Spring College Visit Trip to Acceptances

Parent Cafe
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<p>A lot of my schools are in the middle of no where, but my preference is just more suburban. However, I’m not going to cross a school out just because it’s rural. I love Juniata, but it’s rural. That’s the only con, but I would still love to go there. It’s just going to depend on the actual visit. I would go to a college which is rural though.</p>

<p>When you do these college estimators does it include the plus loans for my parents? Do both your parents have to take this loan out or only one? Which schools on my list offer the best financial aid usually?</p>

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<p>Too preppy? Too greek? Too rural? Too athletic? Better, IMO, to focus on the positives-- do they have the programs you are interested in and are they affordable? No school is perfect. Whether one rural school is more rural than another seems to be focusing on the minutae, which is not where you should be focusing. Do keep in mind, that it is more expensive to travel to a rural campus, so calculate into your cost of attendance. Some schools may have shuttles from the airport, but others may not. </p>

<p>To answer your financial aid questions, you should read the many threads already on this topic in the FA forum on CC. And work harder to bolster that app to GCSU, especially if you dont want to end up at Valdosta or another state school.</p>

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<p>Another way to whittle down your list - Ursinus is very structured in their approach to college, many required courses with little flexibility (a lab course is required but they only offer the basic ones - Bio, Chem, etc.), not a lot of flexibility in your major requirements either, and few “create your own” classes or majors. Knox and Beloit are much more loose in their approach with much more flexibility in both their required courses and their major requirements, plus much more prone to students creating their own classes and majors. The differences will be even greater once you’re at the school - do you need the flexibility or do you need a more structured learning environment? I’ve got two kids and one insists on the former, one on the latter. What works for you, and please don’t say either because you’re fooling yourself if you think that.</p>

<p>You are all over the spectrum with your application choices, again, figuring out what works best for you would certainly narrow your list and your visiting dilemma.</p>

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<p>When worrying about whether a school is “too rural” or not, pay attention to whether students typically ever leave campus for anything. Sometimes it barely matters where the campus is located. Getting to rural campuses is a good point though. Once it comes down to making a final choice, figure out how exactly you could get home without being picked up by mom and dad (i.e. coming home for Thanksgiving, etc.), how long it would take and how much it would cost. That was one factor my S had on his spreadsheet when making final decisions. A minor factor, but one to be aware of nonetheless.</p>

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<p>OP-
You might want to read this thread <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1250945-psa-make-sure-there-least-one-safety-you-love-your-list.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1250945-psa-make-sure-there-least-one-safety-you-love-your-list.html&lt;/a&gt; It started with a discussion of academic safeties but is not talking about financial safeties and calculating the NET COA. How much did you say your parents can afford to pay a year?</p>

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<p>I know no school is perfect, but I also would like to fit in with the student body. The only thing I can do with GCSU is send my senior grades and another recommendation. There is nothing else I can send them. I’ll apply to Valdosta if GCSU rejects me in January. There is no reason to waste my money now when I could send my application in a month later. Valdosta already has my transcript and test scores, I would just have to complete the short application and pay the fee. I like schools with few requirements, this is a reason why I love Juniata. They do not require a foreign language. I like schools like Knox where you can create your own classes, so maybe Ursinus isn’t for me. I could afford Juniata based on the earlier estimator, but like you guys said you can’t always trust that.</p>

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<p>After financial aid, Juniata costs $22,000 - can your family afford that?
[Juniata</a> College - News - True Value: Juniata Named to Top 100 in Kiplinger Affordability Poll](<a href=“http://www.juniata.edu/services/news/?action=SHOWARTICLE&id=4790]Juniata”>http://www.juniata.edu/services/news/?action=SHOWARTICLE&id=4790)</p>

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<p>It says “lowers the total out-of-pocket cost to an <em>average</em> of about $22,000 per year.”</p>

<p>That’s the average, on the earlier estimator we would have to pay $13,000 a year.</p>

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<p>Two students with an out-of-pocket of $22K = <em>average</em> $22K.
One student out-of-pocket $40K + one student out-of-pocket $4K = <em>average</em> $22K.</p>

<p>You need to dig deeper than an average.</p>

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<p>EXACTLY - maybe Ursinus is not for you so cross it off your list, certainly don’t visit! What other schools are too structured for you? No visiting them either. As I said before, these are things you can find out without visiting but through thorough research online.</p>

