Bristayl Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 In your experience, if you could only visit a particular college once, would it be more useful to attend an official preview "event", or to arrange an individual visit? It seems to me that a preview event might offer some things an individual visit wouldn't, like a "student activities fair", but an individual event might give a better feel for the culture of the college and opportunities such as meeting with a professor in a department. I was also a little disappointed to learn that several of the colleges we are looking at do not allow a prospective student to spend a night in the dorm. I remember that for me, the overnight visits were what showed me clearly which college was the best fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 Given a choice, I'd vote for arranging your own visit. That way your child can tailor the visit to his/her desires by sitting in classes of interest, meeting a professor in the department, etc. Are all dorm stays disallowed at the colleges you queried? Sometimes colleges will only allow juniors or seniors to visit. Sometimes visits are disallowed during certain times such as finals week. On one occasion, my daughter was able to stay overnight at a college because I'd met someone online whose daughter attended that college. (You might ask here if someone's child is attending a given college; their child might be willing to host a visitor.) Regards, Kareni 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bristayl Posted October 10, 2015 Author Share Posted October 10, 2015 One does restrict visits to seniors, but several said they don't allow overnight stays at all. One did mention that it would be possible if we knew someone and made arrangements directly with them, so we'll keep that in mind! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 One does restrict visits to seniors, but several said they don't allow overnight stays at all. One did mention that it would be possible if we knew someone and made arrangements directly with them, so we'll keep that in mind! I wonder if it is colleges with very high application numbers that disallow visitors. They might find it too time consuming to allow visitors who most likely will not be admitted. Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cjzimmer1 Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 In your experience, if you could only visit a particular college once, would it be more useful to attend an official preview "event", or to arrange an individual visit? It seems to me that a preview event might offer some things an individual visit wouldn't, like a "student activities fair", but an individual event might give a better feel for the culture of the college and opportunities such as meeting with a professor in a department. I was also a little disappointed to learn that several of the colleges we are looking at do not allow a prospective student to spend a night in the dorm. I remember that for me, the overnight visits were what showed me clearly which college was the best fit. I think for me it would depend on the size of the school. We did a big school for the traditional tour (not even a special event), and there was still 40+ students in the room for the introduction to the school spiel. The tour was smaller probably 20 people including parents. It was hard to ask questions, hard to hear answers. I can't imagine trying to glean any real information during a big event. We only saw highlights, there is much more we would have liked to see but that wasn't where the tour was going. On the other hand we did the event at a medium sized school (7,000) with an overnight stay. Even though it was group style, they did a fabulous job of making it personal and having people from admissions, financial aid and departments available to answer individual questions. DS sat in on classes part of the official event as well as one his host suggested that wasn't technically open. The professors made a point of talking to the prospectives before or after classes. It definitely didn't feel like a group event. We also visited a small school on a personal tour. We didn't do an overnight stay but I'm not sure it would have mattered. DS was able to get a very good feel of dorm life. School has an open door policy(which I admit I don't fully understand the details of) but we were free to walk into any dorm and look around. Most students left their doors wide open even when they weren't in the building. We got to see students hanging out in their rooms, in the lounges, in study areas, we could peak in on classes whenever we wanted. The tour guide took us to whatever departments we wanted to see and skipped those we said we weren't interested in. So for us the group event at the medium school was far superior to the "individual" event at the large school. BUt I'm sure some of that depends on the amount of resources a school has to use for prospective students. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bristayl Posted October 10, 2015 Author Share Posted October 10, 2015 I wonder if it is colleges with very high application numbers that disallow visitors. They might find it too time consuming to allow visitors who most likely will not be admitted. Regards, Kareni That wouldn't have surprised me, but interestingly, the most selective college was the one that allows overnight visits for seniors. The ones that don't allow them ranged from large state universities to small private Christian colleges. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bristayl Posted October 10, 2015 Author Share Posted October 10, 2015 So for us the group event at the medium school was far superior to the "individual" event at the large school. Thanks--sounds like I may need to adjust my expectations of individual visits! