Graduated in '74
Went to look at three colleges with my dad, my mom thought college was a waste for girls.
In the end I went to UMCP, because that was in my budget if I put myself through by working nights and weekends. Neither parent ever participated again, no visits, no money, no nothing.
Good learning experience.

Aside from the college in my hometown (does that count?), I visited 6 colleges. I had older siblings, and I'd seen two of their colleges. One day trip, one trip over a long weekend.

Did a mix of official tours and wandering/unofficial tour with students we knew.

Had some say in what I looked at. My parents vetoed/pushed others. No colleges in cities, no colleges far away. (These restrictions were not in place for my older siblings; I think my parents were both overprotective and tired of long drives/paying for plane tickets.)

Graduated in the 80s, grew up in the northeast.

Friend's parents restricted her to w/in 300 miles of home. They sent on a dozen college visits. Bethesda 80's

If there was an expectation in your family that you would go to college after high school, did your parents take you to visit many different campuses? No, finances were limited, so I was only able to visit GMU, JMU, and VA Tech. All other campus tours came via the web and brochures.

Did you go on full tours, or just kind of stop by and look around on your own? Did the full tour of all three of those.


Did you get to choose which colleges you visited? GMU was a given since it was so close to home. I only got to visit the other two because we were on trips that already had us in those areas. I actually had zero interest in actually attending any of the 3 schools I toured.

Did your parents have any limits on what you could not visit (for example, if a college was very far away)? Basically, my parents said they would pay the application fees on 5 colleges and that's all they could afford. I knew I would be paying for college via loans, so there were no geographic limitations imposed. I just knew that if I picked a school far away from home, chances were good that I'd have to spend most breaks on campus alone if I couldn't save up enough money to travel. Also, I knew that if I picked a college that required a plane trip to visit, my dad would never come because he's terrified of flying. [b]

And finally, what year did you graduate high school and what area did you grow up in? [b]Graduated high school in 2000 and I grew up in NOVA.

I went on zero tours and my parents didn't care/weren't involved at all with my college choice. But we lived in a college town and I visited my siblings at their large state college in another town, so it wasn't like I had no idea what colleges are like in general.

Mid-90s, California.

Graduated HS in 98, lived in the burbs of Philly.

My brother is only 1 yr older, so I was brought along on the spring break trip to tour colleges for him during his Jr year. Did a tour of the major VA (JMU, UVA, W&M, Mary Washington, maybe some others) and MD (UMCP, St. Mary's and something else by Baltimore) schools. I think we might have seen U of DE as well. My brother took a separate trip to Penn State main campus, but I wasn't interested in that one. Did tours at all of them. We had already done summer programs at some PA schools, so we already saw a few of those. My brother needed some prodding, so my parents choose the schools to visit.

My parents said if we went somewhere on the affordable side, they'd pay for the entire thing. I had seen enough schools with my brother, so there was no college tours for me specifically. I didn't ask for any - I liked JMU and wanted to go there. I can't believe they let 18 year olds drive these decisions. I had good grades and SATs, wanted to major in math, but didn't really look at anywhere with a strong math/stats program. It turned out fine in the end - I'm well employed, but my 18 yr old decision making was seriously flawed.

My parents were moving right after my HS graduation so in-state choices were in another state, complicated by parents not knowing this till January. I relied solely on my own research of majors and made an excellent thought-out decision, campuses mostly sight unseen (except distant memories) I think, if pressed, they would have allowed me other choices but they were very occupied with their own upheaval, so they were involved very little. Bethesda 80's

Grew up in this area and graduated in 1993. My mom took me on a college tour during the summer after junior year. I knew that I wanted a smaller school in then North. We went to Georgetown, Villanova, NYC and Boston. I can't remember if we did tours. Probably not. I think it was not a good idea to go in the summer since students weren't there.

graduated in 1995, grew up in New England.

It was expected that I go to college, but I was the first in my family to attend a 4 year college.

I toured/visited 3 colleges, but applied to more. I had a very specific major so was a little limited in where I was looking. Of course, i ended up changing my major at one point

I was limited on where I could look base do on cost and location. In terms of location, my family and never traveled far (mostly trips down the east coast) and we didn't have a on of money so going to college far away wan't even on the radar.

If there was an expectation in your family that you would go to college after high school, did your parents take you to visit many different campuses? Did you go on full tours, or just kind of stop by and look around on your own?

Did a tour with my father of the northeastern schools - Yale, Brown, MIT, Dartmouth, Williams, Amherst. Visited Duke on my own.

Did you get to choose which colleges you visited? Did your parents have any limits on what you could not visit (for example, if a college was very far away)?

Applied to U. of Hawaii. They drew the line at visiting that one.

And finally, what year did you graduate high school and what area did you grow up in?

'85. Bethesda/Chevy Chase

Graduated in early 80s. Went to a top private school where college was the only path for everyone. I visited a number of schools, usually with the formal tour, sometimes just wandering on my own. I did a bunch on my own driving around New England for a week the summer before senior year. I did some with my parents. I did not fly anywhere for tours and ultimately went to a college I hadn't visited. That wasn't so unusual in those days.

Spring of my junior year we drove from our midwestern state and visited half a dozen schools in DC, Virginia, and NC. Spring break was 2wks long so there was plenty of time. G'town, GW, American Univ, UVA, William and Mary, Duke, UNC Chapel Hill, and I think one or two others. I did a weekend on my own visiting a friend who was at Notre Dame. We also visited 3 or 4 schools in my home state.

IIRC most were full tours.

I was a National Merit Finalist and was contacted by lots of schools, some offering money. My parents didn't officially say no to schools that were further away but played on my own nervousness to take them off the table. Money was a big factor for us since they'd paid for private school and I knew I wanted law school. I ended up at an unimpressive state school on a full scholarship, made the most of it, and attended a Top 10 law school afterwards.

Graduated HS in 1989.

Only went on 1 full tour.

Didn't look around at other campuses.
Colleges were my choice- my parents believed and fully agree with them that had to be comfortable since I was the one attending.
The only limit I had on college was cost. My parents were only able to pay a certain amount for college, so after that amount I was on my own.
Graduated in 2002. Grew up in New England. Went to college in DC.
Apologies for typos and grammar am typing with 1 finger holding baby and eating cookie

Did your parents take you to visit many different campuses? No.

Did you get to choose which colleges you visited? Did your parents have any limits on what you could not visit (for example, if a college was very far away)?

I was told I would go to UMCP, period.

And finally, what year did you graduate high school and what area did you grow up in?

1986, DC private school, lived in MoCo.

I am female, btw.

If there was an expectation in your family that you would go to college after high school, did your parents take you to visit many different campuses? Did you go on full tours, or just kind of stop by and look around on your own?
Did you get to choose which colleges you visited? Did your parents have any limits on what you could not visit (for example, if a college was very far away)?

And finally, what year did you graduate high school and what area did you grow up in?