When is it best to start campus tours - Prep School ???

Prep School Admissions
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<p>I happened to be reading this CC featured thread</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=388454%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=388454&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>And was wondering if anyone has thought about the answer for Prep Schools.</p>

<p>I know we didn't do prep school touring until until application time (logistics and screening for need of goalie issue), but have seen several parents who are taking their kids prep school touring during 7th grade (for 9th grade admission).</p>

<p>What is the thinking for when to start prep school touring?</p>

<p>On a side note, we did our first college tour on Labor Day - probably more to kill time because my DW wanted to spend a full day without driving on the trip. Yes, she is starting 10th grade, so it is way too early to commit anywhere, but we found it informative and D seemed very interested (in her own poker face way).</p>

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<p>For parents & students who have had little exposure to the boarding life, I think a few tours around late April/early May of 7th grade are beneficial. We visited 5 schools taking only the tour and not the interview. Not all schools allow you to do this. The tours helped to solidify the boarding school decision and allowed us to establish criteria. It's not essential to do this, but we found it helpful. </p>

<p>As far college tours go, I'm way ahead of you goaliedad: <a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=367061%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=367061&lt;/a>
Actually, we all found this very helpful, and we will probably visit a few more over March break. There is no pressure at this point and no interview. I think it's just too rushed to start the second half of Junior year and have an ED choice by the start of Senior year. This timetable was fine when people only applied to 2-4 colleges, but those days are gone for now. Anyway, at this point, we are looking for criteria and preferences, not a real list.</p>

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<p>I think that the best time for touring is mid-October, when the weather starts to cool down and when the leaves start changing. We did ours the last week of October last year.</p>

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<p>we scheduled ours around long weekends/teacher workshop days in Oct/Nov to avoid missing too many school days. Schedule early (now!) to get your choice of dates. </p>

<p>We didn't start until the fall of 8th grade year. I was wary of making too big a deal about the process by starting earlier and thereby putting more stress/pressure on our child. We tried to keep it as low key as possible.</p>

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<p>Burb Parent,</p>

<p>Yeah, I guess you beat us by a couple of weeks. LOL. Interesting thread! I would highly suggest it for any of the other parents who are looking that far forward.</p>

<p>I guess I wasn't hanging around the parent's forum to join the conversation. Sounds like you had a good experience. Ours was good as well. With a limited selection of schools for women's hockey (and who knows which of them will be needing a goalie when she graduates?), this was more about measuring D's (and DW's) feelings about what kind of environment is preferred using real campuses (otherwise she might not pay much attention). </p>

<p>The only school doing tours on Labor Day that we could find was Northeastern, so that is where we went. We also did a drive by on BC and BU, being in the neighborhood. NU passed the D's criteria (she decided to get a NU Hockey t-shirt) and DW loved the place. Given her grades and class levels so far, NU would be at least a match bordering on safety. These are good things when a coach doesn't have to put you on the protect list and can use that tip for another strong player. And I think NU is probably a good fit for her as a person, as she is not one to ponder the meaning of things, but is a learn by doing type. Their coop experience may be a good thing for her.</p>

<p>It was also interesting to see D's and DW's reactions to BC and BU on the drive-by. D didn't get too excited about BC, whereas DW seems to like the Catholic schools (this going back to prep school decision). D seemed to get very up about BU, however as the hustle and bustle on the street would indicate that she likes urban schools much more than the suburban. DW OTOH, is very nervous about BU, thinking our sheltered D doesn't know what she is getting into while liking the self-contained feeling of NU.</p>

<p>Lots of campuses to see still. We're going to be in RI just after Thanksgiving and may stop and see Providence. We will be in CT just after Xmas and will probably look at UConn and Qpac then. I doubt there will be tours though, but those are the times of year we are in those areas.</p>

<p>D has seen a few campuses over the years, having gone to camps at Penn State and Kent State, so she has some frame of reference for college campuses. She went to a hockey camp at Mercyhurst last summer (I think she impressed someone there). She wants to go to a camp at Brown next summer, so that will get us yet another D1 campus experience.</p>

<p>All this may be moot of course, depending on coach interest in a couple years. But spending a little time and money to keep her interest up (and hopefully keep her motivated) is probably a good thing since she has some internal interest already. I've just got to figure out how to work in some D3 schools into the tour mix without it coming across as a vote of no-confidence.</p>

