College visits - so it begins

I’ve done countless college visits - (right now I have 3 college kids spread out across the country!)

You definitely need to do the official campus tour - they are a lot of fun. But honestly I don’t think you need the big expo tour - I actually think it could backfire by being too overwhelming all at once.

In addition to tour I do recommend visiting the dining halls also and hanging out in the town to get a good feel for it - those things were super important to my kids.

4 daughters - each visited 20-30 schools (some were doubles - I could give Boston University's tour myself: went 4 times.)

They are some of my favorite memories with my girls - it's great one on one time. Enjoy!

I’ll have to share with my daughter who is sure she went on my college visits than anyone - about 20 - my younger one went on way less - he was dragged along on a few of his sisters and hated them in general. He almost refused to visit his top 2 choices as he thought there was no point - he ended up hating one and loving what he thought was his second choice so I’m a big fan of visits. Know your kid though and if you’re they’re likely to get burned out or stressed by the process.

Great advice here. 100% go and visit in person. Pick at least a few of different size, public/private, etc. there really is nothing like walking the campus and listening to a tour to get a sense of the experience. And there are many realizations that usually happen in person vs just reading on line or hearing second hand.

I think expos are better for kids who enjoy those kinds of venues.

It honestly depends on the school. DS looked at 2 schools. School #1, they have an Open House once a year in the fall. This was our first exposure to this school. Every department had staff and students on hand and when you toured, say, the Health Sciences building, you could talk to department heads, faculty, and students from each major separately- we talked to Kinesiology, Athletic Training, Nursing, and Occupational Therapy. DS walked away from thst interaction knowing exactly what he wanted to do. The other type of group visit was not as robust. We did one of those closer to decision time- there was still a tour, but I dont believe we had as much interaction with faculty. Then, whe. Ds accepted his scholarship, we got to meet with a faculty member from his major along with the one other person who was selecting the same major. We got to ask a lot of in depth questions at that meeting. And finally, we did a one on one visit with an admissions counselor that was just in the office. I believe we could have had a tour, but at that point we had been there twice and didnt need it. DS ended up at this school.

The other school we visited was a giant shitshow from start to finish. We arrived at the scheduled time and waited about a half hour. The admissions person started with, "Oh, we were expecting you yesterday" in a snotty tone (we were NOT there on the wrong day). We were supposed to meet with someone from his major, but that didnt happen. During our conversation with this admissions person, she repeatedltly tried to guide ds into the easier path to his degree. I finally pulled out his transcript, slid it across the desk and said, "You know, I think he will do fine on either path" (he was a valedictorian)
We then met with soneone else with a small group and then took a group tour of...not much.

About 3 weeks later, DS started getting scholarship offers from that school after we were told he likely wouldnt qualify.

To begin the search, ds thought about what he wanted for his college experience- a mega school where he would just be a number, a school the size of his high school, or something in between. He then thought about how far from home he wanted to be. Answering those 2 questions, plus the major he chose led us to those 2 schools.

My DS1, just finished his engineering degree and North Dakota State University.  They are known for their engineering program and have an excellent placement rate.

We visited NDSU and he applied, was accepted and did not want to tour any other schools.  I was a bit disappointed, because I thought it would be fun to do more.  And my younger son is not going to college or school, so didn't get to with him either.

In our area, that’s very common. Usually a kid applies to 3 or 4 matches; 3 or 4 “likelies” and 3 or 4 reaches. High achieving students are a dime a dozen in our area. Very few schools “need” another kid from Fairfield County, Connecticut; so the kids apply to a lot of schools. 

And then you have my one daughter who was auditioning for theater schools. It’s not unheard of for those kids to audition to 20+ schools. (She auditioned for 17.)

The auditioning I can see. Im not saying there is anything wrong with applying to a kajillion schools, it just seems odd to me.

College visits are fun. Maybe she only has one school in mind but you can get her to visit other colleges just for the fun trip away! Who doesn’t love a great road trip and night away from home and eating dinner out?!

I really really dislike the school my daughter chose. She chose it because it offered her narrow major. And she’s since changed that major and doesn’t feel like transferring elsewhere since she’s halfway through. How solid is you daughter with her major?

Just wanted to echo this.  I have 2 in college and a HS senior looking at colleges.  Spend as much time as you can to get a feel for the school.  Maybe ask if you can sit in on a class?  A couple of the schools we looked at actually gave us vouchers to eat in the cafeteria.  At others, we asked about places on campus where we could eat.  It definitely helps you get a feel for the school.  One of middle ds’s final choices offered an open house.  We went, spent the day there, ate in the cafeteria, attended classes etc.  

My son will be a sophomore this year. We visited 6 schools the summer before his junior year of high school so we missed the whole Covid things. Only one of those we didn't apply to but he applied to 2 other schools that we didn't end up touring because of the location. He got into all the schools he applied to (6) and we did the scheduled tours. The day for prospective students is for students who have been accepted (at least that is how all the schools ds got into did it). Don't worry about having a list of questions. Everyone has the same questions and while you are doing the tour, you will think of more.

We convinced ds to go to the University of Maryland because they have a top 10 engineering program, it is 30 minutes from home (he never comes home) and they gave him a scholarship (which for UMD, is unheard of for in-state students). I also told him that if he wanted to get a Masters (5th year) I would pay for it. If he went to NC State, he would have to pay for some of it despite the scholarships they gave him because it was going to be a lot more over 5 years. For both of my kids, I made them aware of the cost. DD got a full tuition scholarship to her school (we only paid fees and room and board) and her school gave her in-state tuition through the Academic Common Market.

I thought my son’s college counselor asked my son a great question the first time she met with my son, my husband and myself. It really helped us narrow down the list of schools we visited. She asked my son, “When you imagine yourself waking up on Saturday morning at college, what do you see yourself wanting to do? Do you want to go hiking in the mountains w/ your friends, do you want to catch a bus to the nearest city and explore the art museums or do you want to go to a football game and cheer on your school’s football team?

I don’t think this sweet, artsy woman had been to an athletic event in her life, but when my son immediately choose the football option, she said “okay, you’re looking for the traditional college experience. There are lots of great academic schools which also have a good football team. Let’s concentrate on those schools.” We toured Michigan, Notre Dame, USC, SMU, Texas, Texas A&M and Oklahoma. He ended up at Notre Dame and it was a perfect fit for him, both academically and socially.

I loved the counselor’s question. I think the college experience is so much more than just what you learn in class. If a kid loves the outdoors, they may not be happy at a school in a sprawling urban area, while a kid who loves the theatre may not be happy at a school located in a small town far from any big city where touring theatre companies visit.

I will add to this that Covid really mucked up the college admissions process.  Kids took deferments and gap years, many schools estimated yields incorrectly and some ended up way overenrolled and others underenrolled.  As a result, admissions decisions were strange this year, at least in the cohorts we were interacting with.  My daughter's and niece's friends and peers were rejected at multiple safety and match schools.  Wait lists were bonkers. But a lot of them also got into lottery schools.  Like rejected from Penn State main campus but accepted at the University of Michigan. Covid, the common app and schools going test optional or test blind has changed the college application landscape at least in the short term. 

OP, sorry, this is probably not relevant to your specific situation but in response to why do kids apply to so many schools - it's simply becoming more the norm even for kids not necessarily aiming for schools with low acceptance rates.