My D started in the summer before junior year. Bad idea. No students means it’s just a bunch of buildings. We had to go back and revisit a couple. I planned it all geographically. Winter break, visited a bunch, Easter break visited the rest. Yes, it was difficult. She sat in the back of the car and did homework on long drives. But we did no visits in senior year. By the time she applied she had done her research and knew what she liked. Even after applying though, a couple of colleges she had liked, she lost interest in.
They grow, they change their minds. They have a better idea of how they fit in the world and the kind of people they want to be around. It is a very rare 7,8, or 9th grader who knows themselves well enough to know what college they want to spend four years at, in three, four or five years time.
My kids already felt way too much pressure at that age. The last thing I wanted to do was increase that pressure by asking them to think about college when they were still too emotionally immature to deal with the idea. Maybe for kids who are slackers, an early college tour might be motivating, but I doubt it. The slackers are even less mature than the hardworking kids!
@Pizzagirl, my poor son had to go on several college visits with his older sister during his 9th grade year–yep, Scripps, Bryn Mawr, Mount Holyoke were a lot of fun for him! And even the coed schools she looked at were forever impressed on his mind as places he would never want to go.
We didn’t start college visits until end of sophomore year, but we did encourage our DS to attend summer camps in middle school and high school that took place on college campuses. I know many of the parents/students on CC look into intensive summer programs for credit, etc., but in our area, it’s not common. I like to believe that the summer camp experience enabled S to picture what college might be like with having a stranger for a roommate, going to the dining hall for meals, some organized activity and some free time. He has a better idea now of what he wants in a college campus/community than I think you can get from a day tour/visit.
College tour fatigue is real. There is such a thing as too many tours. They all seem the same after a while and that can muddy the waters rather than clarifying anything.
Also, in middle school, you still have no idea what band of colleges you’ll be a competitive applicant for, and you might waste a lot of time looking at institutions that turn out to be unsuitable for one reason or another.
On the other hand, the parents should start getting a good grip on college finances while you’re in middle school.
@Massmomm, D2 (7th grade) was with us when D1 visited UChicago. D2 was intimidated. But D2 was smitten. She applied and got in eventually, too. Still not advising it, and kids can get smitten for the wrong reasons at that age.
We took our kids on tours the summer after 10th grade…and during spring break in 10th and 11th grade. No tours in middle school (well…except younger sibling had to tag along for the older one).
When our kids were in middle school, they were not thinking about colleges pretty much at all. In fact…DD saw Southern Merhodist University as a 7th grader (tagging along with her older sibling) and announced that she didn’t have to look at colleges ever again…she was going to SMU. Fast forward to the summer after 10th grade. We ask HER if she would like to revisit SMU. She says " why? I am not interested in going to college in Texas."
Sure @intparent , no doubt Hogwarts came to mind:-) I can totally imagine how some college campuses look like enchanting villages, replete with chapels, towers, manicured grounds, etc…in the mind of some kids. Even my D found BC captivating, unitl she took a tour. Off the list!
Lots of athletes look at schools starting in 9th grade. Many commit as sophomores. What they all have in common is a glazed look and an opinion of the food.
My 15 year old son has been very fortunate. Hasn’t set foot on a college campus. I had time with my D, he had time with dad, and no one got dragged to places they didn’t want to go. Except D, who had to visit a couple of colleges I insisted on. Interestingly, one of those is now in a three way tie for the final decision.
Hopefully, as a high school graduate, you won’t be the same as you were when you were in 7th grade. Hopefully over the course of 5-6 years, the college won’t be the same either.
This is one of those judgment calls, where some 8th graders can be disruptive and annoying on college tours, but so can some parents. We toured a few NE colleges when my son was entering 11th grade, but my very academically-focused daughter, then in 6th grade, probably got more out of it. The only colleges she knew before were Stanford and Berkeley, but now she dreams of going someplace like Bowdoin.
They can’t sign the letter of intent until Nov of senior year, but they certainly ‘commit’ and most do attend the colleges they commit to. Syracuse has a commitment from an 8th grader for lacrosse. Will she attend? Probably as commits are very loyal. Almost all the top teams have ‘filled’ their rosters by the beginning of Junior year on both the girls and boys side. There is a list of over 400 girl and 400 boy recruits already listed as committing for the class of 2019 and most of those are to the top teams, even the Ivies (‘commit to the process’) and service academies. Those 800 sophomores are all recruited and the list is only those who have signed up for it, or the club coach or school list them; there are hundreds more who aren’t listed yet.
The coaches are trying to slow down the recruiting, make no contact allowed until Junior year, but until they pass that restriction, all coaches feel they have to recruit early or the best players will be gone - and they will.
