When did you take your kids on their first college tour?

[Drama Llama]

My 9th grader is pretty sure he knows what he wants to study in college.  That isn’t to say he won’t change his mind next month, just that he says he’s sure.  If he sticks with this interest he’ll have a relatively short list of schools to look at.

My FIL is thinking of taking the kids for a roadtrip during their spring break, and they will pass one of the schools that has the specific combination he says he wants. The school isn’t the reason for the trip.  There is something they want to see there.

Is it crazy to take a 9th grader on a college tour? 

The school is about six hours away and not in a direction we go regularly.  
 

 

[katilac]

We took a 9th-grader on a college tour when we were at Disney World. 

Why not, if they're interested? 

[Eos]

Just now, BandH said:

My 9th grader is pretty sure he knows what he wants to study in college.  That isn’t to say he won’t change his mind next month, just that he says he’s sure.  If he sticks with this interest he’ll have a relatively short list of schools to look at.

My FIL is thinking of taking the kids for a roadtrip during their spring break, and they will pass one of the schools that has the specific combination he says he wants. The school isn’t the reason for the trip.  There is something they want to see there.

Is it crazy to take a 9th grader on a college tour? 

The school is about six hours away and not in a direction we go regularly.  
 

 

Not crazy - just giving him and you plenty of time.  At that age, it's more big-picture, this is what a college could look like vs sitting in on classes and talking to department heads.  My younger kids were fascinated by college libraries and the diminishing noise levels as you ascend.

[GoVanGogh]

I think SWB says in one of her books or lectures to start them early, whenever you are traveling and by any potential schools. We started late middle school, though DS was always insistent he knew where he wanted to go. We wanted him to see other schools so he would have a wider view. He did end up going to the school he wanted to and he loves it there. It is a great fit for him. But we all did enjoy touring other schools. 
 

edited to add: I don’t think 9th grade is any too early. 

Edited January 28, 2023 by GoVanGogh

[athena1277]

It wouldn’t be crazy to go in 9th grade.  I took my oldest in 10th to visit the school she really wanted to go to.  We knew a lot about it, but had never been there.  We wanted to check out the campus and talk to financial aide to see if it would be possible to make it possible for us.  Happy ending is she is there now and loves it.

[Drama Llama]

2 minutes ago, GoVanGogh said:

I think SWB says in one of her books or lectures to start them early, whenever you are traveling and by any potential schools. We started late middle school, though DS was always insistent he knew where he wanted to go. We wanted him to see other schools so he would have a wider view. He did end up going to the school he wanted to and he loves it there. It is a great fit for him. But we all did enjoy touring other schools. 

So would you set up a tour for the 7th grader on the same trip?  There is a school I could imagine him at that’s close by.  But I could imagine him plenty of places.

[freesia]

I would do it. I wouldn’t take a special trip for a ninth or tenth grader, but I would do it in the case you described. We did something similar when my oldest was at the end of tenth grade. I was actually surprised at how it really gave him a vision for college and how much it cost. Then dd (three school grades behind ds) went in all the other visits with him so she was eighth and ninth. That was particularly good since Covid meant she was only able to do a couple of visits herself so she had a vision for what she wanted ( and went to a school she’s never visited).

[Corraleno]

Since they'll be in the area anyway, I'd definitely take the 9th grader to get an idea of the campus and the general vibe there. I wouldn't set up meetings with professors or anything, but I'd check in advance to see if there's a group tour available when he's is there, and if not I'd just do a self tour. I wouldn't make a special trip for the 7th grader, though, because so much can change between 7th & 11th grade, but I'd take him along on the tour with his brother just to give him a general idea of what colleges are like.

(DS was really only interested in one school, which was top 10 for both his major and his sport, so we just did one visit in conjunction with meeting with the coach and negotiating scholarship terms.) 

[Clarita]

9th grader for sure. That's when I went on my first college tours. 7th grader only if it's super convenient like he is going to be there anyway. 

[Faith-manor]

We had two kids back to back and due to where their birthdays fell, they were only year apart in homeschool. Since they were interested in some of the same colleges, we took them both on visits so youngest had a ton of his visits in his sophomore year because the eldest wanted his visits in fall of junior year so as not to waste time his senior year applying blind. Then when the younger one got to his junior year, we visited a couple with him that had not been on his brother's list. 

