College visits help

[SnuggleBuggles]

I just shared some of the questions above with ds1 and he agreed that they were all good questions and I'm jealous that I didn't think to ask them. Then I explained it was him who was supposed to research those, not me, and he said, "yeah, nope." Thought it was my research to do

[AnnieW625]

I miss the days of the early to mid 90s where you bought the Barron’s College Guide and read it cover to cover for about two years before applying. I don’t know if either DD1, myself or Dh is prepared to even deal with a super detailed spreadsheet, but that is a good reference. I will go as far as to calculate the net price, the maximum to qualify for any type of non government aide, and the cost of on campus housing but anything other than that imho is just an extra. I am going to leave that up to much child to ask the bulk of the questions.

We are headed to Pennsylvania in a few weeks and asked DD to think of some colleges she might want to visit, but I highly doubt it will be an ideal “college” experience because it will be during the summer and no in person visits are being scheduled, but at least she can figure out if she likes the area, and the campuses in general and then plan another visit in the future if we are able to swing the cost of an out of state or private college.

Very grateful she still have two full school years to decide what she is going to do.



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[Green_Tea]

You can be like us and take an 8 page document of questions to every college tour!

Not sure why the formatting looks off, maybe because I'm on my phone. A few questions are specific to DS1.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...t?usp=drivesdk

We started touring in 10th grade and by the end, with all the in person tours plus multiple online info sessions, interviews, etc we had the majority of questions answered.

Once he actually applied to schools we created a spreadsheet with all the details that were most important to him personally.

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That is really quite a list of questions. Most of those can be answered just by visiting the school’s website.

OP - We did not find tours during breaks/summer or weekend tours to be particularly helpful. The best tours were ones on weekdays after 12 pm. The campuses are much more lively then.

[mom2binsd]

DD was able to tour the school she ended up choosing in the Fall of 2019 before COVID, the official tour was great, the kids who lead them are lots of fun and on a busy Saturday in the Fall it was great to see all the students out and about, on the quad etc., We also stayed after and looked at more buildings (we could go in and explore more then). So depending on the school, weekend tours may be fine, ours was very 'lively" for sure.

[essnce629]

This information is also useful if they have to write a “why us” essay for the college during the application process. Several of their colleges required that and weighed it heavily as they are looking for fit and demonstrated interest.

You also have to know your kid’s personality. DS was definitely on the lazy (well probably also totally overwhelmed) side so he would never do that research. TBH, I’m the one who took most of the notes initially. I opened a note in my notes app for each college. I had asked him to make a spreadsheet but I don’t think he did- my dd had made a weighted spreadsheet and ranked the top choices based on the importance of each factor.
We looked for dealbreakers for his unique situation, like a college that allows double majors and a senior thesis, and we narrowed it down that way.
Once he got into some of the top choices, we did more research re. The environment, clubs, culture, and academic offerings, etc. Again, it was mostly me and I relayed the information to him. He did do some research but he’s had an Incredibly busy senior year irt his activities and the college app process was left until the last minute. Ugh. But it all worked out. Phew..

This information is also useful if they have to write a “why us” essay for the college during the application process. Several of their colleges required that and weighed it heavily as they are looking for fit and demonstrated interest.

Yes, DS1 referenced back to the notes before every interview and for specifics to write in the Why Us essays.

We didn't go on tours firing off 100 questions at once, but having a specific place to jot down notes as the info came up naturally on the tour was good. It also really helped a lot in the beginning when DS was first going on tours and had no idea what he liked. He quickly realized, from getting certain questions answered, that he really only wanted a small liberal arts college. So even though early on we toured USC and multiple UC schools, he realized they were the complete opposite of what he wanted. It was also helpful to already have a list of questions to draw from to participate in virtual sessions and interviews.

I'm also the huge researcher in my family and a SAHM with too much free time so basically took on college admissions as my new hobby. I enjoyed it and also relayed all the info on to DS. In my close group of friends I am the first person to have kids so am the first one going through the college process. I feel like I've learned so much that I can now help my friends whose kids are younger than mine, who have parents who don't have time to do as much research because they're working. College is the most expensive purchase outside of buying our house and finding a school that's a great fit AND within one's budget without loans is often extremely difficult. I feel like I'm now in the position to pay it forward.

[erosenst]

I think some depends on the kid. Mine has a spreadsheet with some things I wouldn’t have thought of. She’s attended a couple of zoom admissions things from her top choices.

She’s already narrowed to four schools - one total safety ( in state and would be a true shock if she doesn’t get in), two reasonable/ stretch and one she won’t get in. She’ll tour the reasonable/stretch this summer/fall (as a senior) - partially because one is across the country and has a late notification date. On the .001% chance she gets into the true reach, we will visit then.

I’m sure her spreadsheet has things to check on the tour. I’m also sure that unless she specifically asks me, my input on things she should look for on the tour isn’t wanted

Can’t wait to follow everyone’s adventures!


