<p>We are embarking on our third child's college search, with a fourteen year spread. Maybe we have learned some things.</p>
<p>I am considering doing it another way with this child, who is an excellent student. Instead of visiting colleges in the summer after junior year, where we feel you see little in the way of differences, what do you think of doing this:</p>
<p>Get all the information about possible good match colleges with desired majors through CC, internet sites, and college counselors. Apply to reaches, matches, safeties.</p>
<p>When the acceptances come in, make appts to attend the accepted student days, where they "wine and dine" you instead of the pre app visits where many make you feel "small" and drill into the students how impossible it will be to get in.</p>
<p>Anything wrong with this approach? My son already has a very good idea of what college life is like from his two older siblings.</p>
<p>The only issue may be that the accepted student events may all overlap, since they’re likely to be built around a couple of weekends in mid- to late-April.</p>
<p>I like the idea, our DS is our first college-bound and we are following a similar plan. Sure we’ve visited schools while on vacation or if we’re in the area, but esp. since the majority of seemingly “good fits” are not local, it makes more sense to narrow way down from online resources, see where he gets in, then visit when there are real specific questions comparing the different programs etc.</p>
<p>I think this is a fabulous idea provided you can really find good info online. I did the college search in the 90’s when most of the important info didn’t make it onto a website but now you can find nearly everything on the department websites. Also, don’t discount the input of other students in your child’s classes.</p>
<p>Your approach could work, but I would caution you on a few points:</p>
<p>(1) Assuming you apply RD, all of your college visits will have to occur in roughly a 30-day period, assuming notifications arrive in mid to late March. April is a very busy month for seniors at most high schools around here – spring sports, prom, senior dinner, spring musical, etc. and even some school work, lol (like preparing for AP exams in early May). That’s a tough time to be spending a lot of time away from home. And as pointed out by others, many of the Admitted Students Days will probably overlap.</p>
<p>(2) Admitted Students Days may make your student feel special (the “wine and dine”) but they can also be a lot like cattle calls. Because there are hundreds – if not thousands – of students coming in for the day, there is a fixed schedule of special events and presentations that is not at all representative of a “typical day” at that particular school. We also found that there was little or no opportunity then to have any meaningful contact with particular departments or faculty members outside of the official schedule. And since these events usually occur on the weekend, there is no chance to sit in on a class or two. Perhaps you could stay an extra day or two (or go a day earlier) in conjunction with the Admitted Students Day to get a more realistic picture of what goes on at the school when there aren’t hundreds of HS seniors touring the campus.</p>
<p>this approach should be fine … that said I am going to add tow thoughts.</p>
<p>I am a fan of some visits ahead of applications … not so much to find dream schools but to uinderstand the parameters of the desired schools. There are 3000 or so undergraduate choices … big or small school … urban, suburban, college towen, or rural school … LAC or research Uni … frat/sports or not … etc. Hopefully most of these options can be found locally but it could really help create a more focused application list. (FYI - I’m not a huge fan of visiting while being wined and dined … I’d rather my kids visit during regular school operations to see how the school typically runs).</p>
<p>It’s not a bad idea, but I think the others make some good points about some of the disadvantages. I think you might want to look at some of the ones of greatest interest earlier in the process to validate any assumptions. I would then use the Accepted Student Days for those on the bubble, sleepers that came through with some nice scholarships, or some similar type of circumstance. In other words, the ones that emerge out of the pack as places worth a visit in addition to the top candidates already considered.</p>
<p>That approach should work fine for the matches and reaches, but I would suggest visiting at least two safeties. You want to be sure the safties are schools your student would be willing to attend if none of the others work out in terms of admissions or finances - and you want to know that when there is still time to adjust your list.</p>
<p>alamemom has good advice! I think the most important advice (regarding admissions) that I have heard is “Love Thy Safety”. </p>
<p>OP- you have an interesting strategy, but just remember, if you wait to visit until you hear decisions… there might not be enough time to visit all the schools. However- if your child applies to some schools rolling (many state schools have rolling decisions) or EA, then you can do those visits earlier (since rolling and EA decisions often come by December, you could visit those schools over winter break, or one of the long weekends in January/February- some rolling schools have admitted students days earlier than March/April).</p>
<p>Welcome to the way we did it in the Dark Ages! Before internet! Before wining & dining! Before it cost you an arm and a leg (and your privates, if you were willing)!</p>
<p>Short answer — I see nothing wrong with your approach whatsoever.</p>