With
spring break upon us and summer fast approaching, many families will be
hitting the road. For families that include upperclassman in high
school, part of those road trips need to include campus visits. Many
students have this school or that school in mind from an early age and
perhaps that college is that parents’ alma mater where the student has
grown up visiting or going to sport events. However, as a student
progresses through high school, perspectives can change.
One
of those is the feasibility of a student getting into the school
they’ve always dreamed of. Sometimes, there comes a point when it’s
evident that being accepted to the college one is most familiar with
might not work out. At that point, it’s important that a student visit
other universities in order to get a feel for them.
A
parent’s perspective can change as well. Perhaps you’ve always dreamed
of your child going to a given school, but if that school has a hefty
price tag or is 1000 miles away you might begin steering away from
what you had always envisioned for your children. Again, this presents
an opportunity to closely investigate some alternative colleges.
A
campus visit is an important thing. Few of us buy the first house we
look at or the first car we come across on the lot and choosing a
college can be a decision larger than either of those. Yet, many
families visit a college only after they’ve been accepted and have
pretty much made up their mind they’ll be attending. At that point,
you’re really confirming a decision already made rather trying to make
an informed choice and that’s not the best approach to making a
monumental evaluation.
I
believe the best approach is to start the college search process early.
In 7th, 8th and 9th grades start talking about a list of possible
colleges you might attend rather than assuming it’s going to be one or
two schools. If you’re on the road for a vacation around that time and
are in the vicinity of any college on that list, take a detour and tour
the campus.
During
the 10th and 11th grades go and visit any college your child plans to
apply to in the fall of their senior year. Maybe the summer vacation
before senior year needs to be a road trip around the state and there
are, of course, some other fun things you can tie to that.
Nothing,
including a school’s website or brochure, is going to give you the same
feel for what the next few years of your child’s life might be like
more than taking a tour of the campus, walking around, and perhaps
having lunch at a local joint. Having that experience at multiple
campuses is going to give your family the best criteria to evaluate one
campus against another and you might be surprised at what you like and
don’t like.
Every college and university offers a tour in one form or another. They can, however, vary greatly in the time, day of the week, or format of their tour. It’s always a good idea to call ahead before just showing up at campus expecting to be led around. Tour information is usually available on a school’s admissions web page.
