<p>With S, sent him on a tour of a nearby university on a school holiday - just so he could get a sense of what college was like. He did the tour, had lunch with a former coach who worked there at the time, and met with a faculty member (whom I knew) whose interest was similar to S's. He came back excited about the whole process.</p>
<p>With D, visited first school during the summer between sophomore and junior year.</p>
<p>With both kids, did the bulk of the visits during a three-day weekend in the fall (there's no school on Jewish holidays), and February and April vacations all during junior year.</p>
<p>YMMV - I do not like the idea of visiting colleges during the summer at all ... a big part of the point of visiting schools is to get an idea of the fit and feel of a school (or a type of school) ... and that can best be experienced in session. In our house the trips will definately be while school is in session.</p>
<p>If you don't have the time and the money to make a bunch of visits; it makes more sense to just get as much info as possible about the schools that interest you; once you choose several schools, send your application and wait to see if you get in.
If you are admitted and you are still interested THEN visit. After all the application is only about $70 , while a visit to a school can be THOUSANDS of dollars!</p>
<p>"while a visit to a school can be THOUSANDS of dollars!"</p>
<p>I think my son visited about a dozen schools in a total of 3 roadtrips with one or the other parent, and a flight (by himself) to Brown. Total for all trips (including plane fare) was around 2K. Considering the price of an education (in dollars, time, and future happiness), I think this was a reasonable investment.</p>
<p>It is as important to visit to include schools on your list as it is to remove them. A couple of the schools that looked great on (virtual) paper would have been very poor fits indeed.</p>
<p>First of all, YOU CAN START TOO EARLY. As someone closer in age to the kids under discussion, the whole admissions process is nuts and incredibly stressful, Spring Junior Year-Spring Senior year are going to be overwrought no matter what you do (unless you do Early Decision which I STRONGLY recomend for sanity of all involved) it doesn't need to be extended. Unless you have a kid who is more toward the type A and will get more stressed out unless they have everything figured out in advance, Spring Junior and Fall Senior year is fine. I concur that summer is pretty useless because of the lack of students.</p>
<p>I'm with you papa chicken. How do those of us without big travel budgets fit in all those visits w/o missing a lot of school, especially with all those APs so many of our kids take? My Ds started this summer between Sophomore and Junior years. They were attending soccer camp at one so we took advantage and toured that school as well as a potential financial and academic safety. As soom as you have an idea of a list of schools I'd at least visit the close ones casually to see if they are as great as you think.</p>
<p>"How do those of us without big travel budgets fit in all those visits w/o missing a lot of school, especially with all those APs so many of our kids take? "</p>
<p>Begin by looking at <em>types</em> of schools that are nearby. One big state school, a private research uni, a tech school, a LAC. If you can eliminate one or two categories, it will make things easier. High School in-service days are great for trips to nearby campuses.</p>
<p>Imposing on relatives and friends is also a good way to save cash, as is packing a cooler full of food (healthier, too). </p>
<p>If the college is a plane ride away - can you just sent your student?</p>
<p>As someone who has worked at universities for a long time (not in admissions but I run programs for academically talented students so I often meet with prospective students and their parents) my best advice is to visit schools only when they are in session, if at all possible. I know it's difficult to take kids out of school for visits (I got into a number of heated discussions with my kids' GC when I took them on "too many" visits and I probably will again with my last one who is currently a HS junior) but you really can't get a feel for the place unless you see it in action - visit classes, talk to students, just hang out in public places and observe what's going on.</p>
<p>As for timing, from my perspective, I like to talk with students when they are late juniors or seniors. That's when they're focused on the task, pay attention, ask good questions. Before then it's more like a sight-seeing trip.</p>
<p>And don't hesitate to ask the admissions office to set up visits for you to meet with someone in the major or in special programs your child may be interested in. Some admissions offices may balk, but good ones won't. (You can also always call those offices directly to set up meetings.) In my career, I have mostly worked at large, public research universities and if those kinds of places can be accommodating, any place can do it. But please be polite (yet firm) when making requests - admissions offices (and other university offices) are harried and it does no one any good when parents get huffy and demanding (I know none of you would do this!) Just mentioning it because . . . well, you can imagine!!</p>
<p>Two kinds of visits....perhaps three. One, purely informational and really just a gut check, architectural review, and walk through. Early....its never too early. Two, either spring of Junior year after SAT scores come in, or summer before Senior year. This visit is very important. You need to talk to admissions people, other students there, check out the location, cost, dorms, and all the factors you have already written down and listed by order of importance like whether its Div I or Div III school, food quality, scholarship opportunities and your overall fit. This visit determines WHETHER you will apply or not and its relative rank in your head. THREE: the visit after they admit you. You will likely get into several schools on your list, and have a few rejects or waitlists. Go visit ONLY the ones who accepted you in the order of your preference. See what package they gave you, recheck with students there and the dorms, then decide.</p>
