Advice on college visits?

[FSUZeta]

i am done with campus visits, but went thru them with 2 children-a daughter and a son. don't know if it is just a guy-girl thing, but my son was much more reserved on his first visit to the school he ultimately decided to attend than his sister was. that was very unusual for him, because he is generally very outgoing and the life of the party. so i guess what i am saying is, even the most outgoing kid can be a little intimidated when it comes to college visits-if it happens to your son, just let it ride. i have observed parents literally pushing their child to the front of the tour group or quietly chastising them for appearing distracted-not a good thing!

dressing nicely for any interviews is great advice. for a campus tour, i would let your son wear more comfortable clothing. there is a nice young man, the same year as my daughter, who is still a legend at school because his mother made him wear a blazer and khakis, during the summer(in alabama), on the campus tour-he will never live that down, and this is at a conservative school. so blazer for interviews, then off with the blazer and on with a sweater for the tour.

try to book an appointment with an admissions counselor and take an official visit. it puts your sons name on the list of interested candidates and the college will begin sending literature to him. they will also include him on lists for special events that the college may hold in the fall and winter.

check out the cafeteria or main dining hall and eat there. if your son feels comfortable to do so, encourage him to introduce himself to some random students and get the real scoop on campus life. try to give him some space so that he can get a feel for the campus and student population, but don't get irritated if he holds back and becomes a little reserved.

if your son has several areas of academic interest, try to get appointments with the dean or an instructor in those departments. the admissions office should be able to set that up for you.

have him prepare some questions that he would like to ask and some answers to obvious questions. it is inevitable that the admission officer will say the standard,"so, aopialumson, tell me a little about yourself", or "why are you interested in our school?" or "what are your interests-academic and personal?"
i think that it shows that the prospective student really is interested in the school if he is prepared. if he has not done so yet, it would be a good idea for your son to go on each of the websites and look around a little.

he also should look the interviewer in the eye and offer his hand when meeting the interviewer and at the conclusion of the interview. your son should intoduce you and mr. aopialum to the interviewer, although sometimes they greet the parents first. thank the interviewer for their time-same for any other college officials(deans, instructors) he meets.

do send a handwritten note to the admissions officer and to any deans, instructors that he meets.

at the least, take a car tour of the area surrounding the campus. how far is it to wal-mart, a drug store, starbucks? does it look like the campus is in a relatively safe part of town, or does the surrounding area look a little sketchy?

immediately after each campus visit, have your son write down his feelings in a notebook. just like during rush, if you don't take notes, the campus memories can start running together.take a camera. no matter where he ends up, it is fun to look back at the campuses and remember the trip. good luck!!

[DG4evah]

Everyone has given great advice above. The main mistake I have made is we should have applied Early Decision for all the schools. We did get decisions early from several schools but we are still waiting. We've pretty much made our decision, though.

Start applying in the summer before Senior year. I don't work, and it took a lot of time even with the Common Application (tedious)..

[breathesgelatin]

Originally Posted by DG4evah

Everyone has given great advice above. The main mistake I have made is we should have applied Early Decision for all the schools. We did get decisions early from several schools but we are still waiting. We've pretty much made our decision, though.

Start applying in the summer before Senior year. I don't work, and it took a lot of time even with the Common Application (tedious)..

On the first part, don't you then incur fees to all the schools you don't go to? Unless you have wads of money, it seems like a poor idea.

The second part... so did you write your kids' applications? Why did doing the applications take you any time at all?

I actually don't think writing the actual applications is a big deal. I did them all by myself, and finished them all in the course of about 3 weeks and had them in by the end of September, except for the last one which I didn't decided to apply to until November (I applied to 6 schools for undergrad).

[Munchkin03]

Originally Posted by DG4evah

Everyone has given great advice above. The main mistake I have made is we should have applied Early Decision for all the schools. We did get decisions early from several schools but we are still waiting. We've pretty much made our decision, though.

Start applying in the summer before Senior year. I don't work, and it took a lot of time even with the Common Application (tedious)..

Umm, Early Decision is binding, and it requires you to withdraw your applications at any other schools to which you've applied. You may mean Early Action, which is not binding.

I'm not even going to get into the "we" business.

That said, mad props to those parents who have kids close to each other in age. My sister and I are 7 years apart, which probably made paying for college so much easier for my parents.

[KSUViolet06]

Originally Posted by Munchkin03

I'm not even going to get into the "we" business.

...or the "It took us alot of time, even with the Common App" business.

Your kids should be filling out their own college apps, folks.

[AOIIalum]

Originally Posted by KSUViolet06

...or the "It took us alot of time, even with the Common App" business.

Your kids should be filling out their own college apps, folks.

Agreed. I did the financial aid stuff, but the kids need to fill out their own college apps. Besides, if they can't write a college essay or personal statement by this point they probably shouldn't be graduating from HS in the first place. Remember, it's the child's college search and not yours. If it was mine they'd all go to Kentucky.

Originally Posted by EagleChick19

I'm from the Philly area. Drexel is a great school to go to, and they are currently looking for a president. Their last president, Constance Papakdakis, "Taki" just passed away. I currently have a friend who goes there for Physics and he always talked about the opportunities that he has.

Good to know. He visited the day after the last president passed away, so he learned a lot about him. Does/did your friend live on campus, if so please PM!

Originally Posted by KSig RC

Wow - that must have been some offer from Drexel, since he willingly took a drop of like 65 positions for the privilege of not going to Michigan.

It was. As a parent, it's great to watch your child see his years of hard work pay off. Michigan made him an offer, but could not come close to matching the offers from the other schools. He should be able to graduate from his intended five-year program without debt and with incredible opportunities due to being in Philadelphia.

[CougarGrad]

Originally Posted by AOIIalum

It was. As a parent, it's great to watch your child see his years of hard work pay off. Michigan made him an offer, but could not come close to matching the offers from the other schools. He should be able to graduate from his intended five-year program without debt and with incredible opportunities due to being in Philadelphia.

Congrats to him on his decision to attend Drexel! I have a longtime friend who went to Temple, and he enjoyed the Philly area. I applaud your DS#1 for making the best decision for himself, considering the offers he was given. That's one reason I ended up at University of Houston- which I don't regret one bit.

[TSteven]

Originally Posted by AOIIalum

Talk about bumping an old thread!

Eldest has now been accepted to five of the six schools he's sent applications into. Drexel, Washington and Jefferson, Ohio Northern, U of Toledo and his #1 choice, Michigan. Still waiting to hear from Vanderbilt, he applied regular decision so should hear by April 1st.

We're starting the visit process for DS#2 this spring. He's interested in Penn State, Ohio State, Cincinnati, Wisconsin-Madison, Michigan and Yale.

We really, really need to win the lottery!

At first I was then I read further.

Originally Posted by AOIIalum

Remember, it's the child's college search and not yours. If it was mine they'd all go to Kentucky.

My faith has been restored.

And congratulations to your son on Drexel.

[AOIIalum]

Originally Posted by TSteven

My faith has been restored.

And congratulations to your son on Drexel.

See, that's why it's the child's college decision and not Mom or Dad's! He visited UK but they didn't offer his major.