Need advice on Spring Break College Tour

Parents Forum
1

I’m working on a 2017 Spring Break tour for my junior D and I, and am considering hitting two colleges on some of the days because they seem close, and time is tight. We live in CA, so going back for a second visit won’t happen until after acceptance in 2018, if at all.

We plan to arrive in each town the night before, so we are ready to go in the morning. Also, I’m guessing there won’t be time to sit in on a class or interview — I’m also not sure interviewing is appropriate as a Junior. I’m guessing these visits will be just info sessions and/or tours.

My current plan has us visiting 16 schools in 14 days (it’s a long spring break). Five of those days would have two schools/day. Are we going to be fried by the end? This is the only chance to see schools with students on campus. Have any of you done a trip this long? We might visit the schools we miss on this trip in early June.

These are some of the pairs I’m considering (obviously we can’t do them all):

  1. Bryn Mawr - Haverford
  2. Smith - Mount Holyoke
  3. Clark - Smith or Wellesley
  4. Wellesley - Northeastern or Tufts
  5. Bowdoin - Bates and/or Colby
  6. American - U Maryland
  7. U Chicago - Northwestern
  8. Scripps - Pitzer and/or Claremont McKenna
  9. Lawrence - Beloit
  10. Carleton - Macalester

Specifically:

Have you toured any of these pairs on the same day? How did it go?
Did you feel rushed at the first school?

Was the afternoon school a blur?
Do you recommend visiting the top choice in the morning?

Is the distance between them reasonable to comfortably make an afternoon tour, fitting in lunch at either schools’ cafeteria?
Did you ever stay for dinner at the second school?
Has your child ever done the “Lunch with a student” visit option at Mt Holyoke, Wellesley or Clark? How was it?
Is there enough time to get the “vibe” of a place? (Also, What tips do you have on getting the “vibe”?)
Did your junior interview during Spring Break at colleges he/she was touring for the first time?
What would you have done differently?
At what point do you burn out of info sessions?
What am I not thinking about?

I’d love to hear your experience and advice!

2

My thought about your plan generally is that you’re trying to fit in too much. Yes, this will be a blur. Here are my thoughts on specific pairings (based on living in Wisconsin and having a daughter who went to Carleton): Lawrence and Beloit are at least a 2 1/2 hour drive apart; doing them on the same day would be difficult. Carleton and Macalester are probably close enough to do in one day, especially because Macalester is a very small campus.

Good luck!

3

In our limited experience, the schools and programs all start running together after a couple days. It gets difficult to make objective observations and emotion tends to take over at a point. To get a decent idea of the campus you’ll probably want a tour then some time to wander around and check out things that caught your interest in the tour. So getting in 2 schools in a single day is iffy unless they are VERY close. YMMV of course

4

We did Vassar and Bard in one day. They are 45 minutes apart. Theoretically most of your pairs are doable, but I prefer a more leisurely pace. I think U of Chicago/Northwestern would be difficult just because they are big campuses with a lot to see. And you might want to take a look at some of the surrounding area to. For example Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House in on the UC campus, but it’s not part of the normal college tour.

American and Georgetown or GW would be easy to do on the same day. U of Md is within the Beltway and theoretically a half hour drive so probably doable though I think UM has a big campus. But if you’ve never been to DC you might want to see the Mall or go to a museum.

5

I like your plan, personally, but I actually think you should cram even more visits into your days because you should aim for a couple of days spent doing non-college stuff. Our plan, and what we did, isn’t popular, btw :slight_smile: It worked for us though. We almost always did two a day and a few times we did three a day, which was tough, but doable.

You need to be sure that colleges are in session on the days you will visit. Look at their calendars. IMO, a visit without students is not that useful. If you want to do three a day, be in town for that morning, go to first tour available, then a lunch time tour nearby, then a late afternoon tour nearby. For instance, Bryn Mawr and Haverford could easily be combined with a third college nearby (Swarthmore, or Temple, etc…), all in one day. We did Tufts, BC,and Northeastern in a day. We also did Dickinson, Franklin & Marshall and Lafayette in a day. It works, but it’s tiring. Be sure to get s drink/snack/food at each college. See the natives in their natural habitat, lol.

