advice for college tour planning over spring break

[Anonymous]

need some quick advice from experienced parents here: parent of junior twins with very different academic interests. strong students but not going for ivy league/top tier schools. we haven't had the chance to do much college touring and am realizing that it makes little sense to go over the summer when kids are not there. Just want to do a few targeted visits. if we can only visit 3-4 schools for each kid, what should we focus on?
-trying to identify/rule out ED options?
-trying to figure out big/small rural/urban?
-what else?

I was never good at permutations and having two kids and limited time is making my head explode.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:need some quick advice from experienced parents here: parent of junior twins with very different academic interests. strong students but not going for ivy league/top tier schools. we haven't had the chance to do much college touring and am realizing that it makes little sense to go over the summer when kids are not there. Just want to do a few targeted visits. if we can only visit 3-4 schools for each kid, what should we focus on?
-trying to identify/rule out ED options?
-trying to figure out big/small rural/urban?
-what else?

I was never good at permutations and having two kids and limited time is making my head explode.

A lot depends on your budget, time and the strong preferences your kids already have. Both my kids knew they didn’t want rural, preferred to be near a city, and knew what school size and SLAC or not. Since they were not looking at ED (we weren’t willing to commit financially), the focus was really on how far away from home and testing the comfort level of somewhere different from where they were born and raised. The trip had to include a strong likely or target if we were visiting a reach.

[Anonymous]

Visit your state flagship if that’s of interest. Boston is a great city with SO many schools, you could hit small, medium and large schools all in one visit. Definitely visit a strong target/likely- once your kids have at least one of those they like, the entire process gets much less stressful. What are their favorite schools so far? Possible majors?

[Anonymous]

If they don’t yet have a sense of size or location, then start with a mix of small/midsize/large and rural/suburban/urban. Once they know they are looking for a small rural LAC or a large urban university, that will focus your search.

If you have room to add a few more on this tour, then think about majors and whether your kids lean more artsy/sporty.

Make sure you have a realistic mix of target and likely schools. Fine to see a reach or two but don’t waste a lot of time on those on a first tour.

I think the first tour is too soon to be thinking about ED. If they happen to find the perfect fit, great, but more likely, the first tour is helping you make choices for a second tour to rule in/out ED options.

[Anonymous]

Stick to one small region or state and tour a variety of campuses in that smaller area. Saved more focused ED visits for fall.

[Anonymous]

If your kids are set on being in a particular city for college, definitely visit that city and whatever college(s) they are thinking. Seattle is different from Chicago. Both are urban but different. Other things you can find on colleges website, virtual tours, and generally online (what is average temperature in Chicago November to May. Etc.).

[Anonymous]

We did the big/small, rural/urban, and public/private comparisons in one trip, over a four day weekend junior year. DD quickly was able to make a number of conclusions about what she liked/didn't that helped her refine her search. We didn't worry about looking for the perfect match of major, sports, etc., just toured to get her thinking about general fit so we could later narrow down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We did the big/small, rural/urban, and public/private comparisons in one trip, over a four day weekend junior year. DD quickly was able to make a number of conclusions about what she liked/didn't that helped her refine her search. We didn't worry about looking for the perfect match of major, sports, etc., just toured to get her thinking about general fit so we could later narrow down.

If you’re in the DC area you could also do this here over the next few months. Georgetown and GW and American. UMd and GMU. Day trip to UMW in Fredericksburg or St Mary’s College in Maryland. It’s a longer drive but in theory a day trip or quick overnight at JMU.

Might allow you to use spring break even more thoughtfully.