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I guess it depends on whether you’re trying to minimize harm or maximize benefit. Even at the end of March, and often well into early April, it’s still winter in NE, not spring. So if you want at least one of the trips to be in real spring weather, you go to NE in late Feb. and DC in late March. On the other hand, if you want to avoid the coldest weather, you do it the other way around, as you suggest.</p>
<p>I think the reason they don’t tour on Saturdays and Sundays is because campuses tend to be pretty dead during the weekend days…kids go home, leave campus for trips, or just generally sleep in and whatnot.</p>
<p>We had a fantastic trip to Washington DC during a long weekend in the first week of March, three years ago. While the midwest was being pelted by a huge rainstorm, the DC area was warm enough that we walked to all of the monuments, Supreme Court building, you name it. The bonus was that the number of tourists was very low and we only waited in line at the National Archives. However, it was very close to Spring Break at two of the schools, so we were not there at the best time to see a busy campus. I would make the Spring Break schedule the deciding factor, as you really don’t get enough of a flavor for a school without the majority of the student body present.</p>
<p>I really think it depends on the kid. We visited both Macalester and Grinnell in March when it was chilly and gray. As I mentioned on your other thread, D loved Macalester and not Grinnell. It had a lot more to do with the locale, the people she met, the classes she sat in on, etc. I think she was oblivious to the weather.</p>
<p>No school really is, in its totality, that perfect picture postcard. The kids should know that and realize that harsh weather is something they will have to deal with nearly everyday in some regions. We toured some of the “most beautiful” campuses in awful weather. It was slushy and grey and slightly dirty looking at Swarthmore–a far cry from the lovely arboreteum in bloom that is a characteristic description. She still thought Swat was an intellectual paradise. It was cold, windy and raining when we visited Harvard and Wellesley. Spent a lot of time avoiding puddles. However, D’s spirits weren’t dampened; she thought both were still lovely but was happy to get inside and enjoy a hot cup of tea! </p>
<p>Often, you have to take the good with the bad.</p>
<p>I think it’s most important to see the campus in full swing – you can’t get the real feel from an empty one. You should always try to talk to students that aren’t employed by admissions and snoop around a bit off the beaten path.</p>
<p>I agree that if you have a bad experience (that you think could be attributed to the weather) that maybe another trip (at another time) would be in order if it’s a “must” school.</p>
<p>Caution about schools that do not have weekend tours. It’s mostly likely a suitcase school where most student are gone Fri afternoon and return Sun night. Your kids okay with a semi-empty school on weekend? or do they prefer one that have lots of activities?</p>
<p>So if tours aren’t offered on Sat / Sun, how the heck am I supposed to get my kids to these places while school is in session? Take them out of school? So how are they supposed to participate in all the award-winning EC’s they need to and get the outstanding grades to get there if they’re pulled out of school? I’m getting aggravated, LOL!</p>
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<p>None of the schools being looked at for either kid fit the description of suitcase school, so not to worry.</p>
<p>Late March/early April in New England will be cold and gray–probably snow or snow left over from a Nor’easter (big ugly piles of dirty snow on the side of the road). It will not be spring (sometimes we get a warm spell, but not often). Check the spring break schedules for the colleges in Boston. There’s usually a week-long break near the end of March (Tufts, BU, Brandeis, BC, etc). I found most places had tours on Saturday. </p>
<p>Also, D2 did an unscheduled tour at Bryn Mawr. We went there at the end of January, the day before the spring semester classes began. It was the only time that worked for us. I called admissions and they had another student coming in on that day, so they scheduled a special tour for us–several tour guides were back on campus early. My D and the other girl both did their interviews with an admissions person at that time too. Since your D is a junior, she wouldn’t be interviewing at this visit. But if she decides to apply–I would really recommend having an interview on campus. I think it shows interest and Bryn Mawr likes that. Also, three other girls from my D’s school applied to Bryn Mawr and they had a phone interview with the admissions person. They all felt that it was really difficult and awkward. Interviews probably don’t kill one’s chances, but when it’s with an someone from admissions, it sure feels better for the kids when it goes well.</p>
