Suggestions for college visits for HS Junior?

[Anonymous]

Hello, I feel very late to this game but here it goes. Looking for college suggestions for 11th grader. My (biased) assessment of her: As a parent I am most proud of her bc she is a truly great human being. She goes to a public school that is racially and economically diverse. She is white but so so so very interested in other kid's cultures and languages. She wants to do something in college where she can speak spanish…not sure (international relations?) when I say she loves Spanish, she actually stands outside an AP Spanish class (she can't take til 12th grade) to listen, and goes to that teachers extra help after school (even tho she isn't in the class). She found the ESL students who are newly in this country and didn't speak a lick of English and befriended them (was later told that she was the first and only "gringa" who has ever spoken to them voluntarily. She subsequently encouraged them to try out for the tennis team and gave them lessons prior to tryouts) She gets top grades (probably will graduate in top 1%-2% of class, she takes too many APs, ridiculous amt actually and I am totally against it, she is on 3 sports and plays a weird instrument (think tuba/bassoon etc) and goes to a pre-college Saturday program for that (interlochen in summer) Anyway, I work FT so does DH and we have limited time and should have started sooner on going to college visits, she may actually have to go to some alone (bad mom I know) bc my work schedule and dh's is travel heavy and unaccomodating. She does not want to go to music conservatory but does want to play in college. She thinks she wants a college maybe around 10K ppl, not a huge school def. And not a school that has 400 in the grade either. She loves cities, boston, ny, etc…but honestly she's probably open to non-city areas too. She's a very open minded person, curious, loves trivia, she's funny and likes to LIVE, really get out there and explore. Sorry about the length, but really need get to some schools--I feel like everyone is so on top of this stuff and I'm not. Oh, also she has only taken the psat and got a 1430 (selection index of 217) Never took a prep class and will take SAT some time this Spring I think.

[Anonymous]

Sign up for a tour at the nearest university to you, no matter what it is. Give your daughter a chance to see what a college campus feels like, find out what appeals and doesn't, then base subsequent visits off that first one.

[Anonymous]

Start with knowing your budget. What is it?

[Anonymous]

No idea, but she sounds great. Good job!!

[Anonymous]

You are not late for the game, but you need to start scheduling. What state do you live in? You said she is taking the SAT this spring. Has she registered for it? Look at the College Board website and map out a testing plan. Often kids want to take a 2nd test or the ACT test (different website). Some schools ( the most difficult to get into) require subject tests. Get a handle on all the timing. Look at local schools first that don't require an overnight stay. Are you familiar with the CollegeConfidential website? LOTS of information there. Are your public school guidance counselors any help? Don't rely on them, but they can be a source. Some high schools have a college night to go over the specifics. And, as a pp mentioned: What are you willing to pay?

[Anonymous]

Yup.

What is your budget?
Decide your geographic limits.

Go on line and learn about the test schedules and sign her up.

Buy the Princeton guide and study it.

Don't rely on the guidance counselor in a public school.

FYI, she is flagship material for Maryland and Virginia. So you might want to start by touring those. You have to book if you want the tour.

[Anonymous]

With our has junior we tried to visit some different types of schools -- big and urban, small and rural, liberal arts, women's college, etc. our child had no idea what she wanted and this helped her begin to narrow down. Specific schools are less important than whether she wants more like v.c. U. or more like univ of Richmond. Then we worked from there

[Anonymous]

My suggestion is that she look at some flagship state uni's with a good music program - generally speaking, those will have the most diversity (racial, cultural, religious, economic) in student body, attract lots of international students, and have the widest variety of clubs, activities, etc for your well-rounded and curious daughter. For starters - UCLA, Berkley, Illinois, Michigan, UMD if you are in MD.

[Anonymous]

all great comments…as far as budget, we are open and have MD real estate that we are using for college expenses. We live right outside NYC, she will apply to state schools but doesn't seem overly enthused when i bring them up/send her links. She walked up to Columbia one day, said it was beautiful, I told her it's really hard to get into but she can apply if she thinks it's a place she can see herself, but it's slim to none odds. Her music school does have a dual program with them, but again, insanely competitive.
What is your budget?
Decide your geographic limits.

Go on line and learn about the test schedules and sign her up.

Buy the Princeton guide and study it.

