<p>I’ve intensively researched colleges for 5 years. My point was that I will not know all my acceptances and finanacial aid packages, so it will be harder to plan a trip ahead of time. I’ve already grouped my schools in tiers of my liking. I have top choices, I’m just asking about the best way to visit these schools. I’m trying to get advice on how to handle this trip such as what states I should visit at a time and etc. I am not whining at all, but I’m asking for input. I find that rude and offensive. I’ve done so much more research then most seniors my age. I’ve spent days and hours researching these schools. At this point, it’s going to come down to the top packages.</p>
<p>“I’ve done so much more research then most seniors my age.”</p>
<p>This being true, the only thing you’re looking during your visits is confirmation! BTW, this is a perfect problem to flowchart:</p>
<p>(A) If drive, then you’ll have all acceptances and FA packages before you leave;
(A1) so pick your top 3 schools, or 5 or 7 whatever, and visit those.</p>
<p>(B) If fly, then you have to pick outgoing destination and return departure airports;
(B1) so pick a destination airport near the best available school you’ve been accepted to at the time you book flights, and a return airport near the school you like best among those that haven’t accepted you yet.
(B2) Pick up rental car at destination airport, and proceed to (A);</p>
<p>PS, Ever heard the phrase “paralysis by analysis?”</p>
<p>"My point was that I will not know all my acceptances and finanacial aid packages, so it will be harder to plan a trip ahead of time. "
That is something that many seniors who need FA often experience. This is ONE trip that you CAN’T plan as far ahead as you would like. It happens every year somewhere when Spring break falls on a bad week. Its not your fault that your schools vacation timing doesn’t coincide with when you need to visit colleges. If you do HAVE to take a week off school later in April to visit your final choices, my advice is to first RELAX, tell your teachers far in advance that you probably will be taking a few days off [ its not the first time this has happened at your school, I assure you], and you would like to know the homework so you dont fall behind. And if your Spring grades take a little “hit” because you miss a little school, it wont get your acceptances rescinded, believe me. Once you are finished with apps, get back to your focus on your classes, and again RELAX. You cant change the calender.</p>
<p>As a parent of one child in college and another applying now as a high school senior, I’d like to put in a positive word about applying to many colleges and visiting them mostly after acceptances.</p>
<p>I tell my daughter, fortunately, we can afford it for you simply to check off additional schools on the common application. It’s more cost effective to visit a select group of acceptances than to spend thousands on a pre-application tour.</p>
<p>We are in the Northeast and my daughter has applied–with a couple of exceptions–mostly to schools within a day’s drive.</p>
<p>We live in a university town, have participated in many activities at the school, and my kids know the lay of the land. Over the years in our travels, we have casually cruised or walked around a number of colleges. To be blunt, if you have seen one small liberal arts college or university you have in a sense seen them all.</p>
<p>My wife attended Williams, and she talks about their big rivalry at Amherst, but the two are cut from the same cloth.</p>
<p>I ask, if all the Williams and Amherst students all magically woke up at their rival institutions, would they notice?</p>
<p>Thanks everyone. I just thought that I could visit schools in MA/PA/NY/OH during spring break. Lets just say, I look at Clark, Juniata, Hobart, OWU, and Wooster for instance. We are probably going to be driving. We could leave in the afternoon on March 29th and come back April 7th. However, we could also wait for April 1st to get the final acceptances and financial aid packages and then leave. We would just have less time to visit. However, April 1st is a Sunday this year. So, will all the acceptances/financial aid packages come before then or will some come on the 2nd? I have heard that your suppose to tell the colleges you will visit a couple weeks ahead of time. How can I do this if I do not know my final financial aid packages and all of my acceptances? Should I just make an appointment for a specific day and then cancel if I don’t get accepted or if it’s lousy financial aid? I was thinking about visiting Knox and Lawrence (and maybe Cornell) during Presidents Day weekend since they are no where near the other schools on my list. </p>
<p>I really think some LACs will be very similar latichever, but lots of these colleges are in totally different areas. So, one LAC in urban Wisc won’t be the same as an LAC in rural Upstate NY.</p>
<p>BTW, I know A LOT of seniors who haven’t even applied yet. A lot of state schools don’t have deadlines until July!</p>