<p>If you wait until senior year to do all of this, you will either get hosed, or make an imprudent decision.</p>
<p>And leave open the possibility of a pleasant surprise. Some kids apply to schools without ever having made a visit. That is dangerous in my view if they are serious about going there. </p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>n.b. some kids only have one or two real choices and have an excellent chance of being admitted. I know one kid who applied only to NCState and got in and that was it. Fine. But not many people are like that.</p>
<p>I think spring of junior year is plenty early to begin this process. A couple things though:</p>
<p>My D was reluctant to interview on first visits, so she/we ended up running around trying to get interviews done in fall of senior year. So I'd suggest that kids get their interviews done during first visits if at all possible. Maybe start with safeties to get comfortable with the process.</p>
<p>I agree it's best to visit while schools are in session. However, be aware that kids can be unduly influenced by one less-than-satisfactory class visit, one conversation with a disgruntled student, one socially-challenged tour guide, etc. My D almost ruled out the school she eventually went to because she didn't click at all with the student "ambassador" she stayed with. (Colleges really need to do a better job recruiting students as tour guides, ambassadors, etc who are excited about being there!)</p>
<p>My daughter visited two schools the Spring of Junior year on the way to her brother's college graduation. These were selected because one didn't offer interviews, and the other's interviews were informational only. No need to ramp up the pressure too early.
In addition to visiting her brother at his college and staying over weekends, she also visited her best friend at another college, who was two year's ahead of her. She thus knew 2 schools a bit from the "inside", again without pressure.
As a home schooler, the rest of her experience likely isn't too helpful to others. She visited all the rest of her schools the end of September and early October of Senior year, when classes were in session and she had her numbers in hand.
If you can get away then, mid-week visits are especially great. She was one of 2 kids at her info sessions and tours at Dartmouth and Princeton, and the only one at Swarthmore.</p>
<p>I'd say spring of junior year. That way the schools are still session so they can see how the school normally operates, and the junior students can begin their search early.</p>
<p>I'll tell you where NOT to go early in the junior year if your S or D wants recognition for the visit: Tufts. I took my S in October and the following year, in October of his senior year, they had no record of his first visit. I'm glad we went twice (and he was accepted) but they don't seem to keep records of visits for over a year.</p>
<p>The other factor to take into consideration with planning college visits is if your child does a sport. You'll need to work around seasons. So if your child does a spring sport, you may have to start earlier in the year.</p>
<p>I know some people do college visits AFTER they get acceptances but to me it just makes more sense to do it BEFORE...you don't get an actual feel of the school until you visit, so it's very important to do that. My friend applied to Rose-Hulman, got in, and decided not to go because he complained there weren't enough girls (I'm not saying he's right or wrong, I don't know...but that was just his opinion).</p>
<p>If you live in an isolated rural area like we do, you have to start earlier because there is nothing "close" to look at. Within three hours we can reach UCD and Saint Mary's. Other then that, visits also involve an overnight stay. anyway, thats why we started earlier than most. If you have to budget time and money it pays (or saves) to begin sooner than later.</p>
<p>My original plan was to start taking the kids to campus plays, sports events, and the snack bars and bookstores when they were in middle school, so they would become comfortable with the way a college looks.</p>
<p>Definitely start the tours in soph/junior summer. At least to get the general feel of big campus vs. small, urban vs. country, etc. It will help narrow the field when the student makes 'the list' of places to visit.</p>
<p>With my oldest daughter, the bulk of the college visits were done during her junior year, although the very first visit was in the summer in between sophomore and junior year(while we were on our way to a family vacation.) The summer visit went okay, but I do agree with other posters who suggested visiting while school was in session, as you get a better feel for the college during that time. But then the problem is finding the time during that one (junior) school year to visit all of these places.<br>
This is why I'm thinking of taking D2, who's currently a sophomore, to visit one of our state universities that she's interested in(and who wouldn't give admissions interviews anyway)next spring during her school break. To some it might sound extreme to start in the sophomore year, but it's only a few months earlier than we started with our older child. And this way, she can see the university while it's in session, and get a more accurate feel for the type of school that it is.</p>
<p>With my oldest we did all the visits during the summer between Junior and Senior year in HS and then follow-up visits in very early fall. It felt extremely rushed and there were schools that we just never had a chance to fit in. So.... for my youngest we just started college visits today, fall of her Junior year. Already today's visits have helped her to decide a number of factors that are important to her at any prospective college. So as not to put too much pressure on her at this early stage we encouraged her to bring along friends which made it a fun day for all. We'll fit in some more visits this fall, take a break during the winter and then will continue making visits in the spring.</p>