Is it too early to do a college visit as a freshman?

[Anonymous]

My family will be at a big ten school for a football game this fall, and I'm wondering if we should also make it a college visit for my freshman in high school? Is it too early to do this as a 9th grader? I'm only considering it because it's a good school, we'll be there anyway, and it's pretty far away so isn't easy to return to in a couple years when we'll be seriously doing college visits.

[Anonymous]

Of course! We saw a few schools that way because we happened to be on vacation nearby and had time. I wouldn’t force anything, but a casual visit is a great way to get a teen thinking about big vs small, rural cs city, etc.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, but you'll probably want to go back closer to senior year if he's truly interested.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of course! We saw a few schools that way because we happened to be on vacation nearby and had time. I wouldn’t force anything, but a casual visit is a great way to get a teen thinking about big vs small, rural cs city, etc.

Did you do the actual guided tour through the admissions office?

[Anonymous]

I would not do an official admission tour. Simply take a walk around campus before/after the game and leave it at that for now.

Come back in two years if the school is still a potential option. The student is not going to remember official tour details three years from now.

[Anonymous]

I’ve been wondering this too. It seems like there wouldn’t be enough time to visit more than a couple colleges (that are close together) if you wait until junior yr. Kids have limited time off school

[Anonymous]

My DD had a wonderful college counselor at her NYC private school. She discouraged this and stressing the kid out prematurely.

She said 10 th grade visits were fine if you were nearby. Yes, we made easily 16 school visits before, during, and after 11 th grade. Yes, I would have liked to have had the time/energy for two more states.

She applied to 9. Got in to 7.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD had a wonderful college counselor at her NYC private school. She discouraged this and stressing the kid out prematurely.

She said 10 th grade visits were fine if you were nearby. Yes, we made easily 16 school visits before, during, and after 11 th grade. Yes, I would have liked to have had the time/energy for two more states.

She applied to 9. Got in to 7.

If visiting a college campus as a freshman, when you're there anyway for a football game, stresses your kid out you're doing something wrong.

[Anonymous]

I have read that taking your kids to events on college campuses from time to time is good. It feeds into a sense that they are exciting/fun/interesting places.

Don’t try to pressure him or her to like it, just consider it a venue like any other.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve been wondering this too. It seems like there wouldn’t be enough time to visit more than a couple colleges (that are close together) if you wait until junior yr. Kids have limited time off school

Prime time for visits is spring break junior year, plus any long weekends. If your child's ECs often take place on those long weekends, then do a few summer visits, although they are not quite the same as visits taking place while classes are in session. Your child does not need to visit every school on their list - most students do not do so. A junior can prioritize schools that might be a possibility for ED.

Prior to fall of junior year, visits tend not to be especially useful, as it is difficult to remember much of the vibe from the visit and most students are focused on different things. Moreover, student stats are too far from fully baked to know how high in selectivity is reasonable to aim.

[Anonymous]

Younger DD was a 9th grader when we did the junior year spring break college tour with our older one. We thought she would be bored (and she expected that too), but she was surprisingly interested and it was a very low pressure way to get an idea of what she might like in a school in a few years.

[Anonymous]

We've started college visits since I don't want to do a ton back to back

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD had a wonderful college counselor at her NYC private school. She discouraged this and stressing the kid out prematurely.

She said 10 th grade visits were fine if you were nearby. Yes, we made easily 16 school visits before, during, and after 11 th grade. Yes, I would have liked to have had the time/energy for two more states.

She applied to 9. Got in to 7.

Tell me how you did this.

[Anonymous]

Way too early for an actual tour.

[Anonymous]

Thanks! We’ll just go and have a good time. Walking around campus will be part of that but we won’t do an official tour.