<p>“I have heard that your suppose to tell the colleges you will visit a couple weeks ahead of time. How can I do this if I do not know my final financial aid packages and all of my acceptances? Should I just make an appointment for a specific day and then cancel if I don’t get accepted or if it’s lousy financial aid?”</p>
<p>You are still over thinking this. Patience is a virtue you still need to learn. Wait until your acceptances roll in. Many colleges have “accepted students days”, which are THE best times to visit rather than when classes are in session. You will be invited to attend them if you are accepted. They are USUALLY the same time each year, so you can do some research now and see when they were this year. Then use that info to tentatively “pencil in” a very tentative itinerary. When you know your actual choices, i.e., after April 1, and which colleges you can afford to go to, then figure out which ones you really want to visit.</p>
<p>Obviously, I’m going to go during spring break to visit these schools. It would be stupid not to. Why would I miss school when I can go during spring break? I should have all my acceptances by then except two colleges which I will find out April 1st. Yes, I may have to go visit these two schools before finding out the decision or wait until I get the official answer by these schools (which would mean I’d just have to leave two days later), but this is the key time to visit the schools.</p>
<p>You’re in a tough place because your break is so early. Fortunately, you are NOT flying, which does give you some flexibility. </p>
<p>I’m a planner too, and here’s what I would do:</p>
<p>1) go down your list and give each one a score according to how much you think you want to go there after reviewing all the non-visit evidence you can get your hands on.</p>
<p>2) go down your list and give each one a score based on how likely you believe you are to get accepted with a viable financial package. If possible, do contact the schools as Olymom suggested to get data for this step. </p>
<p>3) Choose one region to visit during that week. Ideally it will be the region where you have more of your favorite probably-viable choices. Lay out all the schools in that region on a map (you can create a custom map in Google Maps for this purpose)</p>
<p>4) Choose 5 schools in that region to visit, using all the information you have gathered. You should be looking for a loop you can travel with fewer than 6 hours between schools to visit on successive days. Don’t add any long-shot schools to list of 5 – choose your 5 favorite schools among those you believe you have a very good chance of getting an acceptance with a viable package from. Make appointments at each of the 5 schools. Plan to drive to a school the night before the visit and stay over, visit the school then drive to the next place. </p>
<p>5) If there are any “dream schools” in the region that you are leaving off because you don’t think you’ll get in or get sufficient aid, make a backup plan for the eventuality that you do get in – in that case ideally you could eliminate a different “backup” school from the loop and sub this one in (this may mean extra driving). Make an appointment at the backup plan school on the day you would go there. When you find out if you got in with good aid or not, cancel either that appointment or the alternate one. </p>
<p>6) Be flexible! As more information arrives those first few nights, you may want to make other changes to your plan. Do you best. Most schools will accommodate an accepted student visit without notice, or with very short notice. Call and tell them you happen to already be in the region and would like to come visit on X day. They’ll help you work it out. Don’t try to see more than one school in one day, but if you have 3 drivers, you can push out the distances between schools if needed. You should be able to get motel reservations on short notice, and cancel others as your changing plan permits.</p>
<p>Note: When first leaving a school, have one of your parents do the driving and discuss everyone’s impressions of the school and WRITE DOWN specific thoughts, details, etc. The schools will all blur together, much more than you think they will. You may want to take photos while visiting as well, to help you remember which school was which.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>I’m kind of split on “accepted student days” – they are very nice but they’re also a “show” put on to woo you, rather than a glimpse of real life at the college. Make sure you get to sit in on at least 2 classes at each school you visit, if possible. To me those show you more about the school than the info sessions and tours (which we also did). Come up with a couple of questions you want to ask students at each school. Have fun :)</p>
<p>It’s probably not wise to judge the value of a degree at a college that you or your family have never attended…living in the same state does not make you knowledgable about everything inside it. </p>
<p>Early_college, I attend Flagler & can give you actual information on it. Let me know if you have any questions!</p>
<p>Of course you could make a plan to “hit them all” and then skip over any you lose interest in.</p>
<p>March 30th: Leave early. Do an afternoon tour of Earlham. Drive to Columbus.
