<p>I just learned that Penn will have a representative in our town this week. My son, who has just started his sophomore year, has found that Penn has a very interesting art/engineering program that he thinks is awesome. He wants me to take him to this town visit, but I have my reservations for a number of reasons: his age and Penn being an Ivy (he is a very strong student, but Ivy league candidate? I don't know.) Is there any rule of thumb to go by with this? I want to learn more about what he wants to do and where he wants to go, but don't want for him to feel rushed or anxious about it. Does that make sense? Thanks for any advice you veterans out there have.</p>
<p>If it's just going to be a presentation by the Penn rep, there's no harm in going. It might spur him to move his grades up a notch. However, if it is a "one on one" interview type of thing, then I would wait until Junior year.</p>
<p>Agree with Carolyn that it's great if it's just a presentation rather than a one-on-one. My daughter as a freshman came along with brother to visit colleges (he was rising junior). It was OK. It COULD spur him, depends on the child.
Since it's HIS initiative, I'd support him (different if mom & dad were pushing him when he had no interest).</p>
<p>GO! It will have him thinking a bit about college, but not too much.</p>
<p>Carolyn, I think mine should wait until senior year to do one-on-one interviews. He got a postcard today about a hometown visit and an opportunity to interview. This is a selective school that might fit his needs. I say 'might' because he's not really thinking about what those are right now. But I am convinced he needs another year under his belt before he starts interviewing. </p>
<p>BTW, is it common to interview as a junior? I assumed they thought he was a senior. Is there any reason he should consider interviewing as a junior? Thanks</p>
<p>Sophomore year is a perfect age for that kind of information meeting. My son went to the Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, and Penn joint meeting in town last school at age twelve. He is going to a different Ivy meeting on Monday at age thirteen--but that's because I'm interested in this kind of thing, and just want him to have some food for thought. Going to such a meeting doesn't obligate you to do anything with the information you learn there. :)</p>
<p>I started taking D to college fairs (Colleges That Change Lives) and info sessions her sophomore year, but only after I had seen her show some interest in colleges (she had looked at a Big Book and marked the colleges which interested her). This helped motivate her to improve grades, prepare for tests, and seek leadership positions. She probably would have improved grades on her own, but not necessarily the other two.</p>
<p>We also started spohmore year, going to fairs and listening to the various talk tracks. It did help D eliminate some schools off the back and spaeked her wanting more information at other schools.</p>
<p>Over30,
When to interview is often more a matter of timing, in my opinion, then whether your student is a junior or a senior. If you are visiting a college as a junior and they encourage interviews then that would be the perfect time. If your student has a very busy senior fall schedule (fall sports, marching band) then spring of junior year would make more sense. Junior year would be even more appropriate if you are applying to a state school with a rolling admission. The students should have the applications in as early as possible and the interview behind them to get the best chance of admission.</p>
<p>I started taking my kids to things like that when they were in 8th grade. It's not an interview: Just a presentation by the admissions reps. It can give kids valuable info including about the differences between colleges, how grades, scores and ECs impact admissions, etc.