Book the tours in advance. Maybe a week or two. It will be a total drag if you make all the plans and can’t get on a tour. Info sessions are generally not that useful, don’t sweat it if you miss them. You want the tours, for sure. Always sign in at the admissions office, pick up literature, save it in a folder for later. Helps with applications. The school newspaper of art magazine is usually worth getting. Your kid should take a few notes, it will be hard to remember details later on.

P.S., Clatk did have a great info session, the best we attended out of 20+ college visits. Worth going to. Northeastern’s was the worst!

6

Fourteen colleges in 16 days is more than most sane humans would attempt. But my greatest concern is that you carefully map out your trip to maximize the number of colleges that will be in-session, as many campus will likely be devoid of students during their own spring breaks. It is difficult to gauge the character of a school when students are absent.

Carleton and Macalester could be doable in one day, if you stay in either St. Paul or Northfield the night before and then the other location also the night of your visits. We have a daughter at Carleton, and I’d suggest staying at the historic Archer House in Division St. in Northfield – a two-block amble from the Carleton campus. Carleton is on spring break March 16-26, and Macalester from March 11-19, 2017. Eat a meal on-campus, talk informally to students in the snack/coffee shop, in the library, etc. Wander around campus in the evening.

Our daughter did do a admissions interview at Mt. Holyoke in October of her junior year, and that went well and it was not wasted time. Be warned that the drive between Mt. Holyoke and Smith can be shockingly slow and tedious, especially during “rush hour.”

7

Fourteen colleges in 16 days is more than most sane humans would attempt. But my greatest concern is that you carefully map out your trip to maximize the number of colleges that will be in-session, as many campus will likely be devoid of students during their own spring breaks. It is difficult to gauge the character of a school when students are absent.

Carleton and Macalester could be doable in one day, if you stay in either St. Paul or Northfield the night before and then the other location also the night of your visits. We have a daughter at Carleton, and I’d suggest staying at the historic Archer House in Division St. in Northfield – a two-block amble from the Carleton campus. Carleton is on spring break March 16-26, and Macalester from March 11-19, 2017. Eat a meal on-campus, talk informally to students in the snack/coffee shop, in the library, etc. Wander around campus in the evening.

Our daughter did do a admissions interview at Mt. Holyoke in October of her junior year, and that went well and it was not wasted time. Be warned that the drive between Mt. Holyoke and Smith can be shockingly slow and tedious, especially during “rush hour.”

8

In answer to some of your other questions, we did have lunches at many colleges. Especially if we were given a voucher. Yes, I think a couple of hours on campus is enough to get an idea of the vibe, especially if you can make an effort to spend a half hour or so eating and people watching. Even at morning tours, students will be out and about. Like I said, regardless of hunger or thirst, just get a drink or snack and spend a half hour people watching, or wandering into the student union or library after the tour is over. You will read a lot of stories about kids stepping foot on campus and saying instantly “No way!” or “This is it!” Deciding factors may not even be apparent to the kid at first. Read the “colleges that moved up and down the list” thread to see all kinds of reasons why a kid did or didn’t like a college.

Your child can do alumni interviews in the fall, so, I do think it’s a little early to interview. Plus it might be awkward if you have an interview set up, kid steps on campus and says “no way.” My student did two interviews in the summer before senior year, and the rest as a senior, either with reps or alumni. About Bates, they REALLY like students to visit, and as it is big on interest, that is a school where I do recommend scheduling an interview at that time. (Disclaimer, D attends Bates.) If your child is seriously thinking about Bates, it would be a mistake not to visit if you are so close. Bowdoin is only 40 minutes away.

