Questions on summer visits

Parents Forum
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<p>I have been lurking on cc for several months now and am amazed at the knowledge of the people on this site. I have a question I hope people can help me with.</p>

<p>My s is finishing his sophomore year. Due to time constraints, college visits during the school year are not really possible so we are basically down to two summers left. We will be visiting the northeast this summer to see some relatives and I am hoping to visit one or two colleges.</p>

<p>When we visit, should we attend the formal campus tours and info. sessions? Do people 'sign in' when they attend these sessions? At what level do you think my s should interact with the admission office- should he stop by or just keep a low profile during the visit.</p>

<p>I am guessing that one of the schools we tour will probably be one of his top choices. Is there any way this visit could hurt him during the application process in a few years? As this will be his first college visit he may not be as comfortable asking questions or even know what questions to ask. We may or may not be able to get back to this school in the future.</p>

<p>Thanks for your help.</p>

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<p>It can't hurt to sign in, it can only help. They will just note that he has toured and attended the info sessions in their computer file. No one will record whether he asked questions or what he said or anything specific about him. One of the colleges my D applied to had noted that she had visited in her file (in the fall of her junior year) and told me that she did not need to come back for an interview unless she wanted to - she was already "marked in" as having visited.</p>

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<p>I think that college visits are fun and nothing to be worried about. Think of the college process like purhasing a home. First you look at the surrounding area and see if it has everything you want including great schools. You then look at all the houses available to see if they have everything you want. You might choose one that's on the outer limits of what you can afford. You make an offer. Then you bite your nails and wait to see if they will accept it.</p>

<p>College visits are the same way; this is the time when the adcoms and the schools are trying to impress you, not the other way around. You and your son want to get as much information as you possibly can to find out if it fits. Yes, by all means do the information session, the tour and if an interview is suggested then do one of those too. At the interviews your son will be asked questions about his interests and his curriculum. Most adcoms are used to nervous kids and are experienced in putting them at ease. My tip for the best visit is to find a student that is already in the intended major and get all the information out of them. </p>

<p>We've found that with the exception of one school, tour guides tend to be outgoing, and not at all technically minded. For my computer minded son it was a disappointing tour where the focus was on ec's, meal plans and dorm rooms. The best visits were when he met with students in his interest area and could talk to them and when he was able to sit in on classes.</p>

<p>I found summer visits to be very disappointing. While it's tricky to schedule visits during school time, if you're creative it can work. My junior son will have visited 8 colleges by the time he is done this school year and will have only have missed 3 days of school. Back to the house analogy, it's like looking at an empty room and trying to picture what it would look like with furniture. Looking at an empty or almost empty college gives you no sense of how it feels with students. BUT, if it's the only opportunity to visit, then go for it. We're vacationing in Arizona in June and plan to stop by Northern Arizona U, just because my son has never seen a Western college and my SIL lives about an hour from it.</p>

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<p>yes I would attend formal sessions- you will get valuable information espcially from listening to and talking with other parents and students.
We didn't go on many tours- but toured schools close to us to get the feel of different kinds of schools, and still gained something by listening to others who are in the same process.
I don't think it hurts to stop by admission if he is interested they may have names & # of alumni or current students that he can contact if he has other questions.
I don't think it would hurt him and I feel that a visit is so important for many students in choosing colleges that I would recommend it even if it might potentially hurt him ( which I don't feel it will :) )</p>

5

<p>First, WELCOME to the posting ranks, TooTiredMom! (love the name!)</p>

<p>It is highly unlikely that anything your son does during an exploratory visit (short of starting a fire LOL) would "hurt" him in regular admissions. I do recommend attending the information sessions and taking a tour. You are there -- why not make the most of the opportunity? You will likely be in a large group and any questions your son asks are not likely to be documented. While people are asked to sign in (for mailing list and tracking purposes) this can only help your son, as it will indicate a level of interest in the school that can only be perceived as positive. So absolutely do sign in so there is a record of his visit.</p>