It also can help students begin to think about what factors are important to them when it comes to choosing a college. </p>
<p>The earlier that students begin thinking about the kind of college environment that they want, the easier things will be senior year. Given the thousands of colleges in the US, choosing where to apply can be overwhelming if students wait until they are seniors to decide what factors are of importance to themselves.</p>
<p>You also can get great info about ECs, GCs, SAT tutors, good AP courses, etc. from the older students and their parents who attend the events.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the replies. As far as I can tell this meeting is just informational and is going to include reps from other schools as well- not a one on one type of situation. So... if he can get all of his homework done and we can get the dinner dishes cleared away in time :) we may head on down there to listen. I hope it is interesting and fun for him. Thanks for your help.</p>
<p>Kandksmom:</p>
<p>You are fortunate that your S is focusing on colleges already; so many parents complain that theirs aren't interested well into junior year. </p>
<p>An info session can be very valuable in showing students what they need to be able to show by the time they apply to college. Waiting to find out by the end of junior year is too late. After a while, info sessions can be very repetitive, but going to one or two is a great idea. Besides gleaning information from the college reps, it can also be very valuable just listening to the questions from students and parents in the audience. What kind of courses? what kind of board scores? what kind of ECs? What do colleges mean by showing "passion?" Students are more likely to take such information seriously if it comes from people other than their own parents.</p>
<p>KandK - I also think it is a great idea to take your son to the U. Penn session, especially since he has shown some interest. We started attending these when my son was in middle school, and I even attended a couple of them w/o him when he was that age. That's also when we started doing campus tours of likely colleges, if they happened to be in a town we were visiting. It's a very benign way to gather some information and get the mental cogs rolling. I would NOT wait for junior year to start attending these. I would go to any convenient ones as soon as you become aware of them. It kind of doesn't matter what the college is, he can get a sense of what the info sessions are like, and what kinds of questions people ask.</p>
<p>Also, these are are only given in the fall, so you are only going to have 2 shots at the local info session for this particular college before your son should be forming his college list as it is. By fall of senior year he should really have already formed a good idea of where he's going to apply and not need general info, although he may want to attend some info sessions to ask specific questions.</p>
<p>As a senior (class of 2006), I wish I had started thinking about college a bit earlier. Sophomore year is a great time to start looking at the admission/scholarship requirements of whatever schools your son is thinking about.</p>
<p>My son visited as a rising junior. He was so embarrassed bcs tour guides would ask who was accepted already, who was a senior, junior, etc. When S raised his hand they would always make a comment like, "Oh, starting early".
Also, on one tour there was a kind of eccentric female who was a senior. She proceeded to give advice to my S about enjoying his junior year, and how he has plenty of time, and how he does not need to visit as a junior. She told him not to even worry about the sats, or take them, until his senior year! She was nervous and inquired as to whether her marginal scores would be high enough for the school we were visiting. She had no problem asking publically. I turned to my S and let him know that this was not the person to take advice from, but he insisted that she had some valid points. IMO she gave my son the perfect model about how not to approach the college search or college preparation.</p>
<p>Over30,
My daughter did several interviews last spring as a junior. We had no choice: we knew she wouldn't be able to get back to some of the schools easily in senior year and most of them don't travel frequently to our area. The schools (all small LACs) had no problem with interviewing a junior and several of the interviews were evaluative.I do think you are right, though, that senior year interviews are probably better from the point of view of knowing where you're headed, etc.</p>
<p>My S, knowing he would graduate early, visited campuses in his sophomore year. I do not believe students were asked what class they were in, and S did not report that anyone commented about his being a sophomore or offered unsolicited advice. He left the interviews for the fall of his junior year when he was actually applying, but he could have done interviews earlier and had long visits with some profs everywhere he visited.</p>
<p>northeastmom and Carolyn - the OP is not talking about campus visits or interviews. They are talking about attending one of the gen'l info sessions for the school to be given in their hometown. Basically, you just sit anonymously in a big audience. It doesn't matter what grade you are in.</p>
<p>Carolyn - we are in the same predicament. Over our spring break (which is last week in March 2006) we will be traveling over 1500 miles and blitz thru 4 or 5 smaller LAC's. All require interviews which are evaluative. I'm in a pickle as to what to do? My son will not have the knowledge necessary to compare one against the other as this will be his first intro to college and therefore at a detriment to asking the right questions. I feel that I have no choice but have him interview. If he doesn't interview all the schools have are tours which for a 1500 mile trip sounds a bit paltry.</p>
<p>What if my son emails the admissions dept in advance and asks them for their advice on this dilema? To interview or not? </p>
<p>My guess is that for geographic diversity they would really like to meet my son because they may not get another crack at him. </p>
<p>Thouhgts on approaching admissions dept in advance would be appreciated by all......</p>
<p>Smiles,</p>
<p>Check the websites of the schools in which your S is interested. Some of them may offer alumni interviews for applicants who live far away. If it's not posted on the website, then definitely call the admissions offices to inquire. That may help decrease the pressure to interview this early. D had the opportunity to interview when we visited schools during her junior year but decided to wait until senior year and go the alumni interview route. She felt better prepared to ask thoughtful questions.</p>