Don't rely on the guidance counselor in a public school.

FYI, she is flagship material for Maryland and Virginia. So you might want to start by touring those. You have to book if you want the tour.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:all great comments…as far as budget, we are open and have MD real estate that we are using for college expenses. We live right outside NYC, she will apply to state schools but doesn't seem overly enthused when i bring them up/send her links. She walked up to Columbia one day, said it was beautiful, I told her it's really hard to get into but she can apply if she thinks it's a place she can see herself, but it's slim to none odds. Her music school does have a dual program with them, but again, insanely competitive.
What is your budget?
Decide your geographic limits.

Go on line and learn about the test schedules and sign her up.

Buy the Princeton guide and study it.

Don't rely on the guidance counselor in a public school.

FYI, she is flagship material for Maryland and Virginia. So you might want to start by touring those. You have to book if you want the tour.

Well, SUNY and Rutgers don't have the same appeal as many other flagship unis - try to have her check out some of the ones mentioned above, along with Indiana. Also, Georgetown, Tulane and BU are a few private colleges that could appeal to her.

[Anonymous]

Your school should provide access to statistics about where students have gone. Play with the search engines. My DC has similar stats and to stay near DC, we looked at Princeton, Swarthmore, Haverford and Bry Mawr. Just visiting a few school will give you an idea of what she might like.

Also, set up an email address just for colleges. That is what she should provide when testing. Then sign up for more info from schools she might like. That helps to "demonstrate interest" and you can get a feel for the schools.

Each school should have a net price calculator so you can make sure affordable. And read the parent section of college confidential. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Consider Barnard -- which would give her access to all of Columbia University's resources but has better odds for acceptance. https://barnard.edu/about/partnership-columbia

Might also look at USC. Bigger than she has in mind, but she'd get to experience a different part of the US, live in city worth exploring, have access to lots of native Spanish speakers, and be at a school that's oriented toward the Pacific Rim. Serious about the arts. Great marching band, music school. Big sports scene.

Northwestern might be another option, though it's next to rather than in Chicago. And odds of admission go way up if she's willing to apply ED. That's one where visiting is probably a good plan -- she'd have to feel strongly that that's where she wants to be before making that commitment.

In general, though, college visits aren't that important at this stage (pre-admissions) and going alone can be a plus. Have her identify specific schools via web research and based on her academic/career/EC interests. Visits can focus on areas she's unfamiliar with. We did day trips/weekend visits via train or in conjunction with other travel (sports, grandparents) and one weeklong summer tour of three schools in the Midwest (two of which ended up being DD's top choices). We only went to schools under serious consideration and, really, we could have skipped (or postponed) everything but the Midwest because the other trips just verified what she/we basically already knew.

[Anonymous]

For some reason Wellesley popped into my head. I would also look at Mount Holyoke.

[Anonymous]

Well you should structure the visits to rule out types of school. It's a hard thing to do at 17 or 18. So look at big state school in small town, small private in medium city, small private in major city, etc. Also look at regions(remember most school place grads close to the school)- the South, Southern California, NE, PAC NW, etc. Even if she says she does not want to go to these type of schools let her see what's out there and the student body.

Have gone through this, remember the competition for the big name schools is fierce. Get her into a prep course and see if you can raise the scores. Also take the ACT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well you should structure the visits to rule out types of school. It's a hard thing to do at 17 or 18. So look at big state school in small town, small private in medium city, small private in major city, etc. Also look at regions(remember most school place grads close to the school)- the South, Southern California, NE, PAC NW, etc. Even if she says she does not want to go to these type of schools let her see what's out there and the student body.

Have gone through this, remember the competition for the big name schools is fierce. Get her into a prep course and see if you can raise the scores. Also take the ACT.

That's the conventional wisdom, but I think it's really bad advice. Kid might like (or hate) a particular small private or a particular big city and to rule out (or focus exclusively on) a whole category based on a single instance (which might not even be a school under serious consideration -- just an example that's easy to visit) seems foolish. Figure out what looks good on paper (for whatever reason), then check it out in person. When you check it out could vary -- "worth applying" to is a lower threshold than deciding whether to enroll. And if you focus on the latter question, then you have a smaller/more obvious list of places to visit -- the ones where she has offers and which she thinks she prefers.