Visiting a college, how often?

I would think that most of those questions could be answered over email. I went and visited the school I attended after I was admitted and then didn't go back till the day I moved in. Also where I went as freshman there were only a couple hosting options, you ranked your choices and then were placed by lottery. All dorms had info online for viewing. Granted I lived in California and the school was in Texas, but I didn't feel the need to visit more than once.

We did ONCE. And I didn't even see it until DD moved in. We toured every college in NC (where we lived), and by the time she wanted to look out of state, I was just tired and finished with DD and DH having the same conversation over and over. (He's a nuclear engineer, and he wanted her to major in engineering, which she didn't want. Rinse and repeat.)

DH took her to USC without me and I'm sure did the "major in engineering" show for that tour too. And of course she loved it. Plus side, it ended up being the most affordable with the scholarships she got. She was accepted everywhere she applied but USC was the one she wanted.

I saw it on move-in day and was okay, and so was everyone else. She's graduating in May and will be an actuary.

Oh, and Go Gamecocks!!

DS #1 visited his college once with us as a junior.  He knew immediately that it was his first choice.  He then made an official visit for an overnight with the track team his senior year, but he had already decided to go there by that time.  

DS#2 went to the same school so he had been on campus several times visiting his brother.  He did an official tour his junior year also.  We did not visit any of their other choices more than once.  

Breathe MamaPea Breathe.

Oh and don't wait until a visit to do scholarship applications. If you get any additional information on the tour review the scholarship application, adapt and adjust accordingly.

FWIW My son's college went through his HS transcript and testing and gave him more credits than what we were expecting. I know we do this only a few times but if the college is not good at this stuff I personally would be concerned at where else they would drop the ball.

DS is a freshman at a private university in St. Paul, Mn. We live in Virginia (military family.) He visited over the summer between his sophomore and junior year and again between his junior and senior year when he had his choices narrowed down. The first visit, we just got the general tour by an engineering student. The second year, he met with an admissions counselor and we went over his current classes, estimated what credit he would be given based on his AP classes and grades, and he was offered conditional admission (based on actually submitting a package and maintaining his grades. We were also given an estimated merit scholarship amount that was based on his test scores (ACT and SAT), class rank, grades, and AP classes. All that could have been done by email. The university also flew him in in February for a campus visit weekend and had DS attend some engineering classes. So 3 visits.

But what was very valuable was meeting with the Dean of Engineering with that second summer tour. He gave DS a tour of the Engineering building and facilities and talked with him for almost 2 hours. They discussed which of DS's HS engineering and math classes would transfer over and what classes DS should take his first year. DS did Project Lead the Way and it was recommended that he not take first year math or physics, but to take the first year engineering course. Not because DS really needed to learn the material, but because it was a good over view of the engineering program. The engineering professors all team teach the class and DS is getting to know them all. He says they really aren't covering new material, but that how it's presented and the ideas behind are more in depth.

When DS applied for the engineering scholarships, he already knew the dean (who was part of the screening board) and another professor. I think it definitely helped, especially with the phone interview. He'd met the dean twice (and the dean remembered him.) He had also met the other professor when he was there in February. He didn't get the $10,000 scholarship, but he did get the $4,000 one. I'm not sure why you would wait until after the January visit to do the engineering scholarship application. Most of those scholarship applications take more than a week to put together. I would have the package ready to go and just fine tune it after the visit and then submit it. I'm pretty sure there was about a month between the engineering scholarship deadline and the interview, so your DS would have met any professors before an interview (if there is one. That was the only scholarship where DS had an actual interview outside of the submitted package.)

A fall visit may be valuable if you can actually meet with a professor, but I'm not sure it's necessary for HS class credits or need based financial aid. For an estimate of need based aid, you can go to the FAFSA website and enter last year's tax info to get an estimated total.

