How are they supposed to get top grades AND tour schools?
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Anonymous
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I’m feeling frustrated as I look at the FCPS calendar and colleges’ tour schedules (or old ones - fall schedules generally not out yet).
Most schools only have tours on weekdays - which are primarily school days. There are some Monday holidays, but that would require long drives home Monday night. I’m sure colleges don’t want students to miss school to tour colleges? Spring Break is useful, but you can realistically only hit one region. Amy tips? Commiseration? DD has identified her target school type as SLACs in Ohio, PA, NY and New England. We can not visit these in one week, haha, and the personality of the school could make a big difference (so visiting is key). |
Anonymous
| DD couldn’t visit because of Covid. Read, attend virtual events, ask questions. |
Anonymous
| We are doing some this summer - not the same as when school is in session but also better than the virtual tour, in my opinion. Also, have your kid read reddit and other forums - there is a lot of info there. |
Anonymous
| We've had the same issue. We are seeing a few within driving distance this summer and visited one at Spring Break while visiting family. I'm telling my child to apply where he wants and we'll visit more if he's accepted. Some require plane travel and I'm not willing to spent that kind of time/money if we're not certain he'll even get in or can afford it. |
Anonymous
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Spring break junior year
Summer before senior year Some schools he applied to without seeing and figured if he got in and was interested we’d visit then This is pretty typical |
Anonymous
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FWIW, as the veteran of 3 kids visiting colleges:
The junior tours are mostly helpful in getting a feel for a TYPE of college (small vs big, rural vs urban etc) rather than learning much about a specific school that you can't learn any other way. You can do that in a few tours during spring break, or even fairly locally. Once the acceptances roll in, your child can skip a few days or school and take some long weekends to visit the top few choices. |
Anonymous
| My sympathy Op. DC's friend was a sport recruit. Invited to a college to meet with the college coach. His HS coach penalized him for missing practice and benched him for the next game. So messed up. |
Anonymous
+ 1 My kid did not have time and we did not have the inclination to waste time and money to do the actual visits. DC made her list of colleges based on GPA/SAT, interest in major, distance from home etc. She did not even have time to do the virtual events or open every email that was sent by the colleges. So as a household, we were checking all college emails from the special account she had made for college application process...so that the colleges might have thought that she was engaged. We had a very well curated list to begin with and so our energy went in making the choice once admitted. My kid only visited her top 2 schools after getting the admission offers. |
Anonymous
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We took advantage of the Friday before Labor Day being off (FCPS) and went out of town Wednesday night, skipped Thursday school to do 3 tours over Thurs and Fri. With the holiday weekend there were no Saturday tours available, but kid didn't miss much at school that early in the semester.
The rest we did in summer bc Covid prevented Junior year spring break tours (were only available for admitted seniors at that point). I was originally opposed to summer tours, but it worked out well for us in the end. FCPS has 4 out of 6 Mondays off this fall. I know it is a little late if you wanted apps to be in early, but you could definitely take advantage of that. Also monitor the tour sites frequently, bc they do "sell out" and at some places (like Michigan for us) it happens quickly. |
Anonymous
TY! I was just looking at that weekend. What a bummer about no Saturday tours over Labor Day. DD is a rising junior, but we are trying to do tours Junior year (and a bit next summer if necessary), so she can focus on supplemental essays, etc, Senior year. DD has a touch of anxiety and some inattentive ADD (and seriously struggles with making decisions). Fit will be important for her. Virtual learning was a disaster, so I don’t think virtual information sessions are going to be that helpful. For her learning style, she’s going to need to walk the campus and soak it in. |
Anonymous
Omg. Facepalm! |
Anonymous
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OP wait until senior year fall when your kid is supposed to get good grades and keep up activities and do all their college applications! Everyone said junior year was the hardest but senior your was far rougher from what I saw with my kids.
The process is seriously messed up. |
Anonymous
| Have her do as many virtual sessions as she can. It helps refine ideas and helped my DD rule schools in or out. Then plan some long weekends — a lot of schools add weekend tours later in school year. And spring break. Space it out over junior year. |
Anonymous
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Click on all the links that the college send in their emails. Play their youtube videos. Attend their virtual seminars. The colleges find it easier to track the digital footprint.
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Anonymous
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Do not try to visit the entire list of schools. You will need to choose, in consideration of limited time. I would focus on visiting matches and a safety, and put reaches on hold until spring of senior year (then visit only if she gets in).
Exception, any school where ED might be on the table - a top choice - try to visit if possible before applying ED. |