I am a big believer in visits early in high school if they are interested or curious. I think it can be hard for some students to imagine what it might be like to be a college student majoring in this that or the other thing. Sometimes getting to visit departments they are interested in and talk to students really helps. We also wanted them to be able to ask targeted questions that would not be on the regular tour so we always set up faculty interviews. They would think of questions prior to the tour and write them down on 3x5 cards, and take a pencil so that they could take notes. We also did some of the fun, student days when all the departments had displays, students in the major and faculty available for questions, food in the cafeteria (always a big lie because they will feed the prospective students better than the ones they already have 🙄), and took advantage of the free concerts/plays or sporting events that were offered since many of the schools gave away free tickets to those things. 

 

[Ali in OR]

My youngest was in 8th grade when we toured a bunch of schools in the northwest with her junior-year sister over spring break. And we saw some Southern CA schools that fall. Then she got to see a few more for semester break her junior year. And then came Covid shelter-in-place. I'm glad she had seen some of the schools she eventually applied to before that happened. But she did finally go to a school we had not seen in person before applying. She went in April '21 before she made her final decision though they were still telling people not to come.

Sometimes there's just an immediate "no, not there" feeling about a place. Lots of places could be a fit, but it's helpful to have that in-person impression, and I think it's still valid a few years before you really need to make decisions.

Edited January 28, 2023 by Ali in OR

[Bambam]

We started in 10th grade for our oldest. But we dragged the younger one around too (so 8th grade for her). We went to the open houses they schedule here in the spring and fall.  

We also had participated in a contest that was held at one of the major universities in our state. That was enough to convince both that they did NOT want to attend a super large university (45K+), so that was useful as well.  

[ScoutTN]

Spring of junior year for my Dd17.  Ds15 has been along a couple of times.

[Harriet Vane]

I took my kids on college tours starting when dd was 15 and ds was 11. We just tried to fit in tours as able. We went to schools that were on the way to other things (random) as well as schools we thought might be a good fit. We made a point of visiting lots of flavors—big/little, rural/urban, public/private, religious or not, etc. Both kids did the tours. I also had both kids stay overnight with college students in the dorms (just one kid for that, not both together), and they interviewed professors and Christian campus ministry staff at the schools each was was actually interested in attending (for each kid when 16 or 17). When they had a short list of schools that were real contenders, we visited those final choices at age 17ish.

Go early. Go to many—it helps demystify the process and helps them think through many different factors. Spread it out over a few years. Go to the final, real choices second semester junior year and first semester senior year.

[Drama Llama]

28 minutes ago, Clarita said:

9th grader for sure. That's when I went on my first college tours. 7th grader only if it's super convenient like he is going to be there anyway. 

The school I would think of for 9th grader is a little under an hour from the destination that's the point of the trip, the school I would think of for 7th grader to is about a mile away from the first school.  

 

[purpleowl]

My oldest is in 8th. We're planning to do a college visit this summer (between 8th and 9th) because it's a school that's high on her list, and she and I will be in that city for a convention. We may throw in a visit to another school while we're there as well, just to give her a feeling for how different campuses can be. 

We do assume that if the school she's interested in stays near the top of the list, we'll visit again a couple of years later.

[Harriet Vane]

18 minutes ago, BandH said:

The school I would think of for 9th grader is a little under an hour from the destination that's the point of the trip, the school I would think of for 7th grader to is about a mile away from the first school.  

 

This is definitely in the range of close enough to be worthwhile. I would totally do it if I could work out the timing so that it doesn't undermine the "real" reason for the trip. Often I did this by tacking on an extra half day to a trip of by spending time that would have been generic "down time" on the trip anyway. 