9

We often looked at two colleges in one day. I will say that it is not ideal, that it does feel rushed, and that it’s harder to get a feel for them this way. But, like you, we live in CA and only had one week to look at colleges on the East Coast and we made the best of it. I will say that the Claremonts are easy to combine since you just walk from one to another. Haverford & Bryn Mawr were also not so bad but it did feel very rushed to us. Places like Chicago & NU aren’t really close to one another, and if you are driving you will have to deal with traffic, so make sure to take travel time into consideration as well. I will add that our “best” visits were the ones where we took the time to look at just one college per day.

We did not have our Junior D interview on campus. We spent the time taking a tour, walking around, and if time she took a class and/or ate in the dining all. She was able to get interviews close to home during the summer/fall of her senior year. Many colleges weren’t ready to interview juniors; some were, but we didn’t think it was a good use of her time.

We toured during Spring Break. Early June is not ideal because many of these schools will already be out for summer break. You can’t really feel the vibe of a college when the students have already gone home. So I’d only use it as a backup (some quarter-system schools might still be in session).

We did what you are proposing, and traveled in the evenings and stayed in a hotel close to the next day’s colleges. It was exhausting, but worth it in the end. But we only had 5 days of visiting. I am not sure if we could have kept it going for 10 days.

10

@JustGraduate Thanks - I was worried about cramming too much, but I honestly don’t know how else we’d see all of these schools when there are students on campus. Families in the Northeast are lucky that many of these schools are within driving distance.

@mathmom Ah, yes I see that Bard is close to Vassar. May we can squeeze that in on the drive between Skidmore and Vassar. I think that’s one reason we may save DC for the summer, just so we can see the monuments & museums too. I’m imagining Chicago would be in the summer too (UChicago is such a lottery school, that I think Spring Break is better spent on schools where she has a better shot). Thanks for the tip on Frank Lloyd Wright. I got married in a Frank Lloyd Wright building, so I’d love to see the Chicago house.

@Lindagaf Thanks for validating that I’m not crazy. How many days was your trip and how many schools did you fit in? Glad to hear that Clark’s info session was good. I see they include a student panel. Did your kid do the “Coffee with a Clarkie”?

My actual plan is below - I can’t see where to have any free days, unless we stayed a night in Boston after seeing Wellesley and then skip the SoCal leg. D’s school has very few days off. She has a very time-intensive EC (theater) which will be over before Spring Break, which is why taking this trip in the spring is really ideal. She won’t have time in the fall, or free days off of school. They have rehearsals on days off too.

Sat - Fly to Minneapolis
Sun - Walk around Carleton & Macalester’s neighborhoods
Mon - Official tours of Carleton & Macalester, Fly to Des Moines
Tues - Grinnell, Fly to Burlington, VT, pick up rental car
Wed - Middlebury, drive to Skidmore

Thu - Skidmore, drive to Vassar (stop at Bard?)
Fri - Vassar, drive to Northampton, spend 3 nights here
Sat - Mt Holyoke, UMass/Amherst (self-tour?)
Sun - Day trip to Wesleyan - the only school offering a Sunday tour
Mon - Smith, Clark
Tues - Wellesley (Tufts? Northeastern?), Fly to Philly
Wed - Bryn Mawr, Haverford
Thu - Fly to Ontario, CA, Claremont McKenna afternoon tour
Fri - Scripps, Pitzer, Pomona, Fly home

11

@MinnesotaDadof3 Thanks for the Carleton lodging tip! Our spring break is in April and I’ve looked at most of the schools and there isn’t a conflict. But I haven’t looked at all, so that’s a good reminder.

@Lindagaf That’s what I was thinking about interviewing. I was worried she’d hate the school and then have to bluff her way through an interview. Not cool. Good to know about Bates! Another option I thought of was taking the train up to Brunswick ME after Wellesley and squeezing in Bates & Bowdoin there. But flying anywhere out of Portland ME is really pricey, so we’d have to take the train back to Boston to fly from there. EXCEPT, if I saves Bates/Bowdoin for June and flew to BWI, and went to DC from Maine. I have spent hours looking at schedules and fares.

