My daughter will probably make the National Merit cutoff. I would like her to apply to at least one school with large scholarships for NM. In order to decide which one(s) to apply to, she’ll need to visit.
I know that summer is not the best time to visit since there won’t be many students on campus. But my daughter hates to miss school, and each visit will be a multi-day undertaking due to travel time. So we are thinking of visiting this summer.
Is this a good plan? If we visit in the summer, will there be much focus on the Honors Colleges? Will they “roll out the red carpet” for a potential NM student when the NM decisions haven’t been made yet? I want her to have a really good experience at the visit, so that she is excited about these schools. (Obvious parental agenda: save money.)
Also, I see on the school websites that Oklahoma and Kentucky will let you schedule a June visit. Alabama does not. Does Alabama not do summer visits, or do they just not schedule that far out?
Note: She is touring Arizona State U and U of Arizona later this month.
Remember the scholarship info you are looking at now, is for the 2016-17 school year.
You’ll have to double check each school’s web site in the summer, looking for the updated scholarship info for the new application season for 2017-18.
This is how it worked for us. Our initial college visits were to schools close to home, just to serve as representative examples of a small LAC, big PU, etc. We had our D toss applications at schools likely to offer big merit without having visited in person. For some, she attended an area college preview night. For others, the admissions reps stopped by her high school. She did take advantage of YouTube tours of campuses and of course, she did read up on the schools.
Fall of application season, we drove down to visit one of the schools in person. By the time Xmas rolled around and early decisions were in, she had ranked the schools on her short list, even though she had stepped foot on only two of the campuses.
Between February and April, we have a variety of Admitted Students Events we could attend. But as it has turned out, the short list is even shorter.
So, if money is an issue, you can wait re: in-person visits, especially if they are spread out over a large area. There’s time.
Think carefully about Kentucky. Our new governor is proposing dramatic cuts to public funding for higher education statewide. A special election this past Tuesday resulted in Democrats holding the state House and they are now assuring that his proposed cuts won’t materialize or, at least, won’t be as drastic (their budget proposal comes out on Tuesday, 3/15). However, the future is still wobbly for higher ed in our state as higher ed has been cut with respect to state funding every year since 2007. What’s ahead? I don’t know, but cuts to the number of class sections and larger classes are likely among the possible outcomes. I’m a UK grad, so I’m not trying to badmouth them, just sounding a word of caution.
I know the first priority for a hs parent is to look for scholarship dollars; but if looking at public schools, consider the current funding from the state carefully as well. The quality of education at these schools is definitely tied to state funding.
@Midwest67 - Thank you for sharing your experience. That is a VERY good point that the scholarships may change between now and next fall. And yes, money is a big issue for visiting. But class time is also an issue – by visiting in the summer, daughter will miss less class during her rigorous senior year. I am interested in your comment about “tossing” applications at the big merit schools… do these schools typically have easier applications (eg, no essays or shorter essays)?
@2VU0609 - Thank you for the heads up about Kentucky! That is eye-opening information.
We visited Oklahoma in July last year-- they did a great job- meetings with professor, study abroad office, honors program dean, lunch with students, tour. There were 2 other potential NMFs there as well that day. She left feeling that OU was a great fit, and it jumped to her #1. What was missing was a feeling of what the campus was like in full swing- so we did a revisit in February to be sure OU was still the choice-- and to buy some tshirts!
What state are you in, or when does your school system start and end the year?
I would look closely at the month of September for the schools that are high on your list. Since senior year will just be starting for your daughter, she should be OK to miss a day or two here and there. I’d be more nervous about visiting in the summer because it might not be as accurate a representation of what life will be like at that school. That being said, if you started back to school after Labor Day, but visited a university starting in mid August, you might pull off a ‘summer visit.’
You are wise to look at the timing NOW. Factor in any standardized testing that remains to be done too.
You should call and ask about honors programs information. With months of notice, they should be able to provide you with an honors guide on a summer weekday, even if a tour isn’t regularly scheduled.
@Mommertons Re: “tossing” applications, that’s just how I talk. I’m not aware of the difficulty or ease of the various applications. D handled all of it, with the help of her GC at school. I believe she had everything completed by & submitted by November 1, and suddenly the work load of senior year was feeling a lot less difficult than junior year.