<p>While at the info session people may be asked to identify themselves and where they are from, I have not noticed admissions people taking notes on questions asked, etc. You can attend these things and still be pretty anonymous. He can feel free to sit back and listen to the questions of others. He will not be graded or evaluated on this occasion! But if he does have a question he wants to explore, let him go for it! </p>

<p>He may want to note the name of the presenter in case he later wants to e-mail any follow-up questions. Some students do take notes on the info session information.</p>

<p>Again, welcome to the posting ranks and have fun with the college shopping!</p>

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<p>It would help to know which type of schools you are visiting - Yale, Harvard, etc probably don't give 2 flips whether you visit or not, a LAC does care. Having said that, I wouldn't bother doing too much, it is too early. Have him sign in, fill out the info card, go to the info session at the school you suspect will be a top choice, but play the others by ear. Take the official tour at all the schools, mainly because in the summer that might be his only contact with a student, again depending on the type of school.
If classes are in session, eat at the cafeteria/student union, and keep your ears open.
An important thing at this stage is don't burn him out on visits this early. Our time was limited, and we had to visit in the summer as well. Even so, you want to save energy for the visits with interviews next summer. Goal 1 = what type,size,location of school is he interested in, and is there any specific program or major that he needs (like art or engineering), everything else is lagniappe. And, starting this summer is SMART, you and he will be glad you did, even if he entirely changes his mind next summer.</p>

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<p>TTM:</p>

<p>We did the same last year for the same reasons. One take away I had was that the info sessions became repetitive, and much of what was learned could be learned on tour. Thus, if time is short, I'd recommend tour only for a first pass to get a flavor for the school, its kids (the guide is a representative), and its offerings The other take away is what kathiep said: like real estate, colleges all have their own curb appeal: we went to one college which is highly thought of by many (and on this board), but S didn't want to get out of the car. </p>

<p>Definitely sign in.</p>

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<p>it wasn't that long ago that I wanted my daughter to have swim lessons.
To sign up at the neighborhood pool- if you weren't already taking lessons required waiting in line for over an hour as it was first come first served.
after I had done this ( and she s*said* she wanted lessons- she wouldn't get out of the car at all.
A week later she tried again- she got as far as standing on edge of the pool with her suit on, but it was apparently too big and too noisy or something and after that she refused to go.
I sprung for individual lessons a year or so after wards which worked very well- it was very expensive compared to the city pool, but she learned how to swim!
For her- I guess visits will be very important
( tops on her list- Hawaii and New Zealand)
;)</p>

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<p>TTM: yes, do visit schools but do try to go when they are in session. Otherwise your view of the school will be (as ours was) of a neat and seemingly well-kept campus with the only humans being the admissions folks, student tour guides, and the tourists. Better if one could see the place populated with actual students.</p>

<p>From your posts it sounds as if you already have certain schools in mind. If so, here's a suggestion. For any number of reasons you may be adding names to that list, or completely revising it as time goes by in the college search process. It would be a good idea to therefore get your S's reactions to different types of campuses - urban/rural, larger/smaller, classic New England/not-so-classic, etc., as well as the people and attitudes that come with them. So try to schedule a mishmosh of visits if possible.</p>

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<p>Definitely sign in and take the formal tours. And try to reexamine your school-year schedules so your S can visit the schools he is most interested in while they are in session. Sitting in on a class and talking with students other than the tour guides can be very useful exercises.</p>

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<p>Hi and welcome - my H and S found that a great time to visit, if you can swing it, is late August/early Sept., like right around Labor Day. By then, most private universities and LACs are in session, perhaps finishing the first or second week of school, but most HSs haven't begun yet. There are many advantages:</p>

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<p>H and S saw two schools that way - each for a few leisurely days - and could have easily seen a few more during the week they were away. I recommend it. Much better than a summer visit to a nearly empty campus.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the replies.</p>

<p>Unfortunately the kids go back to school in mid-August and then they are finished by Memorial Day so an end of the summer trip is not possible (though that was a great idea).</p>

<p>Our school board, in their infinite wisdom, has also done away with several holidays during the school year. We get three days off at Thanksgiving, Christmas break, Spring Break, Good Friday and that is it. </p>