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<p>This is the way to help reduce your list of schools to visit to something less stressful. </p>

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<p>This would be my suggetion as well.</p>

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<p>With my D, we whittled down the list of acceptances, and then she chose to visit 4 schools over spring break – two of which she had never visited before. She decided not to visit any of the UCs (University of California) where she was accepted, and she also decided not to visit another two top 20 schools that she was accepted to. Believe me, visiting just four in one week was enough of an effort for our family! As it turns out, she fell in love with one school that she had never seen or visited before her acceptance there. So, you just never know…</p>

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<p>Hello everyone. I’ve now been accepted to the following schools: Knox, Lawrence, Earlham, Wooster, Hiram, Ohio Wesleyan, Allegheny, Juniata, Ursinus, Wheaton (MA), Clark, Lenoir-Rhyne, and Flagler. I’ve only been rejected by GCSU. I am still waiting on Hobart and Holy Cross, which I’ll find out on April 1st. My top choices are: Holy Cross, Clark, Wooster, and Lawrence. Allegheny, Juniata, Hobart, and Wheaton are not that far behind. </p>

<p>We ended up canceling the Presidents Day Weekend trip for several reasons. My father really didn’t have the money and Lawrence was my only top choice out of those schools. We were going to see Earlham and Knox as well. He suggested we visit Flagler instead, but it really isn’t a top choice. So, we will just be doing one big spring break trip. My spring break is March 30th-April 8th. We’ve already done the FASFA and the Profile, my father is just in the process of doing his taxes. I haven’t received any estimated fa packages yet. Although some colleges will start giving them later this month, but it can change greatly depending on if we were off or not. </p>

<p>I’m trying to plan the spring break trip, which is hard without any financial aid packages. It is only a month away though, so I need to do some planning already. I’m not the type who likes to do things last minute. My plan was to visit the schools in this order: Juniata, Ursinus, Wheaton, Clark, Holy Cross, Hobart, Allegheny, Hiram, Wooster, Ohio Wesleyan, Earlham, etc. Of course we won’t be visiting all of these schools, but that just gives you guys a general idea. Since we couldn’t visit Know/Lawrence, we were thinking about visiting them during spring break if either gives me a <em>great</em> package. But they aren’t near the other schools, so it will be hard. I may just have to take off a day of school to go see Lawrence. My father wants me to go to Holy Cross if I’m admitted, since it’s the best school academically on my list. It will be pretty hard to pass HC up if I get accepted. He really isn’t that fond of me going to the midwest (not including Ohio), he just prefers me go to the northeast or Florida. </p>

<p>It’s just so hard to plan this trip. I know many of you guys told me to wait, but usually schools want you to make reservations for a tour at least two weeks in advance. How is this going to work when I won’t even be getting most of my financial aid packages until the end of March and that’s when spring break starts? I know if I move my tour a day or two later it won’t be a big deal, but I’ll have to make tours for all my schools. So, it may end up that I may visit a certain school a week later then expected. It’s just going to depend on the financial aid packages. Also, Holy Cross and Hobart won’t tell me if I’m accepted until the beg of April. But I would have already visited the schools by then. I leave the night of March 29th and both schools are one of the first couple I visit. Is it a bad idea to visit if I don’t know if I’m accepted? I don’t want to fall in love with a school when I could be rejected or they could have gave me a bad financial aid package. Should I just visit them toward the end of my trip and maybe start in Ohio/Indiana. Also, what do you guys think about adding Knox/Lawrence to the trip if they give me good packages? Should we just visit them another time?</p>

<p>I really do not think I am planning that early as before. It’s only a month away, it was 4 mths away last time. Thanks everyone! :)</p>

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<p>The reservations for the tours are no big deal. Most schools, you can just show up, even if they request you to sign up in advance. They don’t “fill up” – if you want to go on a tour or to an information session, you will be able to. So… don’t worry about that detail. If you want, work out an “ideal” trip that you would take if you get all the acceptances and good financial aid packages you hope you will get, and make reservations based on that. Then you can cancel or change as needed. Good luck! </p>

<p>I’ve said it before, but plan your ideal trip with only one school per day. It is a waste of your time and money to just show up, take a campus tour, and leave. That’s truly not going to give you any better feeling for how you’d like going there than doing a virtual tour on their website (or just perusing the website if they don’t have a “virtual tour”). Make sure to visit the schools you are really serious about on a day they are open for classes.</p>