We have been to ds' university four times. We went Novemeber of junior year to an open house admissions event, because we were trying to get a benchmark of what a college visit might consist of- this included a campus tour and speaking with professors from different majors. We went the week before school started (for ds) and met one on one with an admissions counselor. We were not able to do a tour that time because it was the first week of classes for the university. DS applied immediately following thks visit. A few weeks later, we were back for another admissions event, which included lunch at the cafeteria and another tour. No meetings with professors that time. This was a smaller event than the open house. He received his acceptance letter the following Monday. And finally, we were there yesterday so he could accept his scholarship and meet with a professor from his major to ask questions. It was only him and one other student, so we were all able to ask tons of questions. Then, we had lunch in the cafeteria again. The girl from our group was interviewing for a specific program, so she sat at a table for those students. Ds an I were sitting alone, and then we were joined by the person in charge of transfer students. We have enjoyed getting all of the different perspectives and everyone we talked to told us something we had not heard before. I believe we could have taken another tour also.
We had one question that no one could answer on the spot, so the person from transfers tracked down the answer and called ds after we arrived home.
If you have more questions than could be answered in an email, make an appointment and go. They should be happy to talk with you- you are their prospective customer, and they know you could still change your minds.

I am probably going to be the odd parent out with our experience, but maybe it will help.

My older son did not visit his school at all. He knew that he wanted to go out of state, he picked his school, applied, was accepted and went. I filled out the financial aid forms, he got Pell money. He joined the National Guard, he received money to help pay for tuition/books. He moved into a dorm-the one that he was assigned. He was told that if he was miserable with his choice, he could come home and attend the local community college for a while and make a different decision later. He wasn't (in fact, in my estimation he had TOO good of a time) and all is right in the world. 

My younger son has zero desire to do the rounds of formal college visits. His top two choices are in state schools. One is the school that both his dad and I graduated from and he has been dragged to for football games since he was a kid. He says he has seen the campus, thank-you-very-much. The other school is in the town the I grew up in. He has been dragged around that campus at various times throughout the years-up to a recent stay in the dorms on campus for Boy's State. For him, I will fill out the financial aid forms, he will likely get merit based money from the state and the rest will be made up from his dad.

Both kids were able to easily figure out transfer credits based on dual enrollment and AP credits by looking on line. Most schools have the information in a fairly easy to understand chart for AP classes. Dual enrollment classes are almost always accepted for credit (there are exceptions, but for the most part articulation agreements between community colleges and state universities allow for easy transfer of credits based on a common course numbering system and regional accreditation agreements.) 

*Something that did confuse me was that my older son's SAT scores tested him out of freshman level English classes and a math class. I assume that would be the case with my younger son as well, but he took an AP class that after the exam he tested out of both freshman level classes. This, though, was sorted out when the older son went to speak to academic advisor prior to registering for his first go round of classes. I suspect that will happen with the younger kid as well.

Any, the long-winded essay above is to tell you that it all works out in the end. A great deal of the information can be found online. Specific questions can be asked via email, the schools are used to that. A great resource is the guidance counselor at the school-particularly for questions about how credits transfer. I understand that all this is new, but don't make it harder on yourself and the family than it really is. It can actually be a ton of fun and exciting...and don't worry about asking questions. Lots of us have been through it and have had a LOT of different experiences (take ours-I have almost been completely hands off at the behest of the kids) and we are very willing to share.

(Okay-I will admit to this though-the deadline for UF's applications is tomorrow. I ask every morning if it is done and turned in. EVERY MORNING. Because damn it, he will go to Florida if it is the last thing I do.  )

I agree with you about the student should lead.
But as another mom in the midst of this process, I can tell you many students are in front only because their parents are behind them pushing!

My kid runs with a motivated crowd, but you'd never know it looking at their actions now. Yes, a few have completed and gotten acceptance letters, but it's not typical. Can't imagine what it's like for average kids, maybe it's simpler.
His high school even required five essay responses by PARENTS on request for teacher rec.

Oh and don't be "that person" at one of our visits who had done the exact same visit 5 times. TBH it was distracting because the staff on that visit knew her so well. Don't know what her deal was and don't care, if you are that wishy washy you probably are looking for an excuse not to go there not the deciding factor to go there IMHO.

We did an official visit on campus to DD's college in November before she graduated. Then we went to a preview day they had locally in February. We went to auditions in February also (she's a music major). Then she went to a weekend where they invite admitted students to come stay in the dorm and work on a service project. She got to stay with a couple of girls who are in the choir (I don't think we knew she was in the choir yet when she did this - but she really, really wanted to be in the choir).

I would say definitely get the financial aid stuff done as soon as you can.