<p>Just wanted to share some of my thoughts from our recent college visit trip D, H and me. I'm sure for many none of this will be new but maybe it will help someone.</p>
<p>Things that worked well:
We had prearranged to meet with a member of the biology department at each school which was the best use of our time at each campus. We never had a science major as our tour guide and for the most part the tours didn't address anything having to do with science. D is interested in Bio but not premed so it was particularly important to find out what research is available at the colleges. In several cases the faculty we met with offered to contact admissions to help should D decide to apply. The faculty were all extremely open and helpful in the decision process.</p>
<p>We never scheduled more than one college on a single day. We did 7 colleges in 8 days (starting and ending on Thursday). One college had a program on Saturday which helped with the scheduling. Sunday we took off exhausted. The best days we did not have anything until around 10am. This gave us plenty of time to pack suitcases, repack the car, check out of the hotel and eat breakfast. We never ate lunch throughout this period because once we got to the campus we were busy but having a real breakfast was critical. At the end of the day's visit we drove to the next hotel location. We drove my Prius and put 1400 miles on it over the 8 days. Gas costs were not too bad.</p>
<p>It was clear from two colleges after their presentations that they were not a good fit. We did not hesitate to cancel the rest of the day at the college. </p>
<p>We carried a portable cooler in the car and a case of water bottles. We always stocked the cooler with ice from the hotel in the morning and had cold water to take with us either during the tours or to have immediately afterwards while we were driving to the next location. It was 100 degrees for several days of our trip and the cold water really helped.</p>
<p>We booked all the hotels through Priceline. With the exception of one, we didn't pay more than $60 including tax for the hotel. Sometimes we stayed 15 mins or so from the college but that didn't really bother us. Except for small towns we were able to get 3* hotels (Sheraton, Holiday Inn select etc) for that amount. We avoided paying for parking in all but one case which also saved a lot of money. It was very nice to have a nice hotel room with amenities which worked to settle in for the few hours before we had to pack up and do it all again.</p>
<p>We took digital pictures of the colleges including the dorm rooms. Given how hard it is to keep campuses straight these pictures really have been a help.</p>
<p>We did an evening recap over dinner each night. I took notes while D and H helped provide the content. I have typed up the notes since the trip (since D wouldn't be able to read my scratch). The highlights and lowlights of the days sessions were written down. After dinner, D read through the papers for the next day's college visits and sometimes she went online (H carried laptop and each hotel had free wireless).</p>
<p>Used chowhound and roadfood to get suggestions for reasonably priced food. Used recommendations most of the time. </p>
<p>Biggest joke:</p>
<p>Every college told us what was unique about them and many times it was the exact same thing we were told the day before by another college.</p>
<p>Pitfalls:
Didn't get to see a dorm at one college because that is a separate tour which is not listed on any of their materials and the dorm tour conflicted with the meeting with the professor. If D is admitted, we promised to go back.</p>
<p>End result:
Found 2 more colleges to put on D's top tier list and 3 to add to second tier. We all felt that this was a productive trip.</p>