<p>Another thing that I did post-visit was to write up a visit report on cc. It helps months down the road to remember what you thought at the time.</p>
<p>Re: Out-of-State Learner’s Permit Info found in post #21 of the following thread
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/687296-can-teens-drive-out-state-learners-permit-2.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parent-cafe/687296-can-teens-drive-out-state-learners-permit-2.html</a></p>
<p>I am sitting next to DS with whom DH and I went on a week-long college trip in February. He said that the music in the car issue is very important. </p>
<p>And, apparently, he wished I would have not talked incessantly all week about “college-this” and “college-that.” :eek:</p>
<p>As all the schools we visited were in the book, “The Colleges That Change Lives,” I brought the book along and had DS and DH read about each school before we visited them.</p>
<p>We made the college trip visit in February. We visited 4 schools in 3 days. Not a good idea! The college talks start sounding all the same and the tours are all pretty similar. The one good thing out of the experience is that my son found out that he wanted to go to a mid-size larger university in a college town. A better idea is to pick one area and do some sight-seeing to break up the experience. Colby Sawyer offered a tour in the morning and ski pass to MT Sunapee in the afternoon. I opted for just the tour because we needed to get home. Later my son informed me that he probably would have liked the school better, if he had done that tour and then the afternoon skiing. I think it is important to not only see the school but the area as well.</p>
<p>It’s also a good idea to pick different types od schools even ones your kid does not think they want. My D said she wanted smaller schools like 5000 or so students. But then after looking at several, wanted something larger. My son had no idea so we looked at all sizes. Also schools with a defined campus in a college town vs. schools in an urban environment where the city sort of runs thru campus. And specialty schools vs largeer universities with colleges within a university.<br>
Sometimes kids think they want something then change their mind when they experience something else.</p>
<p>I didn’t read the whole thread and it may be too late to plan this in, but we took a day off in the middle of the week-long college trip and went to Hersheypark. A much needed break and fun for all.</p>
<p>Great ideas here and brings back some fond memories of several trips.</p>
<p>A few things that worked with our introverted DS:
- his own hotel room! Yes, more expensive, but he loved and needed the privacy at the end of our long days. Also helped him feel independent and made him MUCH more cheerful during times spent together
- meals his choice - lots of burgers
- folders for each school given to him the night before each visit. He really did read everything and was prepared.
- giving him lots of space during each visit - on a different tour group when possible or away from him so he could engage/not as he wished. We left when he said he was ready even when more we could have done.</p>
<p>We looked at schools in every region of the country and most of the trips were 4-5 days for targeted visits to 3 or so schools. Flew to each area (Texas, California, Pacific Northwest, midwest). He absolutely refused to consider any schools in the east, where we lived!</p>
<p>Enjoy these trips; there were some challenges, but there were wonderful moments throughout. Now DS is a freshman and months go by w/o seeing him…</p>
<p>If possible schedule tours first ones in morning. It’s hard getting up, but it’s a good visit, you have more time, and if it’s a bad visit, you have rest of day tom do something else. Nothing worse then killing time and hatingna school after a wasted morning.</p>
<p>One school my daughter had an interview, I napped in the wonderful reception room. </p>
<p>Also, for popular schools they will say they are full for tours, but I was usually able to talk our way into an early reservation, said we had a flight or whatever.</p>
<p>If you are doing freeway driving, see if there are any quick roadside stops like giant chickens or something.</p>
<p>Great thread! I am keeping these tips in mind for when our turn comes. Thanks.</p>
<p>We live pretty far from many Us & areas of the country that MAY have been of interest. We made up for this by going to Us whenever we were in an area of the country where there were schools we THOUGHT might hold at least a little interest for the kids. When we were in Rochester, we drove a round a few of those Us. Same when we were in Colorado. We sometimes didn’t bother with any formal tours, just drove around the campuses & would offer to buy them food on campus–we did walk on a few tours. The two kids walked wherever they wanted to & didn’t stick with H & I. </p>
<p>My SIL independently decided she wanted to drive S & me on a tour of several SF Us nearby when we went to visit her once when S was in HS. (He was the ONLY nephew or niece she EVER decided to take on tours)–S was honored & flattered that she was interested and cooperated better with her than he would have for just me.</p>
<p>I did ask the kids to write the 3 best & 3 worst things about each U. (Not sure if they ever did, as I left it to them.) For the most part, I think we all found the tours interesting and fairly pleasant, since we combined it with family vacations (at least H & I & SIL thought so). S was able to consolidate his college list after this process instead of “just any U is fine.”</p>
<p>Thank you so much for all the replies!</p>
<p>I’ve got the folders set up and ready, directions ready, great tunes ready to roll, and I know where D can and cannot drive with her learner’s permit now. I am feeling wildly successful! :-)</p>
<p>I am worried we are seeing too many colleges in too short of a time. But, the time we have is what it is and I don’t know when we’ll be getting back over to this area. Guess we’ll just have to make the best of it! I have taken the suggestions of what not to say and when not to speak to heart and will try VERY HARD!! to listen and respond if she just wants to leave a school and move on.</p>
<p>Happy Easter to everyone… we are heading out later today.
