College visits-advice?

[Kate in FL]

We are heading out next week on our first trip to visit colleges. My son is sure he wants to leave our state (FL), so we are taking some time to visit schools in neighboring states. He really is not sure what he wants (besides getting out of the house), city/town, big/small so we tried to find a mix. He also plans to swim in college, so that limits our choices a bit.

 

We are visiting College of Charleston, UNC-Wilmington, Clemson, Univ. of SC and Emory. I have heard that Emory and UNC-Wilmington are not the most homeschool friendly, but they both seem like a possible match for my son, so I want him to see the campuses.

 

So, I am feeling overwhelmed and we haven't left yet! He is our oldest so this is all new. Besides the regular tour, what else has been beneficial to you all in your search? I plan to take notes, photos, etc. but I know I will get home and smack myself on the forehead. Any BTDT advice for me?

 

Thanks!

[Jane in NC]

I have heard that Emory and UNC-Wilmington are not the most homeschool friendly...

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That's news to me about UNC-W. I know several homeschoolers who took classes there while homeschooling, others who matriculated. They may want some outside verification of coursework--test scores, CC, etc.--but I don't think that is too different from a number of other colleges.

 

Good luck!

Jane

[Sharon in MD]

We took several multi school trips and found having the lap top along very helpful to note down our impressions after the visits. It may not seem possible, but they WILL blend together in your minds and you will find yourselves asking Now was that UNC-W or Emory that had thus and such?

 

If you don't have the luxury of the laptop, then take along a note book and write out your impressions. Some people say take a camera along, but we never used it...

 

Also, I downloaded info about each school we were going to visit and stored it on that same laptop....it made it easier for us to get familiar with the schools on the long road trips.

[Kareni]

Some ideas:

 

Eat on campus and try to strike up conversations with students. You might try sitting at different tables and then sharing your experiences later.

 

Visit the bookstore and see what textbooks are being used in a variety of classes. Do they look appealing?

 

Visit the library ... is it a workplace, a social place, both?

 

Stop and read the bulletin boards.

 

Pick up any campus newspapers, magazines, or flyers that you spot while out and about. They can give more information to browse through later.

 

Try to get a copy of the university catalog that lists classes (but not days and times) and what the requirements are for graduation in general and specific requirements for a major.

 

Visit the restrooms and see what, if anything, is written on the walls.

 

Write down general impressions after each visit ... after a while things can blur together.

 

And, have fun!

Regards,

Kareni

[mcconnellboys]

Well, as the mom of a son who plans to swim at a Division III school, I would suggest that you check times, etc. to see if he has the times to swim at a Division I school. Also, he should be aware that it's a whole 'nother ballgame than Division III, which is much more like the club athletics many participate in during high school. He can expect it to be much more like a full-time, year-round job if he goes Division I. He should check out how much time and the distance that's swum each day; length of training season; when is he free to go home or travel at Christmas and during other breaks, etc., etc. He won't have much free time at all.

 

Also, if he has some idea of what area he'd like to major in, then you need to make certain the schools you see have that major available. Beyond that, you may want to check out whether the professors or the department is known in that specialty area, if they have any sub-specialities that he's interested in; percentage that get into their first choice grad schools (if that's in the future for him), etc.

 

How many classes are taught by TA's, rather than professors? How many professors are maxed out, degree-wise, in their specialty area? What is the average student/professor ratio per class?

 

What is a typical dorm room like? How is housing segregated between male/female, freshmen and upper classmen, people in different specialty areas, etc.? Are the dorms centrally located? Are the freshmen segregated from everyone else?

 

Most schools now have "food court" type dining rather than traditional cafeterias of the past. Some schools have one place that offers this option; at other schools it seems that every option is solely this. Since eating fast food on a regular, daily basis is horrible for everyone, I'd make sure there's a good mix of other type eating places on campus, too.

 

Good luck to you on your trip,

[JFSinIL]

I have read that you should first visit a school or two that are probably NOT your kid's first choice, so as to "learn" how to do a visit. SO far we have toured two - the first tour was pretty good...until after the tour ended we doubled back and went through a building where ds would have most of his classes for four years. NO WINDOWS in any classroom - all had only one door, beige walls and about 40 desks. Felt very closed in and depressing. No wonder the tour did not include inside the classrooms!!! DS crossed that school off his list.

[Michelle in MO]

We went on our first college visit this morning. We drove up yesterday to Truman State University (a five hour drive) and spent the night in a motel. Then this morning we arrived at the Visitors' Center for an informal interview/chat with an admissions officer and then the campus tour.