<p>I think we will do the campus tours and info. sessions. It also sounds like a good idea to sign in. We will probably keep it low key this summer- just let him see a few variations to perhaps start to formulate some preferences.</p>

<p>Thanks again for your thoughts.</p>

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<p>TTM -
"We will probably keep it low key this summer- just let him see a few variations to perhaps start to formulate some preferences."</p>

<p>Exactly. And so he can start to learn how to visit and evaluate a school. As I posted I realized that some high schools do start quite early. But perhaps others with school calendars more like ours can benefit from the idea. State schools are often in session during the summer if you'll be doing some of those....</p>

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<p>TooTiredMom, Because we live overseas were only able to visit in the summer. I agree that it's not ideal, but it's not a big negative either. We combined the visits with sightseeing and summer related activities and had a great time!</p>

<p>The colleges are set up for summer (and holiday) visitors, so even though the kids are absent, the adcom is rocking and rolling. We visited 14 colleges, attended info sessions and tours at all and our son interviewed wherever possible, which turned out to be 8 out of 14. For most kids the option of following up a summer visit with an on campus overnight after acceptance (or when the list is more focused) is an effective combination.</p>

<p>There seem to be two approaches on keeping track of visits: those that care and those that do not. As a general statement (I'm sure there are exceptions) the LACs care a lot. </p>

<p>The information sessions and tours are fairly anonymous. If you or your son asks a "stupid" question, no one will notice or remember. I'd recommend that you join a couple info sessions. I sure wish I had done so early on. We woke up in Fall of junior year and decided, Hey, let's go to college! Your approach is more sensible, believe me.</p>

<p>Of course, the interviews are more personal, but I'd not recommend that your son interview this year. He should either make a second visit after his junior year or arrange for an alumni/ae interview in your area. It's too early and his understanding of the process is too preliminary to interview just yet.</p>

<p>The tours are optional. You can learn a lot on a tour or you can pretty much conduct your own. The major advantage of the tours (to me) was a chance to see the dorms and classrooms. It really helped us visualize what college life was going to be like. In any event, make sure have a meal at the dining hall and wander around campus and the surrounding town. You can also visit departments or facilities that may be of special interest. For example, my son is interested in studio art. Only one of the 14 colleges we visited actually included the art studio on its official tour. </p>

<p>Another positive of visiting in between sophomore and junior year is that you have more time to visit a range of school types. Even if you know that your son is going to concentrate on the North East, it's good to expose him to large/small, state/private, rural/suburban/urban, frat/no frat, liberal/less so o[tions . Visits can (and do!) change preconceptions. It's early, be open minded.</p>

<p>And lastly, in keeping with the CC golden rule of love thy safety, don't start with HYPM or AWS. It's so easy to fall in love with the super selectives, and after that the earth-bound choices seem unappealing. The earlier that you can indoctrinate an appreciation for some less selectives the better, and it takes a lot of trial and error to find one that is loveable, especially in the North East.</p>

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<p>TooTiredMom, thank you for delurking and starting this very handy thread - because I've been thinking of asking similar questions about visiting during the summer. We're headed down to the Outer Banks of NC in mid August, and it might just work out to swing by a college or two...and I wondered if it would be "worth it" or not. </p>

<p>momrath - excellent reminders in your last two paragraphs! Indoctrinate - early and often! ;) Seriously, though, you are so right about wanting to knock out those preconceptions - both parents' and students'. :)</p>

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<p>I really want to emphasize the visits starting in the late summer of rising junior year. I don't get the "laying low" part at all. There are just not enough days to see colleges if you wait until Spring of junior year. Many, many colleges end in early May. With SAT's and AP's to study for, sports, concerts, etc, Spring is a very busy time of year for Juniors and if you just start "seriously" visiting around Presidents Day weekend it's very easy to run out of time before colleges are out for the summer. </p>