<p>Getting back on-topic (don't you hate it when the OP takes a thread OT. LOL) I think if a kid has an interest in BS, taking them on tours (no interviews) in 7th grade is probably a good thing. I'm not sure if dragging a kid to a boarding school when s/he hasn't been talking about it much is a good idea though. At that age, you can't necessarily guess if their interest from a parent initiated tour is genuine or not.</p>

<p>We actually did one tour of a prep school (of a school we applied to and turned down) in 7th grade because we were on campus for a tournament. But like I said, she was already interested and talking about the idea of going to prep school to play girls hockey, so the pre-existing interest was already there.</p>

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<p>Sounds like your D will be playing at Rhode Island Panthers Thanksgiving tournament and Connecticut Polar Bears Christmas tournament. Maybe we will see you there or perhaps even have Ds playing against one another.</p>

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<p>Here's a question kind of related to the when to tour topic.
Can our 6th grade duaghter come on the tours with us and then (obviously) not be a part of the interviews (she would go to the car or sit outside depending on the weather and read)?</p>

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<p>Yes. Our son, a year younger, did. He'd bring a book or schoolwork to do and sit in the waiting area during the interviews. Everyone was very nice to him and had no problem having him there. He already has opinions on some schools for his own search a few years away! He really liked Deerfield but it may habe a lot to do with those green M&Ms! :)</p>

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<p>Thanks Creative! I thought it might be ok, and certainly might help weed out some visits 3 years from now.</p>

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<p>Those green M&M's make lots of kids feel great on a Friday afternoon. Our kids all came with us on every tour at every school. It was great for them to see what different schools have to offer and they all enjoyed comparing things about each one together. It might be easier to tour schools when the weather is nice in the fall or early spring the year before you plan to apply.</p>

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<p>The added benefit to bringing younger sibling to campus tour is that when older sibling leaves, it gives younger sibling a sense of what older sibling is experiencing.</p>

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<p>True. If it doesn't drive older sibling to maddness, I think it's a good idea to bring the younger sibling. Except when plane fair is an issue, or they don't want to go, the advantages usually overrule the disadvantages.</p>

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<p>goaliedad --</p>

<p>As you probably know, BU Woman's Hockey has its own rink: the 3600 seat Walter Brown Arena, former home to the mighty Terriers (men).</p>

<p>Arf, Go BU.</p>

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<p>fun,</p>

<p>I don't have a dog in this fight (pun intended), although it sounds like you do. All 4 Beanpot schools are fine places to get a good education. While it is nice to have your own rink (for the women's team), there are a lot of other things that go into this decision, especially for a goalie. Not every team needs a goalie the year you are going to matriculate (it is insane to carry 4 goalies). And of course, coaches have some input as to who they are interested in and if you are not #1 on the coach's list you've gotta have help (#1 going elsewhere).</p>

<p>No, the purpose of this trip was to get as much of a sense of place for schools that might be academic possibilities (I'm not planning on Ivy). So with her being in school in New England, I'm pretty sure we will be touring the entirity of Hockey East in the next year or so. At the end of their Junior year season (March), coaches have pretty well made up their lists (some shuffling comes during summer camps, though). At that point, we will tour again with a more critical eye. And it is likely to be a very short list of schools, if she does that well.</p>

<p>And I personally (despite my DW's reservations about BU's urban setting) don't rule out any schools right now. 3 years is a lot of time for a kid to grow and change. And quite frankly, if BU is the school offering the best opportunity, my DW will have to understand that there are some risks you have to take in life.</p>

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<p>You may want to sign up for the specific dates that the school has scheduled for information sessions, tours, and interviews (i.e. Open House). My alma mater, Mercersburg Academy, has its open houses in early October and January, but in order to get an interview, you have to have submitted your application beforehand (makes sense).</p>

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<p>I called NMH to try to schedule a tour and interview for October 8th and that is an Open House day (not listed yet on their web site when I called) and they are not doing interviews at all on that day (even if you apply in advance, although that is really early to have your application done).</p>

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<p>When we did our tours, and there were many, no school required an application in advance of the tour & interview. What they did want is an inquiry form.</p>

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<p>None of the ones we set up so far wanted an application in advance - just an inquiry.</p>

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<p>Linda,
When my D toured, not only did we bring my 2nd grade S (who is the current BS candidate), but we brought along our lab! They kept each other occupied quite nicely. When it was time for the tour, we'd tie up the dog to a big tree. When it was time for our interview, we'd have S take the dog for a walk. S liked Choate the best because of the frogs and turtles in the pond!</p>

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<p>we did have one school that wanted the application fee and some type of first part done before the interview. this was annoying because after the interview , my son decided not to apply there.</p>