 

I was very impressed with the admissions officer, and I'm glad this was the first campus we visited. We really didn't know what we were doing, except I did have a few questions off the top of my head. Her friendly and informative manner really helped to "draw out" the questions that needed to be asked and answered. She gave us abundant information about the application process and deadlines, majors and minors, campus activities, dormitories, etc. Then we had a campus tour, which lasted about an hour. We visited the biology labs and several other academic building, the campus performing arts center, student union, the student gymnasium, and a dormitory room--as is (i.e., not a "model" room).

 

I can't say that we had much of a plan going in, except a few questions we wanted to ask in terms of the campus choir and majors and minors (i.e., English)---the fields of interest that my girls are interested in. I was impressed with the number of foreign languages they offer, which is of special importance to me, as well as their study abroad opportunities.

 

I did notice, as Kareni said above, various bulletin boards and the general "feel" of the campus. I did ask about campus safety, and I was impressed with that aspect of things: dorm safety is critical, and around the campus there were tall, bright-red colored poles in which a student could simply push a blue button if someone was following or chasing them, which would immediately alert campus police. These were placed all over the campus. The campus was appealing. The town was very small (of course, I'm from a small town too! :) ), but the tour guide, who was from St. Louis, said that once she explored the town she really grew to like it.

 

Overall, it was a very good visit. The drive back was horrendous with traffic and rain, but that's another story!

[Michelle in MO]

I realize that I gave you my impressions of our college visit without giving you any good advice! Here's a thread on the high school board in which many of the moms who have kids in college answered with their good advice and suggestions.

 

Hope this helps!

[Gwen in VA]

I love Kareni's list of things to look at on campus.

 

I have only one addition -- pick up a copy of the school newspaper and read it thoroughly. It won't draw a picture of what your child's experience there might be, but it will give some indication of what's happening on campus.

[K-FL]

On the financial side, as you know FL has a great deal w/the Bright Futures & FL resident access grants (to attend in-state privates). Ask the schools if they have something similar for FL students. Dd#1 applied to Covenant (GA) and they do so some other schools in neighboring states may too.

[Guest Katia]

Along with the advice of striking up a conversation with students on campus (which dd and I found very, very revealing), it is also a good idea to sort of wander off by yourself and blend into the background and then listen-in on several conversations of students. This was amazingly helpful to us as at one college most of the conversations revolved around the students all being so tired from so much partying and complaining about all their school work.....another college the conversations revolved around what classes the kids were taking when, why etc........and in yet another college the conversations were theory/logic/idealistic related........it really helped us to see what the students on these campuses were focused on.

 

BTW, we didn't listen in on private conversations, just general stuff that we heard in the hallways or kids sitting at tables in the common room. It helps to form an overall impression of the actual student body.

 

Another thing we took notice of, was when walking about campus, how many of the students ignored us....looked away.....smiled and said "hi".....stopped and said "hi", shook our hands and welcomed us to campus.....and how many were willing to answer any questions we might have......and how many actually had and/or took the time to talk to us! This was very different, and very distinct, at each campus we visited.

[mcconnellboys]

Yes, I took my son to a couple of large, state universities of the sort I hoped he would not choose in order to allow him to better gauge the benefits of smaller colleges.

[Kate in FL]

Thanks so much for your great ideas....I am saving and printing and getting excited about the trip. I have to keep reminding myself to have fun...thanks, Kareni! I have a tendency to forget that part!

 

Regena, glad to hear from another mom in the swim world! We know D-I is tough, his current club coach is a former D-I coach and pushing that while my husband and I are more DII or III but he has to decide the work he wants to do. He has friends in all three but I hope this trip helps him figure out where he wants to be. Our summer trip is mainly D-3 schools.

 

Thanks again for the input and will post a report once we are back.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I would make an effort to look at a college catalog. I know that my alma mater rarely mails them out anymore because of the expense involved, but it is available online as a .pdf file. I'm always surprised at the number of candidates I interview who haven't looked at the catalog, haven't spent much time at the website and don't really know what they are getting into (this is for the Naval Academy, which is a little different from the average college).

 

Also, college catalogs list courses that are ever offered. If there are some that particularly catch his eye, he should find out how often they are actually offered. He might find that they are core classes for a certain major, but he might also find that they are courses that are in a rotation and only actually offered every couple of years.

 

Not trying to put down his swimming chances, but you might ask about what sports are available for walk ons. I mention this because my college had far more high school swimmers than could fit on the varsity swim team. The crew team (which was used to teaching beginners) reaped the benefit. We loved to get former swimmers. They were strong, used to hard work and just made great rowers.