@MamaBear16 Thanks for seconding the no interview for Junior. I just think once she compiles her real list, she will be more motivated and convincing in her interviews (alumni or traveling adcom). I know 10 days is crazy. That schedule is crazy. But I haven’t even done one college tour yet, so I have no idea what I’m getting into. I’m thinking with some days as just one school plus a drive, it might not be so bad. We are doing a mini trip to the Pacific Northwest over President’s weekend.

12

As a parent, my advice is to make sure there are safeties and matches sprinkled throughout a trip.

Some pairings which definitely work – Bryn Mawr and Haverford (they are a mile apart), Tufts and NE, Carleton and Macalester, and I assume, though have never been, the Claremont consortium schools. The Maine schools are trickier than it would seem, Bowdoin and Bates could be do-able, but not Colby, as it is another hour north from Bates. Lawrence and Beloit are not a same day trip at all.

We did 4 east coast schools in 4 days, with a day of driving to get there and a day to drive back, and the last school barely got our attention as we were wiped out.

You are looking at DC, Philly, Boston, Maine, Chicago, and Twin Cities over 2 weeks, I’d think about dropping the midwest leg and building in some more sight-seeing for a more relaxed trip. In the DC area, you have American and Maryland (though as the one public school, it seems like an outlier). Consider perhaps University of Richmond instead or George Washington? Go to some museums, monuments etc. In Philly, Bryn Mawr and Haverford, plus consider adding from among Franklin & Marshall (1 hour from Philly), Dickinson (about 2 hours from Philly, towards Pittsburgh, so not really the direction you want to be heading), maybe Muhlenberg. Visit Liberty Bell, Constitution Hall etc. Up to Boston area, plan on spending 3-4 days there,if you want to see Holyoke, Smith, Wellesley, Clark, NE and Tufts. Bowdoin is about 2 1/2 hours from Boston, then Bates is another 30 minutes or so from Bowdoin. If you are a shopper, consider stopping in Freeport Maine (the LL Bean store is a wonderland for some folks). If you have a full 2 weeks, head home to CA, catch your breath, then make a separate trip to Claremont consortium. Just my two cents!

If your student has particular artistic or athletic interests, then you want to see about scheduling tours/visits of additional facilities, beyond the info session/tour/interview. Spend some time on the school websites to check spring tour/info session/interview options. The logistics in sorting through the schedule when some schools only have 1 info session a day etc., can be challenging. I felt like I could have planned an invasion successfully, after mapping out our trip.

Good luck – these trips can be great times with your teenager (also lots of gnashing of teeth and wailing).

13

We did Bates and Colby but on 2 days. We had time to kill but getting from one to the other can be stressful. We had the same pack of folks with us at both, so it would seem that our plan was popular.

One thing that can help with “vibe”, especially if you’re arriving the night before, is to attend an event on campus in the evening. It’ll be easier to rush out after your tour the next day to another school.

We had the best luck when doubling up to have 2 different schools (Union and Bard) than 2 like ones, but geography may not be in your favor all the time on that. It will be exhausting.

I think @Midwestmomofboys’ advice and suggestions are really sound. Once you start working around what’s available in terms of tours, etc., the pieces will fall in place on the planning. It’s a good idea to schedule in a little fun with such a grueling pace.

14

@Midwestmomofboys Oh no, 4 schools and 4 days and you were wiped out? This is my biggest fear – getting started and then just burning out partway through. Did you drive back and forth to the east coast? Thankfully I’m actually not trying to cram in DC and Chicago to this trip. I believe the summer trip will be DC, Chicago and perhaps Maine (lobster!), since there are cheaper flights between Maine and Baltimore than flying most anywhere else from Maine.

So this trip would be Twin Cities, driving from Vermont to Boston, Philly and SoCal (see my tentative schedule above). I know it makes sense to do SoCal as a separate trip, but I can’t see any days when we have off school and they are in school, and two of those schools are really high on D’s list. And only Claremont McKenna offers Saturday tours. :frowning:

I did feel like I struck gold when I found out that Wesleyan offered a Sunday tour – I then worked my whole trip around that. This is about my 10th stab at the itinerary, and when I made this one, I felt like it all made sense.

