What do you look for in a college visit - especially early in high school?

[Sebastian (a lady)]

We did an admissions tour a couple weeks ago at West Virginia University with my rising 10th and 9th graders. I want to write up my impressions of the school, but I'm not really sure what would be of interest to other people. If you visit a school with younger students, not necessarily because it is a school they will apply to , but because the opportunity presents itself, what sorts of things do you look for?

[Teachin'Mine]

At that grade level, I'd try to use the visit for motivation for taking charge of their academics and really working hard towards their own goals (if they're not already there). So I'd look at the areas that interest them most. If there's an admissions talk focusing on the grades, test scores, academic rigor, etc., then I'd be sure to hit that as they're all ears and hearing it from someone other than mom. : ) If they're into science, go for the lab tours. The bookstores are always fun as they can look through the texts and compare them to what they're using. A small "souvenir" from the bookstore might help them to keep the focus when back at home. If the dining hall is open in the summer, it's always fun to eat on campus too. If football or other athletics "wow" them, then visit the stadium. IOW I'd do whatever would get them hooked on the idea of wanting a really good college education.

 

If you're visiting a school you know won't make it to the applications list, then use it to figure out whether they like that type of location, size, type of school, etc.. Then they'll have something to compare to when they visit ones they're interested in.

[plansrme]

My freshman has done a couple of college visits now and found it helpful to ask about their highest levels of merit scholarship, specifically, what is the profile of a typical recipient. She may be in the running for something like that, and it is good to know how her application needs to look while there is still time to mold it accordingly. If you wait until you are applying and find out that all the other winners had an independent research project, and you do not, it's too late.

[Vida Winter]

I agree with Teachinmine - a college visit can be a great motivator to a high school student. Just try to get as much as you can out of the visit - see all kinds of things on campus and if possible, try to talk to a professor in an area of interest. Look closely at the school website before the visit and come up with a list of good questions. Sometimes colleges have academic summer camps for kids in high school; find out about things like that.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

We had a great visit and it had just the sort of reaction I was hoping for. My kids weren't really sure why we'd gotten them out the door early at the beginning, but by the end of the tour, I think they were beginning to envision themselves as adults, in a community focused on both education and interesting activities. I'm not quite sure how to capture any of that in a visit report that would interest anyone else here.

[In The Great White North]

My kids have been most influenced by whether or not the students seemed happy, so that would be of interest to me. Your alma mater and mine were both rejected by ds because the students didn't seem happy. Miserable, actually. Although the timing of his visits influenced this, no amount logic could overcome the vibe and he is happy at their chief rival.

 

Was everyone friendly - from the Adcoms and profs to the busiest students? Did they smile? When classes released, did the students look happy or harassed? Were the students in the dining hall sitting together and chatting or were there lots of loners? Were students using all the facilities (libraries, gyms, the green)? Was the food good? Did the dorms smell? Did the dorms feel like a jail (ie. Pitt's towers)? Did students lock everything up or trust their classmates? Did students complain about profs they couldn't understand (foreign accents)? Did the students seem academically oriented (ie care about studying)?

 

I'm mostly interested in the totally subjective things that one cannot find in the catalog/online.

[Sebastian (a lady)]

Thanks, that gives me some good ideas of what to include. I'll try to put something together in the next week.

[Jane in NC]

Personally I think that earlier high school years are a great time for students just to become accustomed to colleges in general so that when they tour later they won't be swayed by bells and whistles. This may not apply to the OP but students who have not been on campuses may see sports facilities, for example, and really be wowed.

 

Early high school years are a great time for students to get the general feel of urban campuses versus sprawling rural ones, large versus.small.

[FaithManor]

 

This is one reason we like 4-H leadership camps. Because 4-H teams up with the state university systems, the summer leadership stuff is mostly on campus at one or the other of the state schools. It's a good chance to get familiar with a college campus by actually living in a dorm room, etc.

 

Oh yes, this is one reason none of the boys even need to think about a visit to our state's flagship. This year camp was $165.00 each, but local council offered $100.00 scholarships. So, for $65.00 they spent three days on campus living in the dorms, eating similar food, having lectures and classes in their departments of choice, seeing things up close an personal, being supervised by a college student, and receiving admission's info. Check that off the list. It is an excellent program and a great price - nor real work on our part.

 

As for the original question, since our boys are really pretty focused already, we tend to place the same emphasis on early visits as we do later ones. Given that the boys field of choices run from the east coast (Uni of Maryland College Park, Virginia Tech), northeast to U of Rochester, north to MTU, and west to Wisconsin and Minnesota, we need to get a head start in order to visit them all and especially since both boys will likely apply to MTU in the early autumn of their senior year since their top scholarship app is due in October...this means college visits for us need to be done by the end of the junior year since we hate to visit in the summer when campus is well, not it's usual animal due to so many students and faculty being gone.

 

So, our freshman for 2012/2013 now a sophomore was keenly interested in his then sophomore brother's MTU visit. Now we are just out there "killing two birds with one stone" so to speak. Though middle ds won't turn 15 until September, he'll still go through the same process of sitting in on classes, meeting profs, interviewing, etc. of his older brother. Fortunately, every school on our list is quite familiar with homeschooled students and as such, are used to the concept that younger students may be every.bit.as.serious. as the typical ps junior or senior, therefore they are just as willing to woo the 14/15 year old as they are the 16/17/18 year old.

 

As for how this affects our 13 year old, well, I think since he already is hyper focused on what he wants to major in and really, we have no reason to believe he will change his mind, he'll be listening with keen interest.

 

But, if I had a 9th or 10th grader that really wasn't sure what they wanted to major in or what kind of college or program would be a good fit, I would look at setting up three or four visits within a reasonable driving distance to schools that are very different from each other and then focus not so much on sitting in on classes, but having my student meet with a number of college students from a variety majors that might be a good fit for my child, as well as making sure he/she had the opportunity to socialize a little...go to a game, a play, a concert, a special lecture, etc. something that would help him/her get a feel for college life.

 

Beyond that, I'd send for A LOT of college catalogs and get different one out each evening at family meal time or whenever you all have a chance to hang together, open it up, and then start discussing what is interesting, different or unique, similar, outstanding, not so great, etc. just really get those conversation wheels turning.

 

Faith