I will post visit reports on the 2013 thread as well as the College Vibe section.</p>
<p>Lots of great tips here!</p>
<p>For us:</p>
<p>Don’t overschedule One school per day was it fpr us</p>
<p>A folder for each school with info/schedule that he could look through the night before at the hotel</p>
<p>Let DS pick tv show each night at hotel, and also pick dinner place</p>
<p>I didn’t ask any questions about what he thought of the school. Instead each night he wrote down his impressions. I told him to make sure and note things he liked, things he was concerned about, and anything else that would help him remember the experience. He did offer some comments but this way I didn’t feel like I was interviewing him after each session</p>
<p>Get a gps! I have no sense of direction so this was more important for us than for others I’m sure</p>
<p>Have fun</p>
<p>One more thing that may make a big difference. Once you are back at home, let your kid be the first one to talk about each school when relaying info to friends and family. You may get interesting observations.</p>
<p>Great idea about picking the TV show and dinner spots. I will need to give her plenty of space and breathing room for sure and she’ll like getting to make some of those choices. </p>
<p>We aren’t going to be able to do only one college a day, although I do agree that that is best. The first day is one college, then two (or one if we drop one) then two, two and two. I know, it’s a lot. But we will be driving from the second visit to a hotel within minutes of each day’s next college and then the nights will be hers and she can sleep some the next morning before we begin again. It just doesn’t make sense to drive all the way out to Ohio and skip half these schools, when I have no idea when we’d be out that way again.</p>
<p>I will definitely have her take notes on each school after the visits and MizzBee- that is a great suggestion. I will do that. I don’t think she and her friends talk a lot about colleges really. Many are looking at local schools or a handful of small Christian schools in the general area. I find adults talk a lot more about college than the kids seem to!</p>
<p>With that many schools scheduled, I’d recommend taking a photo or two at each campus. Doing one per day, we had no trouble keeping a distinct memory of each college, so we stopped taking pictures after the first few. About interviews, I generated some questions I thought he might be asked and we practiced. I also suggested he look at the website for each school the night before and generate at least 2 questions about the school. He carried a little pocket notebook into the interviews and had his questions written down in case he was blanking out on what to say. He could also take notes if he wanted to be doing something with his hands. He emerged from most interviews looking very happy and relaxed. Admissions people are usually really nice and want to put prospies at ease.</p>
<p>We found that none of the schools we visited in the Northeast would do interviews before senior year, while most of the schools we visited in the Midwest would give him an interview. By the time we visited schools in the West and Mid-Atlantic, he was a rising senior so it wasn’t an issue.</p>
<p>We also loved our GPS and had a wonderful time on college trips. One thing we liked was checking out art museums on campus. Oberlin’s is particularly wonderful and they let students check out art to hang in their dorm rooms.</p>
<p>Do NOT ask questions about the school’s drug and alcohol policies. You will only embarrass your kid and get some kind of stock answer you could find on the website. All of the info sessions were extremely similar, but we went to all of them anyway because we had time. Seeing 2 colleges in one day, that would be the one thing I might skip.</p>
<p>And, just remember: “We have 450 different clubs! And if we don’t have one that you’re interested in, it’s so easy to start one! Another thing that’s really unique about our school is that the professors are super approachable and friendly! If you don’t come to class, they text you and invite you for coffee to talk about what’s going on. Oh, and let’s go down to the mailroom. One thing that’s great about our school is that you get to keep the same mailbox for all four years!”</p>
<p>So I guess you can tell I’m suffering from post-traumatic college-visit syndrome (PTCVS). This is a real condition; look it up in the DSM IV if you don’t believe me. ;)</p>
<p>The thing about the mailboxes was my D’s favorite. The first time she heard it, she thought, “Oh, okay. Convenient, I guess, but no biggie.” Then when, seriously, every tour guide on every tour trotted out the same tidbit we got to wondering what in the world led to that being presented everywhere as such a big deal. Too many fruitcakes from Grandma not getting to their rightful destination because of mailbox confusion?</p>
<p>Very funny about the mailboxes, but I don’t remember hearing that once in the 20 tours we took. Maybe I’ve blocked the memory. I did appreciate that I only needed to write that Box# down once but I’d hardly consider it a selling point</p>
<p>absweetmarie - you forgot “We have interlibrary loan so if we don’t have the book you need we can get it for you” and “You can feel safe since we have this blue light system.”</p>
<p>The mailbox one is new to me. Yes, that would be a nice convenience but certainly not something that would make or break a decision to attend that school :D.</p>
<p>Since D2 & I just got back from her junior college visit tour, I can attest to the bonding that happens over college tour bingo 
</p>
<p>The trip can be a lot of fun or it can be stressful; how that happens really depends on the kiddo and how the parent responds. I know my D needs her sleep & quiet time, so I tried to make our tours after 10 & we never had the TV on in the hotel rooms. I also know that she doesn’t have a big appetite but crashes if she doesn’t eat well, so I packed a box of chocolate protein bars & a box of cereal bars. </p>
<p>Only 1 college per day for us, with a visit to OOS family breaking things up on the front end. The day we visited #1 on paper & it turned out badly, I quickly nixed the sightseeing we had planned in town & moved on to the next location. And we cut the honors college tour at stop #5 when it was clear that it wasn’t making the cut. </p>
<p>I said something positive about every school during the tour. I didn’t give my opinion until after D had given me hers. We “rack and stack” once we get in the car but then I don’t push. We need to do a debrief but I’m letting her recover first ;)</p>
<p>Have fun!!!</p>
<p>absweetmarie, that reminded me that at several of the schools we looked at with D2 (and this is something fairly new that I guess a lot of schools are doing now) a lot of the guides went on and on about how when you do your laundry, you get a text or email to let you know its done. Like that would sell you on the school, a nice touch, but not something that would seal the deal.</p>