Re: Kentucky and budget cuts. Join the club Kentucky! Illinois…Wisconsin…the flagships might fare better than the directionals? Not sure.
@oneundecided and @Hanna - Thank you! It sounds like summer visits might be a reasonable thing.
@SouthFloridaMom9 - BRILLIANT! I don’t know why I didn’t think of it. Our high schools starts after Labor Day. It’s funny - I thought we could go in mid-May after the AP tests, because she won’t mind missing school then, but I was disappointed when I discovered the colleges’ were “out” by then. I never even thought to look at when they start. D’oh!
@Midwest67 - Thanks. And congrats to you and your daughter on finding her school.
I was very school-focused in high school, but even I found it worth it to take one day off (doing a weekend trip Friday through Sunday or Saturday through Monday) to go on tours. Another way to go about this without needing to visit during summer is to go visit multiple colleges during your daughter’s school breaks, if her school breaks don’t line up with the colleges’.
I agree with above. We did a few summer visits and we would both agree that they were next to useless. We had to revisit two colleges when they were back in session. Without studetns, a college is a bunch of soulless buildings. I say plan to visit during any school breaks and if she has to miss a few days of school, so be it. If fit is important to your child, then it is best to ensure visits when students are in campus.
Thanks for the input, @thatrunnerkid and @Lindagaf. We will try to get a few visits done in late August, and kid will just have to deal with missing a few days here and there in the fall.
We visited Alabama during July. We had a campus tour, an Honors presentation, and with only a few kids at the presentation, it was very easy to talk one on one with the presenter. Folks were super friendly. The Honors dean? and associate came out to chat with us and see if we had any questions or needed any help. I suspect that we could’ve scheduled more but we were on a limited schedule. And my daughter came away very impressed and excited about the possibility of attending there.
Thanks for the other viewpoint, @CalBearsMom! My daughter and I both pretty impressed with the U of Alabama honors program, “on paper”. Nice to hear that your daughter is excited about the possibility!
Thanks, @MidwestMomTo2. I guess I won’t worry too much about the extra work of applying to these schools. My daughter will be visiting ASU over spring break this year, since my parents are snowbirding in Arizona and offered to host the kids for a week. (Thanks, mom and dad!) She may want a second visit when we get closer to decision time, so your hint about ASU paying for flights is very welcome. Best of luck to your daughter in making her decision!
Thanks, @Mommertons … We tried to mix possibility of large merit awards with bigger cities and strength in her major. ASU comes out on top in that regard.
And relevant to the question of if the NMF award will still be at a school, Drexel dropped its full tuition guaranteed award last fall after we had visited. Awful on their part.
At first when my D realized how little OU would cost she wanted to go there simply because it was so reasonable, but for her major ASU has much stronger program… and very affordable.
The south is hotter than the devil’s underpants in July, so bring a lot of sunscreen, be prepared to sweat, and drink a lot of water when you visit Alabama. It is a lot better once September hits, and doesn’t get insanely hot again until June.
(except for yesterday, it was 87 and we were all like, what!)
All three schools will be very hot in July. You’ll have to remind yourself that most students are away during the hottest months, although late August/early September can still be quite hot. The trade off is milder winters. No parka required.
Fall semester starts very early at Alabama (mid-August), so you could even plan your visit for before Labor Day.
Contact the Honors College directly to arrange a personalized visit. If you give them enough advance notice and a detailed description of what matters to your DD, they’ll take care of the rest (including the general tour):
All that being said, the alternative is just to apply to a few of these safeties really early in the summer (Alabama’s application is a piece of cake), get the admittances confirmed, and then focus on her reach schools. There will be time to visit later in the Spring if the safeties become serious contenders. That’s how we approached it, FWIW, and it all worked out fine.
Good luck!
ETA: The only exception to that second approach would be if your daughter is considering any of the elite honors programs, like CBHP or UFE (see below). If she’s shooting for those, I’d definitely visit in the late summer, after classes start. (And, yes, it will be hotter than Hades then … outside. Indoors, be prepared for an Arctic Blast.
