What resources did you use to narrow down your lists of colleges to visit?

[Daria]

I think we're taking a college visit trip to another city for spring break.  There are lots of schools up there that match DS's stats, and meet his other criteria (small, urban or suburban with access to the city, business major, within a few hours of home).  I don't think we can afford to stay long enough to tour them all, so I need to narrow the list down,  Any suggestions on how to do that?  What did you look for on a school website that told you it was a potential fit?  Where else did you look for info?

[MarkT]

The real question is "Do you narrow down your college choices by visiting first before you apply?"  or "Narrow first then visit?"  - if the 2nd one I would try to visit all of them.

[Daria]

Ooops! 

 

Edited January 23, 2016 by Daria

[Daria]

Sorry about the triple post! 

 

Edited January 23, 2016 by Daria

[JanetC]

If they are all within a few hours of home, try to visit them all, just not all in one trip. For spring break, look at which schools cluster: if there are three within close range of each other, maybe visit those.

 

If that doesn't help, go back through the list again. You've listed how all the schools are the same, so back and try to figure out how they are different. Maybe a school has a special program or bigger emphasis on one aspect of the business world. Maybe it's an extra curricular opportunity DS would like to continue from high school or try for the first time that you want to check out. Think about a financial safety school: if there's a place where you are likely to get more scholarships, visit there.

 

Once you have visited some, you will probably have a better idea of what you are looking for when you visit others as well. Consider yourself lucky that you have a lot of good options within a few hours of home. Not all states have that abundance of opportunities.

[Daria]

The real question is "Do you narrow down your college choices by visiting first before you apply?"  or "Narrow first then visit?"  - if the 2nd one I would try to visit all of them.

 

In theory that sounds great.  In reality, there are at least 15 schools in this area that seem to, on paper, meet his criteria.  At the very most, we'll have 4 weekdays and a Saturday, and I'm not sure that I can afford that many nights of hotel plus dog boarding.  

[Daria]

Sorry about the triple post!

[MarkT]

In theory that sounds great.  In reality, there are at least 15 schools in this area that seem to, on paper, meet his criteria.  At the very most, we'll have 4 weekdays and a Saturday, and I'm not sure that I can afford that many nights of hotel plus dog boarding.  

It sounds like narrow first is order!  Here in AZ we have fewer choices within driving distance (6-7 hours max one way - one of my criteria, welcome to the west) so we could possibly visit first before even applying.

[Daria]

It sounds like narrow first is order!  Here in AZ we have fewer choices within driving distance (6-7 hours max one way - one of my criteria, welcome to the west) so we could possibly visit first before even applying.

 

We're in the Mid Atlantic, so we've got a ton of choices.  We'll visit all the choices in our city, and the next closest city, plus some other schools in the area that aren't in cities to be sure.  The other 3 or so cities within a 4 hours drive, we'll probably have to narrow first.  I'm just not sure how to narrow!

 

I should add that neither he nor I drive, so while these cities are less that 4 hours away, they're a little more complicated for us.  

[Gwen in VA]

Have your kid commit to spending 30 minutes on each school, digging around in the website and famliarizing himself with the school. Have him poke around around, looking at EC lists and departmental websites and anything else that suits his fancy. Any schools that pass the 30 minute test may be worth visiting.

 

I was amazed at how many schools my kids eliminated once they spent 30 minutes poking around the website! While most schools were eliminated because of academic requirements within a major (history majors vary WILDLY!), others were eliminated because of EC lists or housing. The core requirements were also a reason some schools were eliminated. Departmental websites are fascinating and bear heavy investigation. What are the requirements? What upper-level classes are offered? Some were eliminated because my kid didn't like the "flavor" of the school.

 

My favorite was the school with a bear mascot. All of the pics had the bear / football theme tucked away in them somewhere (even pseudo-academic pics). Dd decided that she just didn't want to attend a school where the focus was that heavily on football and the school mascot!

 

You may say, "But it's only a website." But the college has a huge incentive to put its best foot forward on the website, so it is advertising what it thinks will please the students it wants to attract. If your kid is put off by the website, the chances are other like-minded students will also be.

[DebbS]

Some colleges have video tours that might help you get a better feel for the campus and possibly rule a few out. Class size may be another thing to consider. 

 

Have you looked at the course bulletins to compare what the required courses for the major would be? Look for the variety of choices the student will have to fulfill a given requirement. In addition, a program with more students will usually offer several sections of the same course, thus you would have more flexibility in scheduling. 

 

Also, the strength of a program at any given college that is a secondary choice or even just a special interest to your student might have an impact on his college experience. For example, I was a computer science major, but loved the strong arts and humanities focus of the campus where I attended. I would not have enjoyed a purely technical focus in either my studies or the event-venues.

[teachermom2834]

If any of the schools are competitive admissions I would dig around to see if demonstrated interest is a factor in admissions. My ds got deferred EA from a school he should have gotten into stats wise and the letter said it was because of lack of interest and he was encouraged to visit before regular decision deadline. If any of the schools weigh interest I would make that a priority to visit.

 

This was not a top choice school for ds and he never did feel like making a visit and still will not. So, the school was right in discerning that he is just not that into them. But if a school says demonstrated interest is important- believe them.

Edited January 24, 2016 by teachermom2834

[GoodGrief]

How lucky you are to have so many options! I'd probably take a look at the likelihood of being able to afford a school. Do the schools offer merit aid, how generous is it, are there any competitive scholarships available?

[katilac]

Call the schools and see if they do "University X in your city" type receptions, where the school goes on the road and does local presentations. dd knocked a couple of schools off of her list that way. Some of the more elite schools that have a lot in common will team up for these, and there will be 4 or 5 schools there. Get on the email list for the schools to get this kind of info - I created a folder for all edu emails, because you do get bombarded. 

 

Search for local college fairs, they are generally staffed by admissions reps and can give you a feel for what is important to the college, what they are most proud of, and so on. They advertise to schools but are generally open to the public - we found that even ones that were held on a certain high school's campus were generally open to the public. 

 

Visit a few local schools, even if he is not interested in attending them. You gain a lot of information with each visit, you start figuring out how to deal with that information, things come up that you haven't thought of, and you wind up with new criteria for narrowing down. You don't want your first visit to be at a school that's high on the list. 

 

Merit aid was a big consideration for us, so schools with good merit aid went higher on the list. Schools with a scholarship matrix (guaranteed merit aid if you meet certain criteria, not only competitive) went to the very top of the list. 

 

dd definitely did not want to wait till April or May to make a decision, so schools that make admission and merit decisions later in the year dropped on the list. 

 

Check the housing options, availability, and cost. My dd really wants to live on campus, so schools with a dire housing shortage are not ideal. Dorms with bathrooms down the hall, also not ideal, lol. 

 

Schools that have at least 3 potential majors gained points, as did schools that encourage minors. 

 

 

[MarkT]

 

Merit aid was a big consideration for us, so schools with good merit aid went higher on the list. Schools with a scholarship matrix (guaranteed merit aid if you meet certain criteria, not only competitive) went to the very top of the list. 

 

 

Is there a way online to figure out what schools have a "scholarship matrix" ?  In this day and age,  the bottom line cost is a critical factor.

[katilac]

Is there a way online to figure out what schools have a "scholarship matrix" ?  In this day and age,  the bottom line cost is a critical factor.

 

This thread from College Confidential is a good place to start:

http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/

 

Of course things change so you have to verify.

 

Get on the 'send me information' list for any colleges of interest that don't have a clear scholarship page on their web site. At least one college sent us a beautiful scholarship matrix that we had never found on their site!