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[o_mom]

I think some depends on the kid.
...
She’s already narrowed to four schools ...

Definitely depends on the kid!

DS (same school, same grade) hasn't even thought about what schools he is interested in. He toured one school pre-pandemic and that is it. I am sure a spreadsheet is not going to be his style (would be mine), and he is not interested in virtual tours. Hopefully in the fall we can get a few visits in to get a feel for what kind of school he wants.

[SASM]

OP...Thank you for asking this!

Posters...Thank you so much for the detailed responses!

We didn’t go through this with DS...college isn’t a good fit for him right now. He just really wants to work for a bit. Both DDs have plans for college - very different goals - so this is extremely helpful. We are hoping to start touring a little this summer, too.


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[StantonHyde]

Latia-thank you for that document!! those are all key questions and I find it odd that people are not asking these questions. I certainly did when I applied. Who wants to go out of state to a commuter school to find that nobody is around on weekends? I care a LOT about TAs vs. Professors teaching. I was astounded that my brother's college (Stanford) had TAs teaching and had huge classes. I would say that my SLAC gave me a much better education. (but it didn't have Engineering) I worked in Admissions during College so I know the processes, etc. But there is much that has changed. I am taking this document and getting DS to fill it out by visiting websites--which, by the way, is one way admissions counselors assess your child's interest in the school. And if it comes down to a kind who never visited--virtually or in person--and a kid who did, then guess who gets admitted? It's all a game and you just play it. In the end, kids will find a good fit. But this is a crap-ton of money and time and I want to make a good purchase. For a board that prides itself on doing every single amount of research possible for car seats and cribs, researching colleges should be easy. And I work full time and train for triathlons! I already have a spread sheet going and could kick myself for missing the June ACT sign up because we waited too long and it filled up. Gah. I hate this but it has to be done..

[AnnieW625]

Latia-thank you for that document!! those are all key questions and I find it odd that people are not asking these questions. I certainly did when I applied. Who wants to go out of state to a commuter school to find that nobody is around on weekends? I care a LOT about TAs vs. Professors teaching. I was astounded that my brother's college (Stanford) had TAs teaching and had huge classes. I would say that my SLAC gave me a much better education. (but it didn't have Engineering) I worked in Admissions during College so I know the processes, etc. But there is much that has changed. I am taking this document and getting DS to fill it out by visiting websites--which, by the way, is one way admissions counselors assess your child's interest in the school. And if it comes down to a kind who never visited--virtually or in person--and a kid who did, then guess who gets admitted? It's all a game and you just play it. In the end, kids will find a good fit. But this is a crap-ton of money and time and I want to make a good purchase. For a board that prides itself on doing every single amount of research possible for car seats and cribs, researching colleges should be easy. And I work full time and train for triathlons! I already have a spread sheet going and could kick myself for missing the June ACT sign up because we waited too long and it filled up. Gah. I hate this but it has to be done..

Such great points. I am not a spreadsheet person but I could learn. It is the biggest purchase other than a house and in some parts of the US I am sure a private college education costs more than a house.

Large lectures and TAs would be a good question because especially if you are paying for a private education you want the well known professor teaching the class. I don’t like the idea of all freshman classes being large lectures, but at so many schools they are. Even in state schools I feel that making a connection with the professor is a good thing to even if it is going to be the hardest class for you. I was lucky an other than the four or five large lecture classes I had my average class size even for lower division classes was maybe 35 students. I went to California state schools (Sac State initially and graduated from SDSU) and I lucked out and only had one class where the TAs graded all of your papers. The only F I ever got on a paper was in that class and when I asked the professor “why?” he simply said read the comments on the paper....I knew he never read my paper...I was just one of 250 kids in that class. I remember the TAs all sat in chairs on the stage and acted all important....it was really irritating. In four and a half years of college I only had two other classes taught by a graduate assistants and one was awful and one was great. At the same time (mid to late 90s) I had friends at UC Davis who had large lectures with 500+ kids; one science hall seats 900+ I believe. I would’ve been overwhelmed by that (and needing to take calculus to graduate) so I am glad that I didn’t chose a UC school. I am sure they had more (undergrad) classes than not that were taught by TAs.

My dh has long said that 4 year university engineering professors don’t give a cr@p about you until you enroll in your upper division classes so he has said that community college is the way to go. Almost 30 years later (he graduated HS in 92) he still talks about some of his favorite community college professors. He doesn’t have a degree from a top 5 engineering school and he was fine with that because he graduated from college actually enjoying engineering. He also didn’t want to spend his career working in higher education studying theories and such so he also opted for a non top 5 engineering program.

Good reminder about the ACT. I took that test at the end of my sophomore year. Things will start getting real here really soon and I am glad we are “sort of” starting early this summer and even if DD1 doesn’t apply to any of the schools we visit she will at least know what to start looking for. Also thanks for the tip about visiting college websites.


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