One more thought – we did a college tour in early Feb. of senior year for a college we knew tracked demonstrated interest and we were chasing merit. We figured it would be just in time to be ‘counted’ for admissions purposes. There was literally no one else on the tour (surprising but a small school) and she reached out to attend classes, meet w/ a prof. Great visit!
My D did a Fall sport and was busy getting apps done in Fall so there was no way we could make it work to get away. Early Feb was after all apps were done, first semester grades were in, and it felt like she was coming up for air. Turned out to be a GREAT visit , partly b/c it was beautiful in SoCal and we were escaping east coast winter!
We also did visit a couple places in late August b4 high school started. Tried to avoid first day of classes though figuring it would be a less than typical day.
In our case, we live in an area of the country served by a regional airport with very few direct flights that line up with colleges of interest. Getting out of town typically takes much of a day just to get to and from our destination. In addition, my D17 had a very intense EC schedule that didn’t permit long weekend trips. So summer was our only option and we made the best of it. While the campuses were quiet, you could glean information about the surrounding area and get some sense of the students from the guides and if there were student-led panels offered at that time.
For our D, return visits when classes were in session were very important because the quality of classroom interaction was high on her list of priorities. Visiting real classes moved some choices up and removed others from consideration. While there is also an element of randomness to classroom visits, it does provide one more data point.
If you’re within driving distance of target schools, I think it’s worth trying to visit during the school year if you can.
" Although is the beginning of school a good time for tours? Will they even be conducting them then?"
Definitely check but we found that schools were holding tours. Much better than other points in the summer when students weren’t there en masse. In fact, many colleges run summer programs for high school students in the summer which definitely gives a different, less accurate feel to campus.
So far we have toured George Washington, American, self-toured Georgetown (longshot), and UMASS Amherst. None have offered to meet with a professor or had us see a class actually in session. We did see some open lecture halls and a dorm but I never thought to ask for more than they offered.
All done. Last child decides in a couple of days. Just counted 46 college tours over the years. Didn’t know it would be that many.
Two pieces of advice:
Relax - enjoy the tours, I certainly have fond memories of several.
This is probably unusual advice. Prior to the campus tour, tell your kid to live in the moment, while you put yourself in your child's frame of mind and his/her perspective and take copious notes from online research beforehand and then during the visit day. Later, I write "pros" in bullet point format and only a couple of "cons". When they see the bullet points under each college it helps them distinguish differences after the visits. My teens actually gave me a few "dodo-bird rare" compliments for sending them bullet points from their perspective.
We were in a similar position last summer, more colleges on the list than what we would have time to see during the school year. We visited as many as we comfortably could and it was time well spent. It helped my child to better identify what she was looking for in a school. It also helped to eliminate some off the list. We then had a narrower field to revisit during the school year. Also, second visits allowed us to be more focused in our questions as we picked up information along the way.
Two questions a fellow visiting student asked when we visited one of the colleges was, “What do you think is the best or most positive thing about your college? and What would you like to see done or changed that would improve your school experience?” I thought these were great questions, and much to my child’s chagrin, I then asked them on all the rest of our college tours. Some students stated stats for the first one but most shared insightful information that wasn’t in the handouts/brochures provided. The second question helped us to learn what focus or direction some colleges might be going in the future. If possible, also try to talk to students who aren’t admission tour guides. Tour guides are there “to sell” the college, other students can show you another perspective.
And last of all, while the college visits may have seemed time consuming, we now look back and are thankful for them. It gave us precious time to spend with our child, time that will be all too short once she leaves for college. Best of luck and enjoy the journey ahead!
Definite preference for visiting during fall semester when kids are there. Not only for the vibe, but can sample food, experience the weather, etc. Worth missing significant number of school days, in my opinion.
But if summer is when you have the most time, something is better than nothing. Maybe leave most likely candidates until Fall.
Kids are really busy senior year with academics and other activities, so it does make sense to do some summer visits. We did a lot of them, while we were back East visiting family. Having said that, be prepared to revisit a select few down the road (perhaps even at Accepted Students weekends in April).
DS adored MIT after our summer visit, but he did another visit in Feb when in Boston for other reasons. He shadowed a student and attended classes, lunch etc. By that time he had visited a lot of other schools and just did not find the MIT vibe to be as good a fit as other options. (Ha - that worked to nicely since MIT was his one Rejection. We had not regrets about doing the visits since they were helpful for comparison sake.)
You shouldn’t ED at any school you haven’t visited while it’s in session. With that said, summer visits are a good time to interview, and the students who are around, whether working in admissions or otherwise, tend to have more time to chat. You can always go back for Admitted Student events in April if you need another look to decide.
It can be hard, whether because of sports, AP exams. school rules, etc. to visit all your schools while students are there, so the summer can provide a bit of relief.
I don’t know how you visit in the fall… too hard to make up missed classes and there are almost no days off except for Columbus day. We did do a bunch of visits in the spring over spring break and a 4 day February weekend but any remaining visits are going to have to be over the summer or wait until after acceptance.
Half of our D’s tours have been in the summer and half during the school year. We found the summer ones to be very helpful. My D is very influenced by what a campus looks like, how sprawling or compact it is, what the freshman dorms/labs/student unions look like. Is there a big hill or lots of steps? What does the nearby town have to offer in terms of entertainment? None of these criteria require a ton of students running around like ants. In fact, stripped of students, you can really see the bones of a university. Plus, as others have mentioned, we were able to have longer relaxed chats with profs and admissions. Summer visits have given us an excuse for family road trips. We gave ourselves plenty of time to explore and get off the beaten track and now have many great photos to treasure. Usually, when doing a visit during the school year, it’s a hit and run visit because of homework, EC or sports commitments that she has to get back to asap.
Very good points all around. Maybe we will do some official tours this summer when we have free time, but re-visit in fall informally. Get more of a feel. I don’t mind going, anything that helps him narrow down what feels right. And good to remember second visits might feel differently.
We have planned four tours for my S20 this summer; two are on his definitely apply list and two are contenders. In all cases we will be meeting someone affiliated with the school one-on-one. One dean of the school/dept. he is interested in (via a professional connection his dad had); one professor, via email exchanges about his research program; two coaches (different sports). During the summer these folks are less harried and all were very encouraging to visit them personally. My son is finding the general tours somewhat unhelpful but any chance to talk to someone and ask specific questions super helpful.
S appears unswayed by the vibe of the student body. I don’t think he even notices. We are the opposite and are completely swayed by student vibe. More evidence for him that we are clueless.
