Tour or not to Tour that is the question

[Riverhill]

My 15 year old DD has been invited to take a Tour of private engineering college in our area. I think since she is only in 10th grade we should wait a year. DH thinks she should start looking now.

When is too early to start looking a colleges.

She will go if we make her but feels it is to soon. She is worried about looking foolish going on a tour and meeting professors with a bunch of seniors and juniors.

 

[kids4olsen]

with 4 children 2 in college 1 in 12th grade and a 5th grader. I can tell you how happy i was that we took our 3 older children on tours of the schools they liked and met with adviement staff in the fields tehy were interested in bewteen spring and summer of 10th grade. especially for my son who wants to be an architect. seeing the schools and meeting with the advisors wasa very big eye opener for us. we thought he was taking every class he needed to be prepared to apply to the schools he wanted and for the field he wanted to go in. we were wrong and it gave him time to talk to his counselor about what classes he needed to take in 11th and 12th grade. the decision was a make or break for us. there were many other kid who were also in 10th grade.hope this helps.

 

[Savvy]

I think it's a really amazing opportunity. If that school is a place that she is interested in, or believes it could become of interest later, she should definitely go.

I wish I would have started looking for colleges earlier. Once you know what you want, you can ground yourself and work towards that goal.

I had no idea where I wanted to go, or what I wanted to do, so I found myself slacking a lot in school, but once I figured out where I wanted to go, I saw a complete change in study habits and grades.

And she definitely wouldn't look weird with a group of juniors and seniors. if anything, it would be the opposite. It would seem very impressive!

But if she doesn't want to go, that's a whole different story, and she shouldn't be forced.

 

[PrincessBetsy]

I started looking at colleges before I was in 10th grade. I think it is definitely better to start looking at schools sooner. That way she can figure out which one she feels the most comfortable at and which one offers the best education for her. She will definitely not look foolish and this could be a great time to start networking with some of the professors at this school. This could be a wonderful opportunity for her, especially if she is interested in engineering.

 

[tiggersmyguy]

My daughter did a Women in Engineering summer camp for a week the summer after 9th grade. It was a great experience for her and helped her find the area of engineering she is now studying as a junior in college. I say, if your daughter is willing, do it.