<p>I am a high school junior right now, and as I put together my plans for college visits and line them up next to school schedules, work shifts, little brother's soccer camp, my summer job, etc., it is becoming clearer and clearer that there are few times from now until next fall/winter that my parents and I are all available at the same time to go college visiting. The plan right now looks like I'ma be hopping a couple Peter Pan buses out to Western Mass. to go on at least the instate visits. </p>
<p>I suppose my question is (and this is why I am invading your parent forum): from a parental perspective, how important do y'all feel it is for parents to be there on the college visits? I know my mum wants to go, but it's probably not going to work out unless we try reallyreallyreallyreallyreally hard to do so (ie, rearrange almost everything); is a parental absence going to be detrimental, do y'all think?</p>
<p>Flip side: parental presence helpful but not necessary. Being able to split up and attend different events happening at the same time or having two sets of eyes/ears to compare notes of a presentation afterwards are all helpful.</p>
<p>If going solo, I'd recommend two things: a small spiral notebook and at least two pens and a digital camera with a decent memory card. </p>
<p>Also, explore CC, the various guidebooks, etc., and come up with any college-specific "issues" that you want to get a sense of. In the speed and stress of the moment, you may otherwise forget some things and it's good to have a list of points as a security blanket if nothing else.</p>
<p>I think adult ears are often a little bit better at spotting the hype and salesmanship, some of which is fairly subtle, that's pandemic in visiting. </p>
<p>Have a good idea of why you think each college is a "fit" for you so that you can speak intelligently to an admissions officer if the chance arises or if you've made an appointment. Practice speaking without all the "Umms" and "ahhs."</p>
<p>Peter Pan to Western Mass, eh? Lessee...Amherst, Smith, Mount Holyoke?</p>
<p>Smith, Hampshire, I'll probably drop by UMass if only to visit a couple friends in the Central dorms. Oh Five College Consortium, how we love thee...</p>
<p>My daughter did all her visits alone and it worked out well for her. I can't think of any downside, actually, other than transporation issues. My daughter's visits were all in urban areas, so she could rely on public transit & taxis to get wherever she wanted to go. She had one interview that she thought went really well, at Barnard... and sure enough, she was accepted, so I guess she was right about the interview. :)</p>
<p>Be aware that it can be difficult to impossible to get a motel room for a minor. As long as you have accomodations on campus, it shouldn't be a problem. Do you have a friend that could go with you? It should be a fun adventure. I will say that I had a ball doing the college visit circuit with my D. I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Great father/daughter bonding time.</p>
<p>Best wishes with the college visits. I accompanied my daughter on some of them. Some places have a parents only meeting. Anyhow as TheDad said, take a notebook with you. Before you go ask your parents if they have any questions. Parents are looking at this through a different set of eyes. Enjoy!</p>
<p>I loved the college visits with my son and daughter. I think I was able to point out things that they would have missed and I liked talking through the review afterwards. That said, my son visited two colleges, RIT and Allegheny, without me and without taking any notes or pictures was able to make a decision to not apply (RIT) and not attend (Allegheny) without any parental input. As a parent, my concern would be transportation and accomodations as the above posters already mentioned. Make sure to take your cell phone - and charger!</p>
<p>Ditto - transportation and accomodations are a big deal if visiting far from home (as in - can't drive own car). I think it was also a nice bonding experience and a good idea to compare notes on what our perceptions were ( sometimes quite different! )</p>
<p>Be sure to talk to your friends about the visits. Who knows, you may be able to collaborate on some of the hard-to-reach places. I'm sure your parents would feel more comfortable about you traveling with another student, especially the first few visits.</p>
<p>When my daughter did her visiting, she generally stayed with friends in the area, including staying in dorm rooms of kids who attended nearby colleges. So hotel accommodations never entered into the picture.</p>
<p>If you are going during summer, schools might not be able to accoodate you with overnight visits so you have to plan for that. Otherwise I would recomend arranging for meetings with faculty, coaches, admission person, fin aid person, profs if available. We went with our D but mostly kept to ourselves while she had all meetings and discussions. I love checking bookstores- very informative, you can judge a lot by what kind of books are sold there. Same things with libraries.
You can also visit close schools to figure out what type of school is most attractive to you- big, small, urban, residential etc. and then plan more distant colleges with your interests in mind.</p>