[Katy]

I would take both of them as early as possible, yes even starting in middle school.  Mostly because I thought I wanted one thing before I went to visit schools, and then when I went to them in person I had a totally different experience. I knew I wanted New England and to get away from Florida.  I wanted to go to Smith or maybe Wellesley, but when I visited there I realized that what I imagined the atmosphere of an all-women's school would be from the marketing was not what I would experience in person.  I thought I wanted to go to Harvard or Dartmouth, but when I visited both I did not like them.  Harvard felt like it had no middle class (the tour guide even said that is what people dislike about it most) and Dartmouth felt great but all the students I met felt like they were at a grad school level of maturity and I was not.  I didn't fit in at either. Other schools climbed the list because they felt like good fits in person, and I could not tell that from the brochures or websites.

[katilac]

2 hours ago, BandH said:

So would you set up a tour for the 7th grader on the same trip?  There is a school I could imagine him at that’s close by.  But I could imagine him plenty of places.

Be aware that some schools will not let you sign up middle schoolers for an official tour. 

That doesn't mean he couldn't go see the campus. 

I don't know that I'd want to do a campus tour in 7th. Even though it's close to the other school, it's going to suck up half a day, so it depends on what he's giving up to do it, and how excited he is. Not excited would be a no for me. 

[Drama Llama]

2 minutes ago, katilac said:

Be aware that some schools will not let you sign up middle schoolers for an official tour. 

That doesn't mean he couldn't go see the campus. 

I don't know that I'd want to do a campus tour in 7th. Even though it's close to the other school, it's going to suck up half a day, so it depends on what he's giving up to do it, and how excited he is. Not excited would be a no for me. 

I mean we could just put the 9th graders' name down.  There is no way the 9th grader would go there.  But we could put his name down as the one to take the tour I guess?

[gardenmom5]

Nothing wrong with taking a 9th grader on a trip provided the money isn't a big deal.  He may or may not change his mind.

I had kids change their minds. . . . 1dd didn't change her mind, but after she graduated college admitted she should have give a bit more thought about what she'd do after she graduated from college . . . . .

I never did college tours - didn't have the money.  Did lots of studying, and lots of praying to get the best fit.

[Sneezyone]

Elementary, middle school. We mostly did drive thrus as we traveled cross country. DDs first ‘real’ look (official guides) at schools in her preferred region was soph. year. DS will go next summer as a soph. DS has a getting mail already so 9th certainly isn’t too soon. Talent search students get invited in middle school too.

Edited January 28, 2023 by Sneezyone

[Laura Corin]

Daughter went on her first - with friends by train  - when she was 16. Son went on his first at 17.

[Annie G]

10 hours ago, BandH said:

I mean we could just put the 9th graders' name down.  There is no way the 9th grader would go there.  But we could put his name down as the one to take the tour I guess?

You could, but the tour guide will focus on your 9th grader and ask him questions, not your younger son. And your younger son might prefer that his name is the one added to the mailing list, not your older son. 
Worth a call to admissions, for sure. 

[Ann.without.an.e]

I think doing it early is such a blessing. Aim to visit most schools by the end of 10th. We spread this out over spring of freshman year and sophomore year. Junior and senior years are already so busy. It will also open that time up to revisit the schools they’re most serious about. 

Edited January 28, 2023 by Ann.without.an.e

[DawnM]

Our local school district takes the 7th graders on a tour of our local 3 year state college every year.   The idea is to get them thinking about college. I don't think 9th grade is too early.   Our family just didn't really do college tours like most did.   But maybe if we had combined it with other trips?   I don't know.

[catz]

My oldest started in tenth but youngest got dragged a bit earlier.   Although she did find it interesting.   If I were going to start, I’d try to make it a point to visit a range of options over a year and not focus on lottery or high end private schools solely.   I’m not saying that is your plan at all.   It’s just on my mind because some of my senior’s EA results came out last night and there is a lot of woe online about it.   We made a point of showing a range of options all resulting in plenty of smart, nerdy students, strong faculty and outcomes.  I feel going into it modeling a healthy mindset is good.  I also have a spouse with MIT grad employees working for him and he graduated from a flagship program.  Life is more about what YOU do than where you go.   

[teachermom2834]

I don't think it is crazy if there is a college that is along the way and you are just stopping to casually check it out. We did that in either 9th or 10th grade when we were on a trip with some down time and there was a school of mild interest and we would never otherwise be back in the area.

