For those who have put a child through college...

[AuroraluvsPhillip]

I'm starting this process now for my son (a junior), specifically, college visits and interviews this August. I'm not a pro at travel planning so I'm wondering in what order to book this stuff. Any suggestions on how to go about this would be helpful.

1. Call admissions office to book interviews, tours, etc.
2. Book hotel room close by
3. Book rental car
4. Book airfare
5. Try and coordinate all the visits we want to make in a two week time period. Yukk!

I figure we can see two or three colleges within driving distance per trip, except for one college on his list that we will have to fly out to see by itself.

Just wondering how to figure out and book all the travel arrangements and in what order.

Thanks folks!

 

[Blueeyes101817]

hi--well i jsut went through this process a couple of years ago..i just finished my freshman year of college..
i didnt have to fly to any of them , and most i was looking at were 3 hours away tops...
but the first thing i did was see if there were open houses and when they were...i got 3 schools looked at in one weekend because 2 had open houses on sat and one on sunday.....but the first thing i would definitly figure out when to visit which college..then u can do the rest..

good luck!

 

[daughter_of_amid_chaos]

My junior year of high school my family did this over my 2 week spring break.
We flew from Massachusetts to Pittsburgh where we rented a minivan and drove 30 minutes to my first school. We flew in on a Saturday and looked around the town and stayed at a local hotel and then monday morning my dad and I went for a visit.
Then we got back in the car and drove to another school in Northwestern PA where we visited my Mom's Alma Mater. Then we drove to Ohio where we spent the night and the next morning I visited the school. Then we drove to my next Ohio school visited it got in the car and drove to Indiana where we spent the night in a hotel, visited the school the next morning, then got in the car to drive to my grandparents.
I had scheduled interviews with each one.

In NOvember of my senior year, my dad and I flew out to Indiana to visit DePauw (which is where I ended up). We spent the night at a hotel on campus, visited the school and had my interview, then hopped in the car and drove to Kentucky, spent the night in a hotel, and then visited a school the next morning then drove to the airport and flew home.

So everything you said sounds just right...Just make to sure to contact the schools and if you are on a tight schedule let them know this.
They'll send you packets of information usually or give you some when you get there.
For me visiting DePauw is what made me fall in love with the school.

Hope this helps

 

[Dan Murphy]

Start thinking FAFSA.

 

[Pooh's Pal]

I just finished this and DD is heading to college in the fall.
I did a week last summer, between DD's junior and senior years. I wished I had started sooner too. We did most or I think ALL of New England colleges, she wanted to see in one week. With some, we actually did two schools within one day..one in the early am and one in the afternoon on some days if the schedules permitted.
We started looking at college websites, checking tour dates, open houses etc. Look into www.collegeboard.com It literally has tons of info on every school and links to most also.
My DD chose a small, all female college close to the town I grew up in in Western MA...I still have family there, too.
She applied to 6 colleges, got into 4, got turned down at 2, one was her favorite in Connecticut too! (they wanted straight A students only!)It's a tough decision, one I'm glad she had to make and not me.
Try to get interviews scheduled right after your tours, this will save you another trip back to that college, if he decides he likes it...even if it's just to talk to an admissions counselor. Some colleges we went to, we drove through the campus and even before the tour she'd say she didn't like it! Go Figure!
Be sure to check out everything from dorms, the cafeteria's to classroom and lecture hall size. Start looking into scholarships now! www.fastweb.com is a great starting tool. Some scholarships have fall deadlines that are used for the following fall too.

Most of the schools websites have links for local lodging too. And I did rent a small SUV for our trip through Budget. So we'd have room for the luggage and stuff, not feel cramped and we saw some beautiful parts of New England, I'd forgotten all about. It was great quality time with my DD...I'm glad we did it together.
I see you are from Boston, if you need any x-tra help with any New England colleges, PM me.....I think I've become an expert in touring the N.E. college area and I have every school catalog known to man!!!! LOL Good luck!

 

[Pooh's Pal]

Originally posted by Dan Murphy
Start thinking FAFSA.

Oh yeah....that's fun...and to think ya have to do it EVERY year! Yuck!

 

[danacara]

Originally posted by Dan Murphy
Start thinking FAFSA.

Bingo, Dan.

One thing I might consider ... if you can push off the college trips until the end of August, your son will be able to see the school year in full swing, with students, classes in session, etc. That's true of most schools, at least. So I might consider calling around, figuring out when school starts at your target institutions, and planning an itinerary around that.

 

[bballmom56]

We went through this with DD three summers ago. What a great time we had! We only looked at colleges within a 3 hour radius from our house as that was her choice, so it made traveling a little easier. My number 1 suggestion is after you have narrowed down your choices, have your son do an overnight visit to the colleges in which he is truly interested. That was invaluable to DD and changed the order of her preferences. They will assign him a student host for the time he is there, may go to some classes, eat in the caf., spend the night in the dorm and get a taste for life on campus. Good luck and enjoy the trips!