<p>After having gone through the spring and summer visits with my daughter and then going through the same visits PLUS adding fall and even winter visits for my son, I much prefer the latter. With my son it was also very important to just get the ball rolling. Truely, once he visited his first college he was so much more interested in seeing more and started thinking about the whole thing. Talking to other junior boys, they just seem so unknowledgeable about the college search. </p>

<p>If there is one piece of advice I would give to Sophomore parents right now it would be to start researching colleges this spring, look over hs and college calendars and then hit the road with their rising junior students.</p>

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<p>TooTiredMom - Welcome to the group!</p>

<p>There's lots of good advice above. As others have said it's really important to start visits now, if for no other reason than to get some idea of the kinds of college environments you son may be interested in. With DD UFlorida was "too big" and Bucknell was "too isolated." After that it was easy (except for finding a safety she liked -- but that's another topic - LOL). Unfortunately the kids make the campus, so any summer visit conclusions should be taken with the proverbial grain of salt. There won't be many students to talk to or classes to attend of professors to meet. Additionally summer visits are "out of season" weather wise. And there may be a lot of construction/renovation going on. So much for the bad. On the positive side you'll catch the admissions people during their quiet period, so you can speak with them at length. Do sign in, and do get the business card of any admissions person you speak with. These will come in handy later if your son decides to apply.</p>

<p>Lastly as the summer progresses, start preparing your Fall/Spring college visit plan. Not only will creating this plan force your son to make some preliminary decisions, but it will help you decide how to "manage" your son's Junior year college visit absences. College visits were considered an unexcused absence at my D's high school, even though these visits were highly recommended by the GC. Some of the excuses we used for Junior year visits to Boston, Washington DC, Atlanta, New Orleans, St. Louis and Los Angeles (you can probably guess the schools) were, ah, creative. You may want to ask what the policy is at your son's HS.</p>

<p>Good luck with you son's college search. Early college visits will be some of your best memories of this lengthy and sometimes aggravating process!</p>

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<p>We did a lot of our college visits when schools weren't in session because that was the only way they were all going to get done. My daughter was somewhat uncomfortable with the idea of attending a college without having been there when the students were, so I offered this solution--If she had to make a decision, in the month of April, between schools she hadn't visited when classes were being held, I would get her back to those schools at that time. I have to admit, though, that was a relatively easy promise to make because no school was farther than a long day's drive away and because she was finished with high school in February.</p>

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<p>I loved our college visits. It is certainly more fun than paying for college!
I believe that if you visited two identical colleges, one during summer, and one during the school year, you would pick the one that you visited during the school year 90% of the time or more.</p>

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<p>We did all types of visits, whenever the opportunity was available...during the school year, during summer, and some even over Winter break. My student was gone on a class trip during Spring break Junior year, so that was not an option. Most visits took place during our summer vacation after his Junior year. We planned this "vacation" specifically to look at colleges, with some fun breaks woven into the schedule. We enjoyed the one on one time, especially knowing he was heading off the next year. (My younger child went to visit a family member, and had a great time too). </p>

<p>Some schools are in session during summer (most larger universities, Dartmouth, etc.). Others because of their popularity were quite busy despite not being in session (Brown). The schools we saw during Winter Break (right before Christmas) were absolutely dead, and I would not advise it. We just happened to be in the area, and Admissions was open, so we took advantage of it. However, it still gave us a feel for the campus, the size, the location, the departments of interest, etc. </p>

<p>We learned a lot during our summer visits. The information sessions are the same. The campus tours are informative. Many of the professors are in their offices, and open to interruptions. My son did not typically sit in on any classes anyway, even if he visited while school was in session. We felt that like tour guides, those are so "hit or miss". You could sit in on a great class with a great professor, or you could end up in a boring one -- anywhere. </p>

<p>The biggest disadvantage of summer was not being able to get a feel for the student body. But there are other options to help overcome this. We picked up school newspapers (old but still informative), and read reviews where possible (typically biased, but still informative). Live Journal communities, are often an option. We also felt that if it came down to a decision dilemma, we would try if possible, to go back to the college when in session, and many schools have "Admitted Student" days specifically for this purpose.</p>