<p>My DD doesn’t really want to think about colleges yet. She is taking a rigorous load, has EC’s she enjoys, and works really hard, but when it comes to talking about college she shrinks. She tells me that she wants to enjoy being a junior in high school. I gotta applaud that, but … there’s seems to be so much to learn about, so much to research and explore. </p>
<p>Yesterday was her last day before break and she slept over 13 hours! Now she’s on her phone and facebook. I want to make the most of our vacations, so I include some college visits so she can get a feel for the urban vs. rural; large vs. small; etc. And she’s been to some information sessions, and these have helped whittle some. But a process of elimination is not really they process I had in mind. I’m going to try ParentSparkle’s “Art Project.” Hopefully DD won’t feel I’m being too heavy-handed.</p>
<p>All that said, she’s checked the mail several times because she’s heard from friends that PSAT scores are coming today! Maybe now the college discussion will begin amongst her posse and that will inspire her to start exploring interests and schools!</p>
<p>Add me to the list of oversleeping daughters! I slept at least 13 hours last night after going to bed rather late .</p>
<p>I have a dream school but it’s a rough one with regards to admissions. Sometimes I freak out, especially since there is some cheating that goes on in my favorite ECs that I won’t get in or I’ll fail here and whatever. However, I then realize that well, I can only do the best I can do. So I’m just trying to change myself for the better and be 100% faithful to my commitments and I’ll let the chips fall as they may.</p>
<p>That will be a rough and busy schedule but doable if well planned. Several points to consider include the fact that some schools do not have Saturday info sessions or tours and other do. No schools that I have reviewed have Sunday admissions office activities.
You need to watch your time and drive distances when trying to do two schools in a day. In some cases it is possible but it means a lot of rushing, advance familiarity with driving routes, knowledge of each school with regards to where the admissions office is located, where to park, etc.<br>
If you do two schools in a day you may have to forgo any follow up touring or bookstore visits due to the need to get to the afternoon school.</p>
<p>Please keep us posted on your plans as there may be one or more of us who have already done it with an older child and can provide some advice. Good luck!</p>
<p>Agree with AvonHSDad that 2 schools in one day is tough, but can be doable. When we’ve done it, it was with a “lower probability” school in the morning, where we didn’t think we’d want to do more hanging out after the tours. I think we did manage to do lunch at the morning school, so we did get a little “non-scripted” view of student life. Our general plan has usually been to drive in the evening, stay overnight near the next day’s school, do tours and info sessions in the morning, eat lunch at the school, and then if interested, check out the school and area a bit more informally, or if not that interested drive early to the next location (and maybe check out that area a bit in advance). With S1 we didn’t visit classes much on our Junior year tours (but insisted upon it for the spring Senior year decision trip) but if you do want to try to visit classes it can be quite helpful, but makes the days harder to plan. With S2 (My '14er) we have done two schools and had a full day at each, so he did visit classes, and I think it’s worthwhile if you can.</p>
<p>FYI…last spring break we did find one school with Sunday an tour and inf session…UVa in Charlottesville…slight twist however with info sessions on Sundays given by students rather than the usual admissions administrative staff which may matter to some.
visited 4 schools over spring break last last year with week of beach in between…it was a good balance …hoping to strike same this year…different direction…different beach.</p>
<p>Very interesting about UVa and Sunday sessions. We did UVa a couple of years ago with S-11 but were there during the week and had an adcon. I think the sunday student session might have been better, however. The session we attended was the worst we have been to out of approximately 20 colleges over the past 2 - 3 years. Complete turn off and lack of pertinent information. She just rambled for 45 minutes.</p>
<p>School visits and beach trips work well. That’s what we did last summer. We visited three schools on the way to the beach and one on the return trip home (all in the Carolinas).</p>
<p>When signing up for tours online at UVa there is a link in big blue lettering “Register for information sessions and tours”. If you are interested in either who will be leading, or the location of the session (on occasion these are held in the Chapel due to space constraints from construction), further down the page is listed “Monthly Schedules” and you will see PDF’s by each month. There you will see where each session will be held and if a session will be student led. For example, in December there were no student led admissions chats, or any held in the Chapel. In January four admission chats are student led, none are in the Chapel. In February eight sessions are student led, four are held in the Chapel. Looking at the PDF can help you plan ahead if either of these things are something that you would prefer not to be part of your visit. It’s a very personal choice. I’m just putting this information out there for planning purposes. I would assume like anything else these schedules are subject to change with unforeseen circumstances and it would be good to check ahead to make sure these things haven’t changed if they are important to you.</p>
<p>Best info session: student-run session at WPI.</p>
<p>Worst info session: adcom-run session at MIT. They also had the worst (student-run) campus tour. The day was horrible (freezing rain) and the young tour guide followed the “standard” tour which had us standing around outside while she talked. She also didn’t take the opportunity to show us all the tunnels and 2nd floor walkways between buildings that can be used precisely to avoid going outside in that kind of weather, and would have been the perfect thing to show off on that day!</p>
<p>Tours and info sessions are isolated glimpses into the campus being visited…often yielding fickle impressions. As it turns out, DS14 was turned off by the student run info session at UVa…felt the girl was somewhat ditzy and disorganized. I really liked the school and especially liked the tour guide, but for my son the damage was already done by the info session. Son also came away I think wanting a more diverse student body…geographically speaking…something close to 70% of UVa are from Virginia (being a state school). So I guess the visit did clarify some things for DS14</p>
<p>Funniest (& most frustrating) college tour story so far for us was at Columbia this fall. Horrible, horrible weather…drenching downpour all day! DS14 who potentially is interested in engineering was scheduled for an info session (informative, but with hundreds of others in large room…sitting in back row), an excellent tour guide for a general campus tour, then finally a tour specific for the engineering school…really the most pertinent for us that day.