<p>If your spring break is the first week in April (as ours is), we often drive to Colorado. Typically the snow is “no more” on the way out, sometimes snow in the mountains, but by then Colorado Springs should be just fine to drive to. The colleges are in session then. You could easily fly to Denver on Southwest for “cheap”, rent a car and drive to Colorado Springs and not have to worry too much about the weather. If yours is in March, just rent a 4 wheel drive vehicle. The sun shines waaay more in Colorado than the midwest so the sunshine and blue skies are pretty nice backdrop for the campuses.</p>
<p>Pizzagirl, there’s the rub – so many places to see, so few days to actually visit. This was why we started visiting early with both kids. Of course, we have not seen friends in three years because one of us has been on the road with one or the other kid for Spring Break, MLK weekend, teacher in-service days, etc. Our school allows students three days total between junior and senior years for excused visits.</p>
<p>DH has done some insane 2000+ mile road trips on spring breaks so S1 and S2 could both go check out whatever colleges on their list had classes in session and coincided with our break. Try doing doing Pesach while visiting colleges!! OTOH, both kids found it a good time to check out how dining services accommodated kids who were keeping the holiday.</p>
<p>Is it so awful if we just wander around campus for a few hours and not do a scheduled tour?</p>
<p>Pizzagirl: “So if tours aren’t offered on Sat / Sun, how the heck am I supposed to get my kids to these places while school is in session? Take them out of school? So how are they supposed to participate in all the award-winning EC’s they need to and get the outstanding grades to get there if they’re pulled out of school?”</p>
<p>D’s high school provided juniors/seniors with 6 excused absences for college visits–and a verification form to be signed by admissions. Check with your HS guidance office about its policy. It’s generally expected that kids will visit colleges during school week.</p>
<p>I looked at the school calendar and scheduled my S1 and S2 college trips over long weekends. I chose the weekends that they had half days on Thursday/Friday for midterms and the half day marking day/teacher inservice, etc. We didn’t do any summer trips so it worked out. I used Chicago as a departure point and used cheap Southwest seats to get me as close as I could get, then used a rental car. It worked quite well. I just got back last night from the “last” college visit with S2. He had a half day last Friday so he took the half day off and we flew out Thursday night.</p>
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<p>Agree, but I’m not going to waste a whole spring break on our one college in Colorado when I’ve got a bazillion to knock off in Boston / New England or Philly / DC!</p>
<p>Lots of schools DO have Saturday tours and/or info sessions–check the specific admission Web sites. But if you are using your children’s spring break days you will be visiting o n weekdays to some extent anyway.</p>
<p>There is nothing wrong with walking around on your own but you get a variety of insights, official and unofficial, from tours and info sessions, and it really does help to get a sense of the school. How the tour guides talk, how the admissions staff treat people and represent themselves and their school, and so on–plus there’s nothing like getting facts from the horse’s mouth rather than second hand or by inference. Having been through the process twice I strongly recommend organized visits with face-to-face contact.</p>
<p>We found a lot of schools had more tours (including weekends) during the spring.</p>
<p>Generally, our MO was that each S would do the campus tour, then go off to sit in on classes (they contacted profs in advance – they wanted to see upper div stuff and it was NEVER a problem) and wander the halls of the departments they were interested in and see who they could chat with. S2 also contacted coaches in advance. Both had some interesting impromptu chats with advisors, profs and students stemming from sitting in on classes or wandering the halls. Reading what’s on the walls in departments also proved fruitful. DH or I (whoever was accompanying said S) did the info session – we found those all sounded the same after a while, so we would go and take notes of anything particularly relevant.</p>
<p>S1 did a couple of “stealth” visits – but always signed in with admissions first so they knew he was on campus.</p>
<p>Go now and tell HS that they got the flu.</p>
<p>The info sessions do all start to sound alike and wandering on your own starts to sound really good. But we never got a really good feel for any school if that’s all we did. The tour guide and the staff put a real human face on the place, and you do learn things you wouldn’t learn otherwise – both things the school wants you to know and things you pick up from listening!</p>
<p>Well…here’s my theory…If your student is applying to schools with long cold winters, they SHOULD visit in the winter. If they like the school in the winter, they will LOVE it in the spring (unless there are black flies). If your student is applying to schools in hot climates…go visit in HOT weather. Again…if they like that extreme, they will love it there when the weather is more moderate.</p>
<p>In other words…take your kid to visit when the weather is the worst…you don’t want them calling you during their freshman year to say “It’s too cold an snowy.” or “It’s too hot and humid.”</p>