March 31st: Tour Ohio Wesleyan and College of Wooster in the morning, and Hiram in the afternoon. Drive to Pittsburgh.
April 1st: Tour Juniata and Allegheny in the morning, and Hobart/Smith in the afternoon. Drive to Worcester.
April 2nd: Tour Clark and Holy Cross in the morning, and Wheaton in the afternoon. Drive to White Plains.
April 3rd: Tour Sarah Lawrence in the morning, and Ursinus in the afternoon. Drive to Washington DC.
April 4th: Tour Lenoir-Rhyne in the afternoon. Drive to Jacksonville.
April 5th: Tour Flagler in the morning, and GCSU in the afternoon. Return to Atlanta.</p>
<p>The other three colleges … Knox, Cornell and Appleton … theoretically fit into the remaining three days. But it’s a considerable drive from Richmond, IN to Appleton, WI. I’m pretty sure your parents will be worn out after that particular thousand mile “side trip.”</p>
<p>^^^I am exhausted just reading about it! Best of luck to his parents.</p>
<p>^^Exhausted just glancing at this trip! I can tell you that Juniata and Allegheny, for example, are not close. According to mapquest, this is a 3.5 hour ride, so you would not be able to see both in one morning if you are going to anything more than driving past the schools.</p>
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<p>I agree. I would definitely want to try to eat something in a dining hall when it is not an accepted student day.</p>
<p>Editing, to say that I cross posted the “exhausted” comment with Moreover.</p>
<p>WOW. Thanks everyone for the great ideas. </p>
<p>Okay, so I’m not applying to Sarah Lawrence anymore so we can take it off the list. I was thinking:</p>
<p>February 16th: Leave in the afternoon
February 17th: Visit Knox College
February 18th: Visit Cornell College
February 19th: Sunday (assuming no schools have visits). Drive to Appleton
February 20th: Visit Lawrence U in early morning and drive home</p>
<p><em>I could always see Knox and Cornell on the same day and see Lawrence on the 18th and then go home, I go back to school on Feb 21st. When I was looking at Google Maps, it said I would be passing Indiana on the way home. So, should I stop at Earlham on the 20th or leave it for the spring break trip? I am hoping Lawrence is open on Presidents Day. Appleton is 15 hours away from home.</em></p>
<p>March 29th: Leave in the afternoon
March 30th: Tour Juniata and Ursinus
March 31st: Tour Clark and Holy Cross in the morning, and Wheaton in the afternoon
April 1st- Sunday (no colleges open?)
