<p>Couldn’t agree with you more historymom. I love visiting colleges. My husband dislikes the trips so my sons and I (1 and now 2) have done them together. Great memories, but your advice is spot on. Only thing I would add is that we send S1 (and will do the same for S2) alone to the senior year return visit. We felt that the kids were going to need to get there and back by themselves at the long breaks so having to do this alone was going to test just how far they were willing to go right along with how much they liked the college.</p>
<p>I don’t think so at all. We did one visit after freshman year, and that school remains his no. 1 choice. We visited five schools the next summer. Two of those schools remain on his list, maybe a third. This summer, we/he will be visiting several more. I think those visits will have a very different feel about them, now that it’s all coming to a head.</p>
<p>oh and I second what ebeeeeeee said about touring reachy schools early, even though your student may change her/his mind and decide not to attend or even apply to a specific school, finding one he/she likes and knowing what it takes to get in can be the inspiration needed to light a fire under your student academically.</p>
<p>Next year I plan to take DS to Picnic Day at UC Davis we may try to catch a football game there this fall too. On Fri he will be touring Cal with his AVID class. These casual, for fun, visits at campuses which seem out of his reach now may be what it takes to get him to pull himself closer.</p>
<p>We just took S on his first visit/tour even though he is a freshman this year. Mainly because a) we were in the area an not likely to get back there again and b) because they had a major that I thought would peak S’s interest enough to motivate school effort. It was low key, just did the tour and left afterwards. </p>
<p>With D, we did our first tours summer btwn Sop/Jr year just to get started. One had been her ‘dream school’ (where she ended up not apply to) and the other a UC that we rode bikes around just to see the campus and get a feel for the area. During Jr year D & I attended info sessions for schools that were out of state to give her a starting point on whether to add them to her list or not. Worked well for D, it was low stress and we went to info sessions only for schools that had majors she was looking for. That strategy worked well for D, S will be a different story!</p>
<p>We did our first college trip, one college, while on Spring break vacation in 9th grade. Saw five colleges in a different area during Spring of sophomore year, saw seven colleges in D’s Preferred Area in a Boston-to-NYC death march during Spring of junior year. Saw a few others on one-off trips here and there.</p>
<p>For D and for us, this process was About Right, very measured, thoughtful, etc., peaking at the right time. Spring senior year consisted of a trip to see the two finalists, a trip luckily coordinated with a high school music trip.</p>
<p>Thank you for all of your replies! I think we’ll start this next year like we planned (D is graduating in 12’), and go from there.</p>
<p>I think it depends on the kid. My oldest barely was willing to see colleges as a junior, but as he pointed out he had seen three different small LACs through CTY summer programs, and had been to Columbia for both a Saturday school year program and summer school, and he’d been to parts of two Harvard reunions, and had even done some kids camps on local college campuses so he’d seen a few campuses, even if he was looking at them with his future in mind.</p>
<p>Not at all- early is GOOD! My D will be attending Cleveland Institute of Music in the fall and she began looking at schools when she was in 9th grade. If you are interested in such a field, be sure to take advantage of College Fairs that come to your area- around here, they are held at a major conservatory, and D made contacts there who turned out to be very valuable when it came time to apply. We did the first visit- a school about 3 hours away- in 10th grade, but made the out of state ones in the fall of her junior year. A caveat there, for anyone looking to major in peformance fields would be that the teacher you have a sample lesson with may not be there when you apply! D loved a teacher at the school she will be attending and even though he was listed on the web site, he had decamped to another state! Liuckily, another prof selected her for her studio and they get along wonderfully! Start your visits early, keep notes, read Peterson’s Guides or other books for general info and narrow your list for schools you will actually apply to. D has classmates who applied to 10-15 schools (!) and were flying around the country late in April, trying to decide where to send their deposit! We didn’t go that route,instead selcting 3 schools, and getting acceptances at all- deposit was in and she was all smiles by April 5th!</p>
<p>I agree that’s not too early at all, because their lives only get busier as they begin junior year. Also, getting a glimpse of the wonders of college can be a good motivator to keep working hard. </p>
<p>My advice would be not to plan to visit first any college that you think might end up being a top choice. Instead, as other posters suggested, select a couple of schools that are interesting in that they represent a particular type of school or campus the kid thinks he will like: LAC, big state U, rural, urban, suburban. I agree that there’s a learning curve, and it takes a couple of visits to know what to really look for and listen to, and what to disregard. The first time your student hears: “Our professors are so accessible. They invite the class to their home for BBQ’s and have even asked students to babysit their kids,” or “We have a bizillion clubs here, but if there’s one you want that we don’t have, the school will give you money to start it,” or “If the library doesn’t have a book you need, they can get it for you in 24 hours from another college”…they might be impressed, but then they learn that the tour guides at practically EVERY school say those things. You’ll want your child to visit perceived top choices after they’ve gotten a taste of what these tours and info. sessions are all about. Also, the other reason not to visit a school you suspect might be a top choice is that if it’s too cool, every college afterward will pale by comparison and it will be tough to maintain an open mind.</p>
<p>I agree with TheGFG. Let them begin on schools they probably won’t consider. A friend’s D used that technique for interview practice at 2 schools. When she had interviews for her favorite schools, she was relaxed and confident knowing what to expect.</p>
<p>When is Picnic Day? Since we’re going to miss UC Davis when school is in session, we’ll have to go this summer. It’s less than a 3 hour drive. But, it would be nice to visit when something fun like Picnic Day is happening, too.</p>
<p>“Next year I plan to take DS to Picnic Day at UC Davis we may try to catch a football game there this fall too. On Fri he will be touring Cal with his AVID class. These casual, for fun, visits at campuses which seem out of his reach now may be what it takes to get him to pull himself closer”</p>
<p>Picnic Day is usually the 3rd Saturday in April. It really is cool with magical science demonstrations, weiner dog races and other high interest activites.</p>
<p>Yes it is too early. Better to visit when the schools are in session for a regular term.</p>
<p>But, if you have a lot of schools to see, it could help you eliminate a few so when you do visit again, you are taking less time out of school.</p>
<p>Visiting a college when it’s not in session is of such limited use that I wouldn’t waste the time. Yeah, you can look at the facilities. But you won’t get a sense of the campus vibe, how students interact with each other and their classes/professors, all the important things that really separate one college from another.</p>
<p>We had an inadvertent experiment once, seeing Georgetown both when it wasn’t in session and then a few days later when it was. Vastly different experiences. As is UCLA, which I experience all the time. The difference between, say, West Point and Hampshire is more than weather, facilities, and architecture.</p>
<p>D visited the college she goes to during the summer when it was not in session. There was plenty else besides the “campus vibe” that sold her on the place. I would not shy away from summer visits.</p>
<p>I agree with TheDad that a summer visit is of limited value. However, it might possible to rule out a college based on location and physical layout. There were at least two colleges we visited in the summer that were ruled out in this manner.</p>
<p>Ruling a college out is more doable during a summer visit than ruling a college in. Imho, one can’t make an informed decision without knowing whether one is simpatico with the student body. Hampshire College, Ohio State, and Carleton all have very different feels to them that you’re not going to experience if school is not in session.</p>