<p>Has anyone ever had a college to pick up part of the tab for a college visit when their child is not an athlete or in another recruitable catagory? My son has decided he wants to visit two schools he has been accepted to, but one of them is fairly remote and the travel cost is pretty high. His stats place him near the top of the applicant pool. Am I right to assume this is only something a private college would consider? </p>
<p>Every article I read about reducing college application costs talks about subsidized visits, but it just doesn't seem that realistic. The cost would be doable if he were to attend, but right now it seems like it might be smarter to wait until all his admissions decisions come in. </p>
<p>I guess I just hate to tell him no, now that he really seems to be owning the process and has been doing a lot of research on each of the schools and filling out apps for honors programs and scholarships, something he seemed reluctant to do before.</p>
<p>So I guess I am asking if it would be insane to ask the college to help out with the visit, or if I should just let him down gently? Thanks.</p>
<p>Some schools i have noted award travel grants for visits. We couldn’t take advantage because they were first come first served and were gone by November last yr, so it wouldn’t hurt to call Admissions for your schools and inquire. It’s only a dime and might be worth it esp since your kid’s being recruited. Good luck!</p>
<p>A couple of the schools the kids considered had a fly in weekend for accepted students. They paid the cost of the flight and they stayed in the dorms and had passes for the cafeteria. They ended up not applying to those schools for various reasons. I haven’t seen any other paid offers like that though. You can save costs by sending him on his own, using Priceline and similar to get a reduced fare, etc. Also, try booking a flight at an off travel time, like mid Feb on a Tuesday or Sunday. If you use a site like Travelocity or even Southwest, etc. you can find the least expensive flights and travel those days.</p>
<p>As a NMSF, my son was offered help with travel to visit a few of the schools, although I can’t remember which ones. I remember for sure that one of the Arizona schools offered airfare if he visited, but I can’t remember which one. OU paid for a night in a hotel for us when we visited there.</p>
<p>It would definitely be cheaper for him to go by himself, but he is reluctant to do that the first time. If he ends up getting anxious about the travel, it could defeat the purpose of the trip, that may be all he remembers. Maybe we could do better pricewise if he skips a planned weekend event and we go in the middle of the week later in the year. Part of my nervousness about spending so much right now is being in financial limbo before aid offers come out. Maybe I’ll just lay down and take a nap for a month or so!</p>
<p>You can also check near by airports. It might be worth an hour drive or whatever to save a few $100 on the tickets, assuming you will rent a car anyway.</p>
<p>^Good idea. We can usually save a few bucks by flying out of Manchester NH instead of Boston, so I usually check both. Plus smaller airports are so much more relaxing.</p>
<p>Carleton covers something (part of plane ticket costs?) for accepted NMF students to visit. Some other colleges cover travel IF the kid is being interviewed for one of their top scholarships.</p>
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<p>So you are saying that he wants to visit two where he has been accepted, but may want to visit more after he hears back in the final round. But he has not visited at all to either school (but one is close to home). My advice is that he should visit any school before accepting their offer, especially one where he is near the top of the applicant pool. It does not hurt to ask for help to visit once he has been admitted.</p>
<p>I hear what you are saying about the risk of stressful travel alone causing him to dislike a school. But… if it is a financial stretch for you to both go, then maybe that is what needs to happen.</p>
<p>I think it’s fine to send an email asking the question. </p>
<p>“I’m very interested in attending X, but since I’ve never visited, I’m having a hard time knowing if it’s really the right choice for me. Is there any chance you have a program to help students make a visit? I’m trying to be conservative with spending during the application process, but would love to have the chance to see everything X has to offer.”</p>
<p>Include full name, Common Application/Student ID, etc to make it easy for them to reference his application and financial aid info.</p>
<p>He has visited the other four schools he has applied to. So we have already spent a not insignificant amount on visits. One of the remaining ones we can drive to so we are going over his next school break. That is another issue, his school only officially allows kids to miss so many days of school for college visits, but in this case a little white lie is ok with me, though I wish they wouldn’t force you to do that.</p>
<p>That is a nice format for an email. I’ll urge him to finish his honors application, that should make his interest more apparent and then he can contact them. I guess the worst they can do is say no.</p>