Hi 
,
When did you, your children, or people you know begin to visit colleges? I am considering beginning to visit a few the summer between my sophomore and junior year, but I’m worried that that is too early.
I think that is an acceptable time to start visiting. Just remember to visit all types of schools and make notes.
“the summer between my sophomore and junior year”
That is when we started, but at this point we stuck to schools that were relatively nearby. This gave our kids a chance to see what a few schools are like and start thinking about what they want in a university. By the following spring break and then summer we were ready to visit schools that were high on the list of preferred schools, even if a few were not all that nearby.
I agree with @birdie3 to visit a range of types of schools – big ones and little ones, ones in the city and ones in small towns, …
That’s when we started too. We also did the range of schools. We took two road trips (those were our family vacations that year) and then did lots of day trips closer to home. We visited 15 schools, she applied to 8. Some schools she went back multiple times and also did a summer program and her top choice the following summer to be “sure” it was her number one.
As an aside, I know you aren’t supposed to have a #1 choice but in my daughter’s case it was a match school, not a reach, and financially viable for us without merit $. She wanted to be sure it was right for otherwise she would have considered applied binding ED at her reach.
We waited until spring break junior year. We really felt like it was important for DS to be "closer to the person he’d be when he started college ". At that point, he had test scores, a good idea of how he liked the rigor of the IBD, a better idea of what kind of social environment appealed to him, and having lived through the application cycle with senior friends. He DID attend some college fairs and visits by reps at school earlier, but it felt premature to consider fit earlier than that. A lot of this changes if athletic recruitment is part of the picture.
Summer before junior year is a good choice. It will help you start to narrow down which type of colleges you prefer and inform your search for future visits. You can time some visits for late summer, when students are back on some campuses, and then continue to visit colleges over long weekends like Rosh Hashanah and Columbus Day, your February break, your spring break, and the next summer and fall.
Something to consider: does the school encourage an on-campus interview, and if so, when is the earliest you can interview? We saved some schools for later so that we would not have to invest the time/travel/hotel costs of visiting them again for the interview.
Thank you @gardenstategal @momofsenior1 @TheGreyKing !!
After sophomore year is good – just remember that esp. for smaller colleges they are very quiet in the summer.
Sometimes, thought, end of summer some colleges start b4 HS begins – so there’s a sweet spot in late August that is a great time for visits. We visited a couple schools their first week of class in Aug. – fun!
Spring break Junior year – great time.
If you are curious enough to be asking, you might feel ready. In which case, tour away!
Sure you may change your mind (or your wish list) a few times before application time, but the locations of the colleges aren’t going to change, and any changes to the campuses will only be minimal. Also, you might see a place you like and realize you don’t have all the requirements, so the earlier you find this out the easier is will be to fit that extra year of foreign language or social studies (or whatever) into your schedule. By touring early, you might find you have time to revisit your finalists later, and second visits can provide deeper information not to mention they really show strong demonstrated interest.
My DD is an incoming HS freshman, and she has already toured. It was an earlier start than we expected, but it turned out to be a great experience.
Thanks! @Groundwork2022
I think it depends on how focused your student is. If they 100% for sure know what they want to do, I think it’s a fine time. If not, I would wait off until the spring of junior year.
It’s too early only in the sense that school may not be in session (or in full swing) during the summer, so you may not be able to visit representative classes or stay overnight with host students in a dorm. However, a summer visit is o.k. of you just want to get the lay of the land (scale of the campus, quality of major facilities, distance to town, etc.)