It would be nice to fit some sightseeing in too, but I feel like college tours are the reason for the trip and if we can fit it in around the tours, then great! Like maybe we can do a little sightseeing in Philly. In the summer we’ll have more time to sightsee since there isn’t more HS we have to rush to be back for. But those schools will be just empty shells… it’s tough!

And yes, she will want to see the theater at all of these places. I’m guessing safeties/matches are Clark, Mt Holyoke, American (and Lewis & Clark and Whitman which we see President’s Day). Plus Lawrence and maybe Smith, Bryn Mawr and Scripps too.

15

@craspedia Sorry, I was revising my response and hadn’t seen your additional post with the actual schedule. We had 10 hour drive to get to east coast and then had 3-4 hour drives between schools – including a really stressful drive through heavy snow storm up north, which is a big part of why we just wanted to go home (student) or drink (parents) instead of visiting the last school. We had warm clothes, because we would be in Maine etc. in early April, but didn’t really have the footwear to be walking around a snowy campus. That was a long, soggy day.

Your schedule looks do-able – it worked well for us to do “the visit one school, then get to the next school that same night” routine so we could wake up and be there and get started. I think that relieves a lot of stress, to be in place for the next day and catch your breath, look through the online campus map, figure out where you have to park for Admissions etc.

Take notes, take pictures, keep folders of stuff to jog memories later (especially helpful when the "why x"essay has to be written). I have a not-especially communicative son, so getting some reactions from him as we left one school and moved onto next, which I wrote down in our giant spreadsheet, was helpful.

Try to remain flexible – there may be schools where your kid just looks at you after 15 minutes and says “no way” (that would have been Wesleyan, for my kid!) so be prepared to adapt. Also, a lesson it took me a long time to learn is, when they are done, don’t try to cajole them to stop back at the bookstore, or drive by some part of campus you didn’t see. Again, maybe its more of a teen boy thing, but imagining themselves at all these places – feeling anxious, can they get in, can they fit in – can be draining and stressful as well as exciting. Be patient and don’t be so wed to the schedule that you can’t improvise if necessary to avoid a meltdown. With 2 in college now, I’ve concluded that teenagers are basically big, often smelly toddlers whom you can no longer pick up and put in their crib (or in time out). It is the same dynamic, of being convinced of their independence and ready to throw themselves into the next stage of maturity, but sometimes they are just overwhelmed and throw a fit. Don’t make it be about power, just recognize they are overwhelmed and find a way everyone can decompress.

You have some of my favorite schools on your list, should be a great trip!

16

It can be a burnout if you look at too many schools. Some tours are very long . . . .Some are very personal. For Bryn Mawr we were the only people on our tour.

17

@Dustyfeathers has a good point – the tours where it is just you and tour guide are tiring – your kid and you are the only ones keeping the conversation going for 40-60 minutes. The tour guide is peppy, asking your kid questions, and they don’t always oblige with the peppy response (maybe its just a teenage boy thing?)

18

And sometimes the tour is much longer than 40-60 minutes. At one school that’s not on your list, and so I won’t name it, the tour was about 3 hours long. While the school prob felt that we would appreciate the in-depth look at the school, we were worn out and exhausted, and wondered if the school was all that well managed. Fortunately we weren’t the only ones on that tour, but we were in a small group.

19

@Dustyfeathers Was that Sarah Lawrence? I think I read about how long that tour was (maybe you posted about it?). That sounds excrutiating! D would love the personal attention at Bryn Mawr - it’s one of her favorites on paper right now.

20

I have a suggestion. Start looking at flights now, not to book them but to see what times are actually available. Then start doing the math: how long the flights are, when you’d need to get to the airport, car rental, car return, driving, etc. Your itinerary still looks really exhausting.