we are getting the "official campus tours" FWTW. and yes I'm sure that they will blend together to some extent especially since they are all pretty close together

At elon we are meeting up with one of my friends daughter who l graduated within the last year to get some more inside info.

so, on the plus, VCU, Hampton and Furman are off the list.

G-town is her top pick at this point, and I think that is a result of her spending three weeks at a summer program, so she has a connection to the campus.

I know part of the selection process is getting a feel for the campus and sometimes just walking around the campus you get a feel or a vibe that says yes or no..

That is just a crazy long week. I wouldn't be able to tell the schools apart. You are doing nothing special at any of them, so why bother?

mjsmith wrote:I guess I'm looking at this in that the more information I can provide, the better the chances of her making a choice she'd be happy with.

FWIW, I got a lot of information away from campuses. Back in the day, it was probably something like "Insiders' Guide to the Colleges," (though there are no doubt great online sources now, too). I felt that I had a feel for what life at different schools would be like. I then visited my top choice (stayed overnight with a student host) and developed my impressions further. I ended up there and loved it for four years.

Anonymous wrote:
I think people are saying that sometimes less is more. Breezing through three campuses in a day is not going to give her much real information to go on. If she loves a campus from 10-12 on a gorgeous Tuesday of spring break, that doesn't mean she will love it for 4 years.

I'm not against spending a whole a day at duke or elon. as opposed to both in one day. and yes what you get on the snipped of a campus tour is by no means the guide that you are going love a particular cmapus for an entire college career. She spent three weeks on campus at G-town for a summer program, which is potentially one reason the school is on her fave list.

And its quite possible that once she sees the trip shemay pare the list down. on her own...

I think though that if you spend 2 hours on campus tour and you don't like it....no reason in applying...

I guess I'm looking at this in that the more information I can provide, the better the chances of her making a choice she'd be happy with.

i think I visited 5, applied to 5, accepted to 3. got kicked out of one. and ended up at a school I never even saw until the day I drove onto campus.

mjsmith wrote:Id much rather spnd 5-6 days on the road touring than hear 4-6 years bitching about how much she hates a school. This is one choice that she's going to have to make and live with (more or less) and the more info I can provide...

I think people are saying that sometimes less is more. Breezing through three campuses in a day is not going to give her much real information to go on. If she loves a campus from 10-12 on a gorgeous Tuesday of spring break, that doesn't mean she will love it for 4 years.

So my folks live in florida. and she spent a couple weeks down there and they took her around to the florida schools. We went to Seattle for a trip and while were there did the UW campus tour. And being local to DC we did G-town Catholic and GW. Did a weekend tour to JMU and UVA and did he offical tours

So she's seen the big schools seen the smaller schools, seen urban schools... Right now G-town and UW are tops, which are polar opposites (large vs small)

she did not like the truly urban nature of GW, did not like the "out in the sticks" feeling of JMU, did not like UVA

GMU is out (too many friends going there and said it feels like a community college) W&M va tech no nursing program.

Id much rather spnd 5-6 days on the road touring than hear 4-6 years bitching about how much she hates a school. This is one choice that she's going to have to make and live with (more or less) and the more info I can provide...

I agree that it feels like a lot. I think I looked at 4-5 schools and applied to 3 maybe we only look at her top pics elon, furman, USC and Wake... but its hard to pass up Duke and UNC when you are right next door.

Sounds very ambitious. I would try to narrow it down a bit and not try to visit so many.

I'm so glad others are saying you are visiting too many--I have a high school junior and when I looked at your list I wondered if I was a total slacker!

Since you've already visited many campuses, your daughter has probably developed some feelings and ideas for what she is looking for in a college. Large university with 25,000 students vs. small college with 4,000? In a large city vs. in a small "college town?" Does she like a religious school or does she want something with no religious influence? Etc.

Are you actually doing scheduled tours or are you just driving around these campuses?

We did two scheduled tours during a 3 day weekend and it was great information but I can't imagine doing more than that.

She's seen UVA and JMU but she hasn't seen Virginia Tech, William & Mary, GMU? Any reason for that?

What am I missing?

Um, you're visiting around 20 schools, plus, more in the summer? I'd say you're not missing anything.

Whoa. I have a junior, we are doing college visits, and I think you are looking at way too many.

Sounds like type A on steroids. You can apply to schools and go see them if she gets in, no need to spend thousands to look first.

I also agree with the PP that these visits can really stress a kid out.

Just an observation after a weekend trip to Mary Washington with my youngest. My youngest child is extremely driven and type A and I'm realizing that she simply doesn't enjoy college visits.

My other child loved visiting a new city, checking out restaurants and bookstores and coffee shops and eating in the dorms.

My youngest is so nervous about college admissions that even thinking about, touring colleges seems to make her nervous. She says things like "I think I really like this but I don't want to like it too much in case I don't get in." She gets stressed looking at the other students and parents.

We've decided to do only a minimal amount of looking at colleges with her for this reason. It's just not fun.

I'm concerned that the OP here is assuming that his child is really enjoying look at colleges. If that's the case, terrific. But I feel like I didn't read the signals with my youngest until now. If looking at colleges is just adding to the stress, then maybe hold off. Look at fewer or decide you'll seriously look once your child is accepted.

That's a super wide range of colleges. Since you've already seen a bunch can your DC focus the list a bit? Or at least stay a little longer at ones she is really interested in? Anyway the only change I'd suggest is to stay at Wake Forest. 2 schools plus a drive is a lot for a day and the on campus hotel at Wake is super nice.

So continues the college search for my daughter. She has seen, Georgetown, Catholic, George Washington, James Madison, university of Washington, UVA, UF, USF, and UCF.

next trip is south Want to look at Elon, UNC Chapel Hill, Furman, U, Hampton U, Bama, U South Carolina, Virginia Common Wealth, Wake Forest, Duke, Spalding.

Driving from VA Bama and Spalding are out, if she want to see them, i'm thinking wife and child will hop on a plane...

I put together this little trip on mapquest. nothing more than a 4 hour drive (wife goes crazy at 3 hours 30 minutes, I figure I can stand 30 minutes of crazy)

https://www.mapquest.com/directions/from/us/va/22182/to/us/virginia/vcu-medical-center-north-283983005/to/us/north-carolina/elon-university-26632908/to/us/north-carolina/wake-forest-univ-350367261/to/us/south-carolina/furman-university-25915040/to/us/south-carolina/university-of-south-carolina-264869918/to/us/north-carolina/unc-chapel-hill-354798799/to/us/north-carolina/duke-university-278452453/to/us/virginia/hampton-university-351609243/to/us/va/vienna-282040222


April 8 Leave Home Late AM Tour VCU Noon (2 hour drive) , Drive to Elon (3 hours)
April 9 Tour Elon AM, Tour Wake Forest Lunch Drive to Furman (3 hours) elon and wake are 30 minutes apart)
April 10 Tour Furman Drive to USC (2 hours)
April 11 Tour USC Drive to UNC (4 hours)
April 12 Tour UNC AM Tour Duke PM Drive to Hampton (3.75 hours) (UNC duke 30 minute drive)
April 13 Tour Hampton, Drive home (3 hours)

April 14 Good Friday
April 15 sat
april 16 easter

Personally I rather take VCU and hampton out of the mix (day trip from home). Then do Duke, UNC, Elon and Wake over two days, then head to Furman then to USC then home. but I know the 8+ hours from USC would cause problems. Any colleges in Charlotte worth looking at?

What am I missing?

heading north of VA in the summer....