Visits: We were lucky in that all of DD’s final list of schools are within a five or six hour drive from home, so visiting was pretty easy. We combined fencing tournament travel and family vacations over two summers with visits to nearby schools – to the extent that DD20 and DS23 could tolerate “yet another college tour.” DD17 visited 20+ schools before applying to 8 (well, 7 so far, 1 to go).
DS23 probably couldn’t name a single school we visited, but was impressed by the guides who walked backwards the entire tour.
I can’t imagine how hard it must be to get a feel for possible “fit” remotely! There were schools I really thought DD would love but she didn’t.
New Years QOTD: Most surprising thing you learned on a college visit?
For me, it was that you could qualify for the very low in-country tuition rate at the University of Ottawa (one of my favorite cities!) – if you can speak French well enough to take most of your course work in French language sections. U-Ottawa is bilingual and most classes have both French and English sections.
Happy New Year, my fellow parents! May the new year bring great news for our DCs. And they may find a college that is a perfect fit for them!! Bon Appetites for those in pursuing big MACs!! <:-P <:-P
Happy New Year! My D attended slumber party last night. Unfortunately, some kids canceled to attend to finish up (or polishing up) their applications. I hope they will have good results!
It will be a year of adjustment for my family. DD13 will be graduating from college, DD17 will be entering college, and DH and I will be empty nesters!!
Happy New Year everyone! DD is finishing two applications today and then she is DONE! Hopefully this means she can just relax a bit and enjoy the rest of Senior year and then have a couple of good choices come spring.
I am running to the store, I’ve decided to blow off the big New Year’s meal and cook out on the grill, hamburgers and wedge salads - have to take advantage of a beautiful, sunny January day here in Connecticut!
I did send my older D12 out to visit her top pick school before final decisions. It was all the way across the country and I really wanted to know she was comfortable with her pick. I sent her by herself , I had family in the area. We paid for airfare but the school (a small LAC) put her up in a dorm for two nights with other students. She sat in on classes and hung out with some of the kids. I found this very valuable & it really helped her feel comfortable with her decision.
S17 is only applying to large state schools. I don’t expect these schools to arrange for this type of visit. Plus he is a totally different kid and depending who’s accepting him will depend on if he visits a second time. The only think I know of is if he gets acceptances at the schools he hasn’t seen.
QOTD: S17 is an only child and this process is nothing like when we applied to college so there were several things that surprised me but I’d say I was very surprised when I learned that not all schools offer housing for 4 years.
Anyone else have a kid who can’t be bothered to go visit colleges? This morning I asked D’17 about visiting one of the last campuses on her list. It’s only a 3-hour drive away so we can take a day when she’s off school, drive up, do the tour, drive back on the same day. She gave me a harassed look and said “can’t we just do that after acceptances come out?”
It’s not like she doesn’t care about the atmosphere of a campus, or whether it’s in the middle of nowhere or you can walk to local restaurants and such. She just hates going on tours.
@dustypig my D hated tours as well, though we went on quite a few - enough to get a sense of what she liked or not. we cut out early on several - after she was like “ok, I got it”.
All the talk of peer institutions and FA, I got to thinking who exactly would they consider as peers and came across this handy little tool - it’s a bit old (2012) I’m sure there’s something newer out there, but I’m a little sluggish today after the family invasion last night lol. http://www.chronicle.com/interactives/peers-network
My dc doesn’t like tours either. If it were up to me we would have gone on many more than we did, but in retrospect dc was probably right in choosing not to. I forced the issue once and it was kind of a waste. At this point, for us it does make sense to wait for admit days for the extra programming and the chance to meet the people you would actually attend to school with.
@AngelaD - Thanks for the clarification. D travelled on her own on a fly-in and the plan was for me to fly in at the end to pick her up, but that didn’t work out so well, and I spent my time in the ER after taking a swan dive in front of Admissions (great way to make an impression!)
I’ll probably go to Bull Dog Days, especially if indeed D’s planning on attending Yale. I probably won’t for the scholarships weekends, esp. if we might end up going over Spring Break once other acceptances are in. I would ultimately like to take a peek at wherever she decides to go help her negotiate the bureaucracy if that would be helpful (she will need some level of accommodation for physical/medical stuff and whatever else might crop up – FA, for example).
DD decided to take Barnard off the list. I think she’s app’d out but she said she probably wouldn’t go there anyways she’d rather go to Howard so no use spending the money and time on app. So she has two more due, one on the 5th and one on the 15th, then she’s done. 10 total. So glad it’s almost over.
For the most part I have lurked … but I want to thank those of you who have shared so wholeheartedly on this thread. You have made me laugh, cry and inspired me through this wild time as my eldest prepares for college❤️ I can’t believe that we are in 2017… which has been a fictional year for so long in my home (class of 2017). My heart is both breaking at the thought of him leaving as well as bursting with excitement for him to find his path in this world. Again, thank you for walking with me into the year 2017!
Welcome @What???!! “My heart is both breaking at the thought of him leaving as well as bursting with excitement for him to find his path in this world. Again, thank you for walking with me into the year 2017.”
@What???!! You captured my feelings exactly! DD just finished all but a couple apps due in a few days. It just doesn’t feel real yet. And neither will next September! I’m so glad to have this part over with, it’s been hanging over her head for so long. Good luck to all the seniors and parents out there!