@2muchquan The teen who sat next tome in plane forgot to bring earphones so I gave her mine (freebies from Frontier airline).
Umbrella, snow gear (warm hat/gloves/warm boots/jackets) depending on where you go.
It snowed two days, rained 2 days, and was sunny for a day for us. We are heading home to dig our car out of a foot of snow.
It was a ** Mob Scene ** at Info sessions and tours everywhere. This is our first and will be last spring break college tour. However, I donât see how we would have done differently with our DS17. Still I think it is better than doing it in summer. Half the schools were on spring break. So much for visiting schools âwhile in session.â Glad it is done.
@mtrosemom Thank you for the info on ASU. It has moved up on ddâs list.
@Gator88NE Do you know what criteria are required for the instate tuition waiver at FSU? If dd could get a waiver, it would be a consideration. I need to make an appt to meet with an admissions officer if she pursues FSU bc it is next to impossible to quantify her courses via their drop down menu format, so I am not sure how she should fill it out.
For example, she did not take AP French. I am not even sure what yr AP French would have been. At one of our dept meetings I had her bring a recent French essay and asked if the prof would read it since we have no way to categorize her level. She said she would be happy to. After she read it, so told dd it was not just good, but very good and that she had never seen a freshman enter with that level of ability. She said some of their srs werenât writing that well. When we asked if she should DE, the response was an emphatic no. She said whatever dd is doing is excellent and that she would need to be uniquely placed anyway, so keep up whatever it is.
Great! But FSUâs self-reporting menu is completely inadequate for that. We encountered the same issue with ds when he applied to one school. It was a school he needed a scholarship in order to attend. He was admitted but w/o scholarship $$. I didnât ask admissions for help using the menu and it probably cost him the scholarship. But, he had lots of great options. Dd really doesnât and canât afford a mistake like that.
Gator88 Thank you so much for the information! Iâll look into it. So for the OOS tuition waivers, is that connected to academic qualifications or to athletic potential? I.e., through admissions or through the coach? Weâve looked at very few OOS schools (except for a couple of meets full need but very reachy ones) because we canât swing OOS tuition in any scenario. We are eligible for significant Pell but we would lose the NYS TAP grant if we go out of state, which also needs to be considered.
BUT if we could get instate ratesâŠdefinitely something to look at.
@payn4ward wow, sorry your tours didnât go well. That sounds awful. Info sessions are the least informative way of finding out about a school. I really dislike them anyway. Yours sound particularly horrible.
@mtrosemom thanks for the detailed info on Barrett! I keep going back and forth on that one. Itâs one of the top honors colleges out there and highly ranked in Dâs major but the scholarship money isnât quite what weâre looking for. Iâll check again to see if there is any possibility of stacking. Glad you had a productive college tour.
I see that FSU lists their mandatory health insurance costs in their cost of attendance. Good for them! I wish more schools did. It was pretty stressful when DDâ14 suddenly was charged $2000 for health insurance because they didnât think our high deductible insurance was sufficient coverage.
We worked out a solution, but if this is your first time through the process, be aware that this is a common requirement even if itâs not listed in the cost of attendance up front.
Wow, @payn4ward that does sound kind of awful! Sorry about that. One reason we chose to go south is so that we wouldnât have to deal with cold temps. So weâre getting out of the Midwest. Rain is something we may well have to deal with, though. Temps in NC/SC look like theyâll be in the low 70s tho. We had to juggle the order of school visits due to days off, and some tours were only specific days. UofSC I think only does Honors info session on Fridays, so thatâs our last school visit. No spring breaks, but some schools didnât have tours on Easter Monday.
Re: Barrett, that has been on our list too. Even though itâs pretty far away, we have family in the area, so thatâs a bonus. I think it would be worth a harder look, for NMFs especially. We are on the bubble there, and Iâm going to keep low expectations with regard to NMF. There is guaranteed scholarship $, and it passes the âno pants neededâ criteria. I like it a lot, but D only hears the party school rap. Lots of good videos on YouTube and Vimeo etc.
I also wanted to say, we are kind of stuck with the generic info sessions at school visits. I donât feel we have specific questions re: D desired program of study (not exactly sure) to ask good questions. We are focusing this trip on Honors programs for those schools that have them, and then winging it at the others I guess.
Even if you donât have specific questions, sitting in a class might be interesting. Ddâs stress level went down after she sat in on a class. She was like, seriously, that is a college class?? I donât know what she expected. 
@2muchquan
Pack some: patience, useful for when D judges schools based on their nearby thrift shops. Really, thrifting is a good way to check out neighborhoods.
Resilience: for when both of you realize after 15 minutes that a school you had high hopes for and planned the day around is just not a fit. Time to recalculate, figure out something fun to do after you leave early and bounce back.
If your kid may be applying to the University of California system, they have just announced the first overhaul of their essay prompts in 10 years. Instead of 2 longer essays, there are 8 questions, and students respond 4 of them in 350 words each.
They say they will have more guidance later in spring. They used to tell kids not to write the slice-of-life, anecdote-with-a-moral style essays that seem to do well for Common App essays. The advice was to avoid creative writing, scene-setting, etc. and just tell the adcoms why you would be a good candidate. I donât know if that advice will still be true.
