College Trip Tips

Choosing which college your child is going to attend is a major decision that you and they are going to need to make. This is a decision that can not be taken lightly and a lot of thought and preparation must be put into the decision so that the right decision is made. One of the best things that you can do with your child is to make numerous college trips to the various colleges that your child is thinking about attending so that you can see what those colleges have to offer. When planning these trips there are some things that you are going to want to keep in mind so that you can make the most out of them.

Here are some tips for college trips.

Tip One:

One thing that you need to keep in mind when going on college trips is that you are going on the trip to see if the college is going to be right for your child. What this means is that you are not going to want to go when the college is on break or closed for the weekend or only offering weekend classes. You are actually going to want to visit the college when the college is in session. The reason for this is that it is important to see the daily activities of the college when it is in session so you know what is going on and what is considered normal. So although the summer and winter breaks are a great time to visit colleges because everybody has time off this means the college has time off too so you need to plan on visiting during regular sessions.

Tip Two:

Another thing that you need to think about is when trying to pick a date to go visit is that most colleges have some kind of a laid back day on Fridays. So your best bet when planning a college trip is to visit Monday through Thursday so you can get the best idea of college life. But that can become a problem because of your child’s high school work; you don’t want the visit to interfere with those classes. So your best bet is to go on a Monday when the high school has a holiday, as long as it isn’t a federal holiday most colleges will be open and in full swing.

Tip Three:

Something else that you need to think about is the season that you are going to be visiting the colleges and which year you are going to visit the colleges. Basically you need to decide if you are going to start looking at colleges in your child’s Junior or Senior year. Many people begin looking at them in the Junior year so they can apply for early admission in November of the Senior year. But a great season to go and visit colleges is the fall season which usually starts around the middle of August. This means you can see the college in full swing without missing any of their schooling.

Tip Four:

Something else to consider is if you are going to visit the colleges before or after your child has been accepted to the colleges. Many colleges will offer a chance for the students to visit once they have been accepted, but this can actually cause problems. One thing that you need to think about is that if you wait until after you have been accepted and are not satisfied you are limited as to your options. But if you check out the colleges before you even apply you will have more options and be confident in your decision of where to apply.