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<p>Thanks! The reservation part was what I was worried about the most. I’m probably just making it more complicated then it has to be. After the financial aid packages come in, I’m sure only half my schools (or less) will be left so I will be able to visit one school per day. Although, if the schools are in the same city (Worcester for instance), it would be very easy to see the schools that one day. Do you guys like my proposed agenda? Is it a bad idea to visit HC or Hobart if I don’t know if I’m accepted? Would I still get all the same perks an accepted student would? Also, any opinions on Lawrence/Knox? :)</p>

<p>BTW, I just applied for a job at Olive Garden as a host. Cross your fingers I get it!</p>

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<p>I don’t think it’s a big deal to visit before you know if you’re accepted. The only “perk” I remember my S getting when visiting as an accepted student was them saying “congratulations”. If any of the schools have a formal “accepted students day” that would fit your schedule, you might get a little more, but then again, you don’t get the most balanced view of a school on “dog and pony show day”. </p>

<p>If you’re planning to fly and rent a car, then you probably do need to start thinking about planning that. If you are going to drive, you really can afford to be fairly spontaneous and you really should keep waiting until you know your financial aid status if possible before worrying about making an agenda. Because there’s no point making a plan that will probably have to change once you have all your information. If you are worried about hotel reservations, you can make some reservations that can be canceled without penalty (check the conditions before you reserve obviously), and you can even reserve more than one place per night to cover a couple of possible itineraries. </p>

<p>(I don’t know the layout of where all the schools are well enough to comment on the agenda in any case.)</p>

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<p>I think some of the schools have accepted student days around the same days, but I’m not going to schedule my visits around them. I want to see the schools on a regular school day. One may not get an accurate picture of a schools atmosphere when it’s a formal “accepted students day.” </p>

<p>We will be driving our car the whole time. We do plan on visiting my dads brother and his friend, but there won’t be any sightseeing or anything. The whole point of the trip is to make my decision. I hope to have one after the trip. I’m excited that this process is coming to a close. I will try and be more “spontaneous” with this trip (even though I hate to do that), but I just have to hope I get some decent financial aid packages. Do you guys suggest trying to negotiate my packages or should I just forget about the school if I have enough affordable packages?</p>

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<p>Schools generally won’t “negotiate” a need-based award. However, if you have more favorable need-based awards from other schools, they may be willing to take another look to “see if they missed something”.</p>

<p>A merit-based award may be more negotiable, especially if you have a better merit-based offer from a school they consider a peer. However, in cases where your package is a mix of need and merit-based aid, an increase in merit aid will often be accompanied by a corresponding decrease in need-based aid (your need just got reduced by that great merit award). </p>

<p>I would say that for most schools, I would just drop them if the aid is not good enough and you have better options elsewhere. You need to start culling that list anyhow. However, if a school is one of your top choices, and their package is not good enough, but not miles from being good enough, it can’t hurt to ask. Keep in mind though that if your first choice school (HC) is the strongest academically, they probably don’t consider the other schools their “peers” and will be less likely to be influenced by better offers you may have gotten at those other schools.</p>

<p>If you want to do this, you should check out the financial aid forum postings on this issue. There are right and wrong ways to approach this, and using the wrong vocabulary, like “negotiate”, can get you dismissed very quickly.</p>

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<p>Thanks! The need-based awards will determine where I go. I got only 5k per year in scholarships from Lawrence and Wooster and I tried to tell my dad that it didn’t matter because in the end of the day, it’s the need award which will matter more. The overall package will matter the most though. A school can give me the most merit money, but may give me the worst need-based award. I haven’t been going by scholarships because they can mean nothing in the end of the day. </p>

<p>The only way they will matter is if my parents income changes drastically in a year, which could always happen if my mom goes back to work or if my dad does very well one year (he owns his own business, commission based). However, a lot of the CTCL type schools have given me around the same merit scholarships usually ranging in about 10k per year. The CTCL schools are peer schools, but schools like Hobart, Wheaton, Holy Cross, Flagler, and Lenoir are not. I am really hoping on Holy Cross though since they’re the only college which meets full need.</p>

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<p>I took a look and Holy Cross is a CSS Profile school, which means they get to decide what they think you “need” which can be an iffy proposition. Most people find that schools that meet need via Profile compute a higher family contribution than their FAFSA EFC although it can go either way. With your dad being self-employed, the online net-price calculators are probably fairly worthless, unfortunately.</p>