However, that was ten years ago and I have since done the college admissions thing three times and now I would not do that again. My opinion is now that these kids are getting COLLEGE COLLEGE COLLEGE yelled at them all the time from every direction. It's too much. I'm not going to rant too much but teachers are telling kids this and that should be done for college apps, parents are making their kids do stuff for college apps, kids are stressed out about this from 8th grade on and in the end, in my area, all of the kids end up at the handful of state schools or community college that they wouldn't have needed to be stressing out about at all. 

My last child at home is in 9th grade and everytime someone tells her something about college I tell her to plug her ears. I realize it is a dissenting view. LOL. But in my world that is all unnecessary wasted time and energy and stress and we are not starting that in 9th grade again. My dd is doing things the right way for her own reasons and doesn't need to be worrying about college or making a list of dreamy schools that are financially unattainable. 

I still vote that it isn't crazy 🙂 

[Danae]

We did a college visit in elementary school.  Obviously not the formal tour, but we visited the museums and bookstore, walked through the buildings that housed the departments that matched the kids then current interests, and ate in the cafeteria.  
 

[BusyMom5]

First was between 10th and 11th grade.  I have 9th graders and of I were in your shoes I might consider walking the campus, but not a full campus tour quite yet.  Mine have been on one campus visiting an older sibling, and they really aren't that interested right now.  They do discuss careers, but they aren't ready to really look at different programs yet.

[Drama Llama]

I should clarify that my kids have gone to college sporting games, and to visit an uncle and cousin on their campuses, and an uncle who worked on one.  Plus they've gone with me to cheer for my students at the Special Olympics state games.  So, they've been on plenty of campuses.  My youngest also went on some tours when his uncle was looking, but since I was wearing him in a baby carrier he probably doesn't get credit.  

My guess is that they'll go to a few sporting events on this trip too.  

So, I'm really just wondering about signing them up for official tours. 

[Jaybee]

36 minutes ago, BandH said:

I should clarify that my kids have gone to college sporting games, and to visit an uncle and cousin on their campuses, and an uncle who worked on one.  Plus they've gone with me to cheer for my students at the Special Olympics state games.  So, they've been on plenty of campuses.  My youngest also went on some tours when his uncle was looking, but since I was wearing him in a baby carrier he probably doesn't get credit.  

My guess is that they'll go to a few sporting events on this trip too.  

So, I'm really just wondering about signing them up for official tours. 

Personally, I wouldn't sign up younger ds for an official tour. Because official tours can be pretty boring unless you are seriously interested. However, going along on older ds' tour can give him an idea of what tours involve, and what things he might want to look for when he gets more to that stage. If they haven't been on that campus, though, I would certainly do a drive through of it.

 

[regentrude]

49 minutes ago, BandH said:

So, I'm really just wondering about signing them up for official tours. 

I don't see any point in doing official tours before junior year. They're boring, filled with stuff designed to make the college look good, and imo don't really give relevant info you couldn't get from perusing the website and informally walking the campus.

My dd did two in junior year. Ds didn't do any.

[KungFuPanda]

I wouldn’t sign them up for official tours unless the kid and FIL expressed that they both really WANTED to make this part of their trip and it was their idea. I might suggest they drop by if they wanted to. I’d have a hard time insisting someone alter their plans for a trip that I’m not on. It’s their trip. If it’s for fun and familial bonding it has its own value. 

[BusyMom5]

I wouldn't- I also find them kinda boring.  We get the most out of department visits in Jr and Sr year- when they are discussing the exact major and comparing facilities,  opportunities, and options each school offers.  

[Jaybee]

25 minutes ago, Jaybee said:

Personally, I wouldn't sign up younger ds for an official tour. Because official tours can be pretty boring unless you are seriously interested. However, going along on older ds' tour can give him an idea of what tours involve, and what things he might want to look for when he gets more to that stage. If they haven't been on that campus, though, I would certainly do a drive through of it.

 

Coming back to say that I am leaning toward the opinions of posters following mine, who suggest saving official tours for later. They generally have a better idea of what to ask and what they are looking for at an older age. However, I do think it is helpful to go on campus at earlier ages, maybe walk around a bit, go in the student center, etc. You can learn a lot just by soaking up the atmosphere. 