As tour started the rain turned almost horizontal…my umbrella malfunctioned and engineering son miraculously (at least to me) manages to fix the umbrella. We proceed following tour with bent bodies and umbrellas thrusting forward. After a couple of minutes of trudging along, my son turns to announce that whomever we were then following was not even on the dang tour
…that’s right we had gotten completely disconnected AND LOST from the actual tour…which had apparently ducked into a building to dodge rain while we briefly attended to our umbrella issues. Oh well at least our lunch was good…</p>
<p>@mathmomvt … thanks so much for the suggestion on starting a thread on the College Search forum. I did just that and have several really good suggestions. So thank you!</p>
<p>I really am excited for this trip - I think it’s definitely going to be an eye opener for DD14 as to what she likes, doesn’t like, etc. Who know? After spending a bazillion hours in the car, she may opt for staying in-state! (Knowing my kid, I don’t think so!)</p>
<p>It’s also a part of the country we’ve never really driven through … the older I get the more I really want to SEE parts of this country, and not just fly over them to get to the bigger cities.</p>
<p>KaMaMom, glad that worked out for you! Those folks are amazing over there :)</p>
<p>vandy, fun tour (not!) It is true and somewhat unfortunate that a single snapshot will influence our kids so much, but what can you do? Ultimately they have to pare down those lists anyhow, so if something turns them off (even “unfairly”) at least it’s a kind of progress. My S1 mostly thought everyplace was “OK” except one that we actually left early, it was so clearly a poor fit. He refrained from getting excited about any schools until he was in and knew we could afford them – apparently we primed him well. (We didn’t tell him not to get excited, but did tell him that the final decision would depend in part on the $$$)</p>
<p>For some reason, Santa did not like the Knicks today (go figure – they have the right name). But he got S’14 and D’11 what they asked for via certain specific emails to me which included links and prices.</p>
<p>Saw Les Mis with a girlfriend, her college aged daughter, and D – theatre was packed – movie was good – very impressed by Anne Hathaway’s singing voice but especially Amanda Seyfried – operatic in quality and range.</p>
<p>Tomorrow, back to work. SAT tutor for S. Short break for him; longer break for D.</p>
<p>Here’s hoping everyone had a decent day and chance to catch up on sleep.</p>
<p>And as Tiny Tim would say: Oh Lakers fans – God Bless you everyone.</p>
<p>Wondering if anyone has advice for students who tend to be on the shy/humble side when it comes to interviews, etc. D has always struggled with the idea of talking about her accomplishments/experiences. She feels uncomfortable, gets fearful that it may be seen as bragging. This is something she has always struggled with - she never seems to get excited about doing well, or winning - she prefers to downplay it and worries about the feelings of others (not wanting to draw attention to herself because she feels that doing so might hurt feelings of others). I am glad that she is empathetic, and see it as just one of the many awesome things about her; however, I worry how this will come across in interviews with folks who do not know her. And at the same time, I don’t want her to be anything but herself. </p>
<p>I am new to CC, and am grateful for all of the advice (and sharing of the highs and lows) I have read about on these forums. Any thoughts on this topic would be greatly appreciated. And if I am posting in the wrong place, please let me know where this should go :)</p>
<p>My S1 was also pretty shy about “bragging” in interviews, <em>especially</em> when it comes to academic strengths. Our society teaches bright kids to hide that, much more than, say, athletes. And girls tend to be even more reluctant than boys to “brag” about themselves.</p>
<p>What I told him (and it does seem to be sinking in) is that there’s a time and a place for bragging, and resumes and interviews are it. The first time this came up for my son was a job interview, for a camp job, so it was probably easier, since his academic strengths were mostly irrelevant (and the people interviewing him had known him for years, and were well aware of his relevant strengths anyhow). He only had 1 college interview (which I don’t think went particularly well) but he has since apparently mastered the art of the job interview, and got himself a good job in his field last summer. (It really helps that he has an EC where he develops and practices very job-relevant skills, and he loves it, so he has something he can talk enthusiastically about.) He has definitely learned how to talk about his academic strengths in the context of a job interview. </p>
<p>In a one-on-one interview, she should have less concern about hurting the feelings of others that did not do so well (since they wouldn’t be in the room). That is a time for her to shine, and to “show off” what she’s really good at. You could try roleplaying it a bit. Help her find something she can talk enthusiastically about. (I think that’s more important than re-iterating things they can find on her resume/application.) Hopefully she can find a way to speak proudly about her strengths without feeling like she has to be someone other than who she really is. Good luck!</p>
<p>My D is similar (I was like that too at that age), does not like to talk about “her”. When she had to write an essay for a summer internship, I encouraged her to write about her strengths. But that didn’t work too well because she felt like she was bragging. I suggested several different things, in the end writing about what she was passionate about worked much better. </p>
<p>I think it is easier to talk about “work” than the person themselves and interviewers actually like that (too many "I"s tend to be taxing anyway). Encourage her to talk about the work she has been doing either at the school or outside.</p>
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The session we attended was the worst we have been to out of approximately 20 colleges over the past 2 - 3 years. Complete turn off and lack of pertinent information. She just rambled for 45 minutes.</p>
That’s what we did last summer. We visited three schools on the way to the beach and one on the return trip home (all in the Carolinas).</p>