daughter and I went to one in September (held on a Saturday) and it was fantastic!</p>
<p>May depend on student. Mine HATED info sessions and Q&As! Here are the things to think about… honestly you might not see many students around on a Saturday depending on what else is going on. Also, if not this weekend (which is an admitted students day) then the next weekend is the last one while students are in class since last class is April 28 - then school will be in exams.</p>
<p>And as opposed to some small schools, there are classes being held in summer. Fall of senior year can get very busy you might need to look at open house dates of other schools and decide which are worth it to wait on. </p>
<p>I think you can get something out of a spring visit. The admissions session is pretty much going to be stuff you could get off website. Actually, if you do come and they give you the choice of ambassador students, ask if any are in honors. Two of D’s roommates in honors are ambassadors (tour guides) and looking the tour guide page, lots of them are honors students.</p>
<p>Dorm tour is nice, but honors dorms are fantastic and you can look at virtual tour. D has loved her honors experience if we can answer any specific questions.</p>
<p>Imo, Going on a Saturday is the equivalent of going in the summer. Students aren’t visibly around on the weekends. (It’s because most students live off-campus, not because there’s nothing going on!)</p>
<p>Info sessions, in my opinion, are pretty pointless in today’s world. They’re going to regurgitate the exact same information as you can find on the web. I can see how they probably would have been useful even ten years ago, but now days, there’s so much info online (even on just a school’s admission info website), that the info sessions aren’t all that important or informative. The questions part is the only thing I found worthwhile when I was looking at college’s in high school, and even then, you can email and call the admissions committee if you have questions. But that’s just my take on things.</p>
<p>Dorm tour is hit and miss. When I was a senior looking at USC, they showed the Honors Dorms as the dorm tour. Obviously, most students at USC aren’t in the Honors College and most don’t live there. The Honors Dorms were the newest dorms and really didn’t give a picture of every dorm on campus. My freshman year, they showed my dorm (Maxcy) as the dorm.</p>
<p>The thing is, there’s so many different buildings, different layouts, all coming from different eras, that I don’t think a dorm tour is really helpful until you’re actually accepted and you come on a day where they show you lots of different dorms around campus. When I came back in the spring of my senior year for Scholars Day, they opened all of the dorms and I ended up touring Capstone, Columbia Hall, and Maxcy. That was helpful, but only because I already knew I was going to USC. Even within some of the buildings, the actual dorm rooms can range dramatically in size.</p>