When colleges visit high schools

[Anonymous]

My sophomore is interesting in going to college visits at her school. All I've heard is that "the college is visiting the school Friday and we get pulled out of class to go meet in the library." It looks like a few schools come each week and the kids sign up for the ones that interest them.

What happens in these visits? A presentation? Do admissions officers actually meet the students and take down names? DD is planning to ask for more info tomorrow and in the meantime asked me if she should dress up.

[Anonymous]

Op again. My most current frame of reference is the show "Never Have I Ever," when the college visit actually seems to matter for admissions. Is this anything like real life?

From what DD is taking about, I didn't think there's any interview, likely just Q&A, but I'm clueless about this whole thing.

[Anonymous]

Short presentation and q&a.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Short presentation and q&a.

That's what I figured. No need to dress up, right, just be neat and clean?

[Anonymous]

You're overthinking this. Your kid is in 10th grade. Just let her go - she'll figure it out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Short presentation and q&a.

That's what I figured. No need to dress up, right, just be neat and clean?

Correct.

[Anonymous]

At our school only seniors go to these meetings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You're overthinking this. Your kid is in 10th grade. Just let her go - she'll figure it out.

You're right!
I would normally not think twice about this but she almost never asks me for advice anymore so I am grasping the rare chance to impart some wisdom. Alas I have none so I asked here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op again. My most current frame of reference is the show "Never Have I Ever," when the college visit actually seems to matter for admissions. Is this anything like real life?

From what DD is taking about, I didn't think there's any interview, likely just Q&A, but I'm clueless about this whole thing.

Ha! Mine, too - first thing I thought when I read your question 😄 In the show they had Princeton rep visiting - it does sound more like science fiction from the lists of college reps visiting my DC’s school, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Op again. My most current frame of reference is the show "Never Have I Ever," when the college visit actually seems to matter for admissions. Is this anything like real life?

From what DD is taking about, I didn't think there's any interview, likely just Q&A, but I'm clueless about this whole thing.

Ha! Mine, too - first thing I thought when I read your question 😄 In the show they had Princeton rep visiting - it does sound more like science fiction from the lists of college reps visiting my DC’s school, though.

Glad I'm not alone here!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You're overthinking this. Your kid is in 10th grade. Just let her go - she'll figure it out.

You're right!
I would normally not think twice about this but she almost never asks me for advice anymore so I am grasping the rare chance to impart some wisdom. Alas I have none so I asked here.

It's time to start letting go and pumping her full of confidence that she can figure this out. That there will be lots of visits from colleges and if she sees she did something wrong or didn't do something she wishes she did, she'll have other chances, and as a 10th grader, nothing about this matters. Give her the advice to have faith in herself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At our school only seniors go to these meetings.

Sophomore does seem young but I can see how it could be useful if a student wanted to set goals or ask about which courses to prioritize or if summer programs are recommended. By senior year it's too late to change much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At our school only seniors go to these meetings.

DC’s private school has them for juniors and seniors, but only seniors are able to be fully excused from a class for them (up to 5). Juniors are allowed 5 tardies - they can go to the college meeting for the first few minutes, ask a question, and then have to go to class. Sophomores are not eligible to attend at all.

DC (junior) went to one for SMCM last week during a free period and was one of only two attendees. Found it really helpful, actually.

[Anonymous]

There is no way my kids would want to miss all their fast-moving AP classes for info they can get online. These visits are entirely useless. Usually it's a little table with flyers, maybe a small presentation that's indistinguishable from all the others, and Q&A. Sometimes they do take names, but you can also go to the website and sign up for a virtual tour.

It's best to hop on occasional webinars organized by the PTA to figure out what college admissions officers are like, and how admissions work - they work the same at every school, with a few peculiarities at some, that you can find on their website. Then you can organize a tour of likely urban, rural, small and large schools at some point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is no way my kids would want to miss all their fast-moving AP classes for info they can get online. These visits are entirely useless. Usually it's a little table with flyers, maybe a small presentation that's indistinguishable from all the others, and Q&A. Sometimes they do take names, but you can also go to the website and sign up for a virtual tour.

It's best to hop on occasional webinars organized by the PTA to figure out what college admissions officers are like, and how admissions work - they work the same at every school, with a few peculiarities at some, that you can find on their website. Then you can organize a tour of likely urban, rural, small and large schools at some point.

Yes my DD went through the process last year and her advice to her younger brother is to do fewer visits with reps than she did. She thinks it wasn't a great use of her time and she found going to more than 2-3 to be draining plus lost class time she had to make up in fast-moving high rigor classes.