[PronghornD]

Early is good. We waited until spring of 11th grade, and I think our child felt more apprehension than excitement because adulthood was encroaching too fast. It is better to ease them into the idea of college more gradually.

In the end, our kid did go to college and is now almost done and has lots of high achievements. So, our mistake didn't really wreck things at all.

[Harriet Vane]

3 hours ago, regentrude said:

I don't see any point in doing official tours before junior year. They're boring, filled with stuff designed to make the college look good, and imo don't really give relevant info you couldn't get from perusing the website and informally walking the campus.

My dd did two in junior year. Ds didn't do any.

It's true that they're very cookie cutter and they're obviously advertisements for that university.

One thing I appreciated about the tours is they show you the whole spectrum of campus and the guides can correctly identify the buildings and stuff. In other words, I don't have to look at a map and figure out if we're in the STEM areas or Foreign Language building or liberal arts or what have you. Those tour guides also know the shortcuts and pathways. And we'll see it all in a reasonable, short amount of time. To me, it seemed efficient.

However, a campus tour isn't enough when you're at decision time. That's why our look at a campus changed significantly when my kids were older. When we went to the campuses they felt were actual contenders, we made a point of interviewing professors and trying to somehow network with a student so that my kid could stay overnight in a dorm. We were almost always able to find someone perfectly nice simply by working our network of friends. My kids appreciated seeing the "unofficial" campus and talking to regular students. I always made a point of giving those overnight hosts a nice gift card for a campus restaurant and also a care package of some sort.

[Spy Car]

I remember the first high school tour.

Being a WTMer, I naturally had some interest in having our son learn Latin and--as fortune would have it--there is a private high school school near our home (Catholic) that offers it. So we did the tour.

At some point a school official asked, "How old is your son?"

I pointed at the infant who was soundly sleeping in his baby-stroller and said, "That's him."

They laughed. 

Then when he was 5, we started attending a "Math Circle" at UCLA. The campus there is just beautiful. His eyes popped out when he saw the insides of the Gothic-style Powell Library. I could see a seed being planted.

When the time came for him to actually apply to college, we didn't really do a grand tour.

He had a few schools in mind and was accepted at UC Santa Cruz, which is nestled in a redwood forest on a mountain overlooking the beachtown of Santa Cruz and the Pacific Ocean. UCSC is one of those mystical "healing places," where one feels in touch with nature.

Things worked out perfectly for him. Just the place he needed to be.

Freshman this year.

Bill

[Farrar]

If you're going to be traveling at all, then I would take advantage if there's a school that might be near a trip. If it's a local school, I wouldn't bother with tours yet for a kid who is already keyed into the idea that they want to go to college. I don't think it hurts, but I wouldn't feel like it's necessary yet.

Don't wait until senior year though. I feel like this is a particular problem for homeschool families. They get settled into senior year and then midyear they go, okay, let's think about college! And it's like, um, lots of deadlines have already passed. But for kids in school, the counseling office will keep them on track.

[momto3innc]

We do official tours junior year. It’s felt the most practical to us, and then they’re ready for early deadlines on applications their senior year while it’s all fairly fresh. With a seventh and ninth grade student I’d be more inclined to walk on/wander the campus as allowed, but not the official tour. On our tours the youngest tended to be sophomores with most being juniors. But there’s certainly nothing wrong with doing otherwise!

[Dmmetler]

We did our first official tour at age 11, but it was because L was applying for a program on campus. We did walkthroughs and just visiting campus every chance we could-like before age 5. We did a lot of tours in 9th-10th and that ended up being a good thing since Spring Junior year and Fall senior year were not normal, if campuses were open at all. Having visited most of the campuses, even though not having done a formal tour, made making decisions easier in a tough year. 

 

Because of COVID hitting when it did, I'm now a strong proponent on early college visits (along with doing SAT/ACT early)-because you never know what might happen late in high school. Take advantage of opportunities when you have them. 

[MagistraKennedy]

here I am, just wishing my junior would just pick a few schools to tour. 😂