April 2nd- Hobart and William Smith
April 3rd- Allegheny College and Hiram College
April 5th- College of Wooster and Ohio Wesleyan
April 6th: Earlham College
April 7th: Return home</p>
<p>I may just visit Lenior-Rhyne and Flagler another time, maybe just a weekend in March because I think it may be too much.</p>
<p>Also, it will just be my father and I going on this trip. I have a little sister who is going to be 2 on December 23rd and two brothers and we cannot afford to take anyone else on this trip. My grandfather will be visiting during spring break while I am up north. BTW, should I be worried about snow storms in February in Iowa/Illinois/Wisconsin? What should we do to prepare for that, just in case something happens?</p>
<p>I don’t know how far these schools are from each other. I can tell you that we always found touring 2 schools in one day to be very hectic. Unless the schools are less than an hour apart in driving distance I would not try it. </p>
<p>You should take pictures because squeezing schools into a week like this often ends up being quite confusing. One does not remember which dorm/building was on each campus. They begin to blend together. I also suggest writing some quick notes as soon as you get back into your car, or you will forget things that you might find important to refer back to when making a final decision.</p>
<p>early college, have you ever visited a college and attended the info session, the tour and sat in on a class? It really is very tiring. I think you would learn much by taking a weekend with your Dad and going to Lenior-Rhyne or Flager as soon as possible. I think it would help you and Dad prepare and plan for future trips.</p>
<p>(northeastmom, another cross post-we are on the same wavelength tonight!)</p>
<p>My house to Huntingdon, PA (Juniata): 11 and a half hours
Huntingdon, PA to Collegeville, PA (Ursinus): 3 and a half hours
Collegeville, PA to Worcester, MA (Clark/Holy Cross): 5 and a half hours
Worcester, MA to Norton, MA (Wheaton): 1 hour
Norton, MA to Geneva, NY (HWS): 6 hours
Geneva, NY to Meadville, PA (Allegheny): 4 hours
Meadville, PA to Hiram, OH (Hiram): 1 hour and a half
Hiram, OH to Wooster, OH (Wooster) 1 hour and a half
Wooster, OH to Delaware, OH (OWU): 1 hour and a half
Delaware, OH to Richmond, IN (Earlham): 2 hours
Richmond, Indiana to home: 9 hours</p>
<p>My house to Galesburg, IL (Knox): 12 hours and 17 minutes
Galesburg, IL (Knox) to Mount Vernon, Iowa (Cornell): 2 Hours
Mount Vernon, Iowa to Appleton, Wisc (Lawrence): 4 and a half hours
Appleton to home: 15 and a half hours</p>
<p>If I wanted to add Earlham, Appleton is 7 hours and 47 minutes away and then from Richmond it is another 9 hours home. So, it is probably better if I wait to visit Earlham for Spring Break. I will probably be cutting these schools if I get rejections or just terrible financial aid offers. So, it shouldn’t be as much. We haven’t visited any schools yet. Maybe in January we could or sometime this month.</p>
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<p>I definitely agree with this. Do not let the big spring break trip be your first college visits. Also check with the colleges to see who offers tours/info sessions on the weekends in question. Every place will have its own schedule, so you can’t guess, you have to check. Avoid doing 2 places in one day. It’s exhausting and will probably make it impossible for you to do all the things you ought to do (info session, tour, attend a class, eat in a dining hall). You can make what you posted your base plan as long as you plan to actually cross off schools when you find out your acceptance/financial aid to leave yourself with a reasonable number to visit. Visit the schools you are most interested in on a day when class will be in session.</p>
<p>I’ll try and vist L-R in Jan and I will be going on the presidents day weekend trip before the big spring break trip. How many weeks ahead of time should I make these appointments? When in March do you usually find out your financial aid packages? I should have all my EA acceptances by Feb. It will be a pain to arrange all these college visits after I’ve already scheduled them. Will I be able to change scheduled tours if something happens along the trip? I will probably be leaving before I find out if I’m admitted to Hobart and Holy Cross, but I’m sure my mother can call me and tell me so we can always skip them if I get rejected. It would be terrible if I drove all the way to Upstate NY and then I find out I’m rejected. </p>
<p>Also, does anyone have any suggestions about possible snow in February in Iowa/Illinois/Wisconsin? Are there any mountains I will be passing in any of these trips because my father has a height phobia? Ever since the smokey mountains trip when I was little, he is afraid of heights. He made my mom drive on yellow stone. We will probably have to go different routes if a mountain is in the way, lol. My father is really disorganized and has ADD, so it will be up to me to schedule this whole thing. My mother is pretty well organized, but she isn’t going and my father tends to be late for everything. I was one hour late to one college interview in Atlanta because we got lost.</p>