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 Random thoughts. We did what was convenient for us. In any event I would have your child meet with a professor in the field they are interested in. You can email directly and make an appt. Staying overnight can help, or not. Dd ruled out a good choice because she didn't really hit it off with her host... Do your homework really reading the website carefully. You will not see a variety of dorm rooms. You will see one on a tour. So I didn't find that so helpful. Some student tour guides are better than others. Some admission departments are better than others. So do your best and a good choice will pop up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted October 10, 2015 Share Posted October 10, 2015 We've done both and liked both. Even when there on group events you can still walk around yourself and see what's on bulletin boards, etc. We also found regular students to talk with - often in or around the dining hall. My youngest's school doesn't allow students to stay over. I suspect that might be due to the high drug culture there and not wanting to be responsible should something happen, BUT there's a community that doesn't use or drink, so that doesn't mean the school ought to be totally written off if it appeals to a student. My non smoking/drinking guy is enjoying life there - and has like-minded friends (and others - it's a live and let live campus). He loves his profs and the opportunities he's had. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bristayl Posted October 11, 2015 Author Share Posted October 11, 2015 Dd ruled out a good choice because she didn't really hit it off with her host... Hadn't thought of that possibility! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bristayl Posted October 11, 2015 Author Share Posted October 11, 2015 We've done both and liked both. Even when there on group events you can still walk around yourself and see what's on bulletin boards, etc. We also found regular students to talk with - often in or around the dining hall. My youngest's school doesn't allow students to stay over. I suspect that might be due to the high drug culture there and not wanting to be responsible should something happen, BUT there's a community that doesn't use or drink, so that doesn't mean the school ought to be totally written off if it appeals to a student. My non smoking/drinking guy is enjoying life there - and has like-minded friends (and others - it's a live and let live campus). He loves his profs and the opportunities he's had. That's encouraging--thanks! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingersmom Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 We had no issues with group tours. We stayed at the front of the pack and bombarded the student guide with questions. It was also interesting to hear what other parents/kids asked. We saw all different types of room configurations which was really helpful. I don't think an overnight visit would have made any difference for my daughter. She is in a 4 year nursing program and they had a whole afternoon program just for nursing students and their parents to tour the facilities, meet with professors and current nursing students. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bristayl Posted October 12, 2015 Author Share Posted October 12, 2015 We had no issues with group tours. We stayed at the front of the pack and bombarded the student guide with questions. It was also interesting to hear what other parents/kids asked. Good idea--take full advantage of a large event! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoodGrief Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 Occasionally the events are associated with additional scholarship opportunities or reimbursement from the school for some travel expenses. In those cases, we definitely go with the event. Otherwise, we do what works with our schedule. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty ethel rackham Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 With my introvert kids, the individual visit was a better option for us in most cases. My kids just didn't ask questions in a group because it felt like small talk. But, if they were already having a conversation, it was easier to ask. Also, we wanted to be sure to have the ability to meet with department heads and to have our kids sit in on a class. We saved overnight visits for schools where they had been accepted and were deciding where to go. Those visits were often Accepted Student days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bristayl Posted October 12, 2015 Author Share Posted October 12, 2015 Occasionally the events are associated with additional scholarship opportunities or reimbursement from the school for some travel expenses. I'll have to be sure to check for those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bristayl Posted October 12, 2015 Author Share Posted October 12, 2015 With my introvert kids, the individual visit was a better option for us in most cases. My kids just didn't ask questions in a group because it felt like small talk. But, if they were already having a conversation, it was easier to ask. Good point--my kids are also introverts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechWife Posted October 13, 2015 Share Posted October 13, 2015 I recommend going to both if you can. The large events are good for a "first look." There is also some programming that is available only at the large admissions events that wouldn't necessarily be part of an individualized tour. My son's uni doesn't allow overnight visits. Individual prospective students can arrange to stay with friends, but the uni doesn't arrange any accommodations. I believe this is due to privacy concerns for their current students and other legal issues, but I'm not sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bristayl Posted October 13, 2015 Author Share Posted October 13, 2015 I recommend going to both if you can. The large events are good for a "first look." Yes, some of the colleges are near enough that we should be able to visit more than once, and I had thought that perhaps the large event might be good the first time if dd is just trying to get a feel for the place but isn't ready for a lot of personal interaction; then at a later date she could do an individual visit that would involve more one-on-one time with a professor, admissions counselor, student, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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