Because I’m the parent of a 17 year old high school junior, college weighs heavily on her mind and mine.  We started visiting college campuses while on vacation during summer after her freshman year.  Now many of you may think this is too early, however it gave me the opportunity to spread out the cost of these trips.  Don’ fool yourself into thinking it’s not expensive, it is.  It can be particularly expensive when your teenager is thinking of attending a school in another state.  Travel expenses, hotel rooms, food and don’t forget the tee shirt or sweatpants – these all add up.  On the most recent spring break we decided to cover two states in 5 days.  Here are a few tips for a successful college visit.

Only travel to the schools that your teenager is truly interested in attending.  We narrowed the list to about ten schools over five vacations.

Scheduling the campus visit is easy when the websites are well done.  I rationalize that if they can’t manage a good website then they can’t manage thousands of students well either. 

Have your teen prepare a list of questions they would like to have answered.  If they aren’t answered on the tour, your teen is prepared to ask about the issues that concern them. 

Take pictures and make notes for each of the schools.  After a few visits they will all start to look the same and you’ll forget the specifics of each school.

Really read all of the information they give to you.  Most of your questions will be answered in this documentation.

If you are visiting a school that your teenager wants as their first or second choice, schedule a visit to the admissions office while you are there.  A face to face meeting can be very helpful for information on scholarship opportunities.  It will also give you a feel for the level of staff involvement.

Have your teen sign up with the school’s website; it’s a great way to learn all the little details about each school of interest.

A little side note for all of you parents – wear comfortable shoes and be ready to walk – a lot.

The best part of visiting colleges is the time you will have alone with your teen.  We always end up singing to the radio and joking about strange little things that happen while we are on the road.  I try to remember that these are most likely the last trips we will take alone together.  Sure, there are traffic jams, we get lost and we end up in horrible places to use a restroom.  But we are together in this adventure.  One of the best things we do is add on a day or two at the end of the trip.  We find a little town and relax while we talk about the schools and life in general.  On our recent trip we stopped in Beaufort, North Carolina for a weekend at the end of the trip.  We walked around town, went to the beach, got ice cream, attended a pig roast and went on a ghost tour.  All of this cost $30 for both of us – a real bargain if you ask me.  Most importantly, we were together and we were having fun.