Posted by: Sierra Leickert, Educational Counselor on April 13, 2023
Spring Break is upon us, and many families capitalize on this time off from school by completing college tours. Utilizing this time off from school to get your student on college campuses is excellent. Here are three ways to maximize the experience.
1. Take Notes: Encourage your student to take notes. When you go on several tours in a week or a single day, it becomes very easy for the experiences at each school to blur together. What school was it that had the undergraduate research opportunities for environmental science your son/daughter was looking for? What school had spacious first-year dorms? Save yourself the trouble by taking short-hand, quick notes on the tours that can help differentiate each school later when considering which schools will be added to the college application list.
2. Tour different types of schools: It is crucial to have diversified colleges to establish contrast. For example, tour a big school and a small school. Or, tour a school in a city and a college town. You may ask, “What if my child already knows they want to go to a small school?” Well, that’s great. Then, make a more targeted tour list and use that information to your advantage. But, don’t also forget to add that school that you don’t yet know much about. It’s crucial to not only plan tours at schools you hear about at cocktail parties or college ranking lists.
3. Ask Questions: Encourage students to ask questions on the tours. Current students typically run a tour, so they have lots of first-hand knowledge! From questions about classes and majors to favorite places to eat off-campus and popular weekend activities, the tour guide will indeed have some ideas to share!
College tours are only one part of the college admissions process. Our educational planning team specializes in helping families put together an admissions strategy and specific plan. Parents applying to college in this modern age requires significantly more planning and attention than 25+ years ago. Avoid the stress and book a meeting with our team to help put together a plan for your student.