Hi guys! Just got back from North Carolina college trip and itâs good to be home. I tried to read up on everything but itâs too late now to even respond!!! Just happy to be in warm weather and not snow like some of you are getting. I think our college tours are finished as they all seem to say the same things, just different campusâ. My D has decided to definitely do ED to vandy especially after seeing her sister get waitlisted 2 days ago and flat out rejected from Duke last nIght. Not sure what else she could do, straight Aâs, 13 APs, stellar SAT, national merit scholar (just found out last night which helped her mood) great ECâs, terrific essays. Itâs been quite eye opening. Unfortunately she is the upper middle class white girl with no other hook. But enough about that.
Both kids love to read but there isnât much time with all of their homework and after school activities. The other day my D17 was reading for school the book âthe strangerâ. My husband read it 22 years ago and when my D turned one of the pages she found a note from me to my husband giving him directions to my apt. in NYC from his apt. on Long Island from when we were dating! She showed me first to make sure it was directions for her dad and not some other guy I dated! Made me smile and my kids thought it was so cute. Just thought Iâd share!
I want to echo what @mdcmom wrote about medical insurance. I have to provide detailed info on my medical plan each year for my older son, and then the university decides if the plan is generous enough. Our plan has a VERY hefty out-of-network deductible, and I was a bit surprised they approved the plan last year. A friend had to appeal the universityâs original denial. If required to enroll in the universityâs medical insurance, the cost would be another $2K/year. The worst of it is that the plan provides lousy coverage in our home area!
@greeny8 â that is the most adorable story about the note found inside the book!
@Mom2aphysicsgeek
@mdcmom The OOS waiver is academic. But I wouldnât be surprised if the partial scholarships also come with an OOS tuition waiver. Itâs worth looking into.
FSU doesnât publish the criteria for the OOS tuition waiver, but in the FSU forum you can find the stats of kids that got offered the waiver (and in some cases, additional scholarships). For example, in 2014, one got it with 31 ACT and a fairly high GPA (top 2% of class at a public high school). Just search the FSU forum for OOS waiver or Out of state waiver. Hereâs another example from last year(2/2015):
A lot of the Florida public universities offer OOS merit based scholarships, but with a few exceptions (like New College of Florida), they donât publish criteria. All (expect FSU and UF) are on rolling admissions, so itâs best to apply early in the cycle (September/October or there about) to increase your chances at a merit award. I think all (including UF/FSU) still only charge a $30 admission fee. Check out the UCF and USF forum for examples of OOS merit awards and student stats.
The SSAR (student self-reported academic record) was setup with Florida students in mind, but you should be able to use it for yours.
http://admissions.fsu.edu/freshman/ssar/
With OOS students, I think FSU (and the other schools) will focus more on Test scores/GPA and then use the SSAR to confirm rigor. FSU uses holistic admissions, but not nearly to the extent of UF. The others Publics focus much more on GPA/Test Scores. Definitely reach out to an admissions officer to get your questions answered on filling out that SSAR!
@brindlegreyhound Good suggestions! Thanks for the reminders. I will be attempting to be very Zen on our trip.
@Mom2aphysicsgeek As for sitting in on a class, Iâm hesitant on this, although do have this set up at one of our schools on this trip. Iâm afraid itâs similar to the âbad tour guideâ issue, where one bad experience doesnât mean the school/program is bad. I feel wecan go by reputation, and hope for the best 
Dunno.
@Gator88NE Thanks for the FL info, very useful. Do you know if there are plans to move FSU closer to a major airport for us northerners?
@greeny8 (or anyone) My D just asked, what should she wear on our trip to schools in NC and SC? I told her a sundress and bonnet. 
I know not to bring a college-themed umbrella, but what were most visiting kids wearing, and what were admitted students wearing?
It was in the high 60âs when we were there so us floridians wore jeans and a light sweater. I even wore a light jacket too! Most kids were wearing tshirts. When we went to UNC Iâve never seen so much school spiritâŠtons of kids wearing their Tar Heels shirts. It was extremely casual. Comfortable shoes since youâre walking for at least an hour
@2muchquan DS sat in on a class at Harvey-Mudd, and found it very useful. He sat in on a Discrete Math class, which happened to cover the same topic his community college Discrete Math class covered that week. He was able to see the difference between general coverage and a more proof-based, rigorous coverage. He could see himself enjoying Muddâs proof-based class, and had been complaining about not learning much that was new to him in the CC class.
I think sitting in on a class that seemed too easy would get the school crossed of DSâ list. But, there is probably a sweet spot between too easy and too hard.
I was shopping yesterday around the TCU area and was once again reminded of why my D would never consider the schoolâŠthe dressed up/glammed up Momâs with their sorority daughters was enough to make me wince!
@2muchquan â my son tries to sit in on a class or two whenever scheduling permits. He researches the course options in advance, writes to the prof to ask permission, and then attends. (Needless to say, I do not go to class!)
I donât know if it gives him any amazing insight into a school, but you can learn personalities of the colleges. As in, are students paying attention or texting on their phones during large lectures? Level of engagement/discussion?
He attended a couple of early AM classes at Stanford, and was surprised to be among a handful of students in the 9am lecture. Apparently the lectures are all taped, so many students watch them on their computers. Contrast this with Berkeley, where he could not even find a seat in a Friday afternoon math lecture. Was that telling about Berkeley and potential overcrowding? I donât know, but it did give us something to think about.
As to what to wearâŠI think neat/tidy is all that matters. While touring with my older son, I sometimes saw boys wearing jacket & tie and I sincerely hoped they were going directly to an interview. My son wears button down shirt untucked over khakis or shortsâŠwith running shoes, so not making any fashion statements with that combo.
When weather permits, I wear flip flops b/c my feet start hurting from walking in loafers.