Parents Visiting Colleges

[gymbeam]

I'd love to know more about visiting colleges. When I went to college, I knew where I was going to go (small, private all girls school) and never shopped around so I have no idea what to do when in regard to visiting big schools.

At this point, my daughter is only 12 and going into 7th grade. I know this is really early but I'm thinking we may as well start taking advantage of travel meets and vacations which land us near colleges- not only with gymnastics in mind, but even more importantly just to get her starting to think about her future academically.

Does anyone have any advice about visiting schools? What kind of things do you do? Other than walking around the campus, are there certain things we should make sure we check out or ask about? Also, at what age do colleges offer guided tours to prospective students? Will they laugh at us asking for a guided tour before like 11th grade?

Just curious and would love to hear ways you guys get your kids thinking about their life beyond high school.

 

[QueenBee]

A good first place to start looking is at colleges around where you live. Not so much to apply to, but rather to see what your daughter likes and doesn't like about different campuses. Visiting nearby colleges can help figure out if you like large or small campuses, urban/suburban/rural, yes or no to Greek life, etc. It can help you start to narrow down what she likes and doesn't like.

When you travel to away meets, you can start driving through college/university campuses and only stop in to take a closer look if something catches your/your daughter's eye. I believe anyone can sign up for guided tours (most colleges offer sign ups online, or by contacting their admissions office) but you will be probably looked at a bit funny if you are doing guided tours before your daughter is entering high school (I think anytime after that is fine, especially for colleges you aren't going to be able to visit that often).

My best advice is to just start by looking (no list of questions, nothing specific to check out). You might be surprised by what your daughter likes and doesn't like, which campuses appeal and don't. Children can change so much from middle school to high school; I wouldn't try to start a specific list of colleges she wants to apply to until you have at least 1 year of high school under her belt.

 

[gymbeam]

Thanks, QueenBee. I agree about not trying to narrow it down too early. I did (or, really my parents did) and that's actually why I would like to start exposing her to as many schools as possible. I don't want her to be narrow-minded when she thinks about college. I want her to really understand how many different aspects of a school are important in her decision-making and not just focus on athletics.

I am thinking a good way to broaden her perspective is getting her exposed to a variety of schools from more of an academic and lifestyle point-of-view *before* she reaches the point where she has to start considering their gymnastics programs. Because in reality, we know that point may never come. I hope to get her excited about college for more than gym- like a normal kid. LOL.

 

[Gigi]

I'd love to know more about visiting colleges. When I went to college, I knew where I was going to go (small, private all girls school) and never shopped around so I have no idea what to do when in regard to visiting big schools.

At this point, my daughter is only 12 and going into 7th grade. I know this is really early but I'm thinking we may as well start taking advantage of travel meets and vacations which land us near colleges- not only with gymnastics in mind, but even more importantly just to get her starting to think about her future academically.

Does anyone have any advice about visiting schools? What kind of things do you do? Other than walking around the campus, are there certain things we should make sure we check out or ask about? Also, at what age do colleges offer guided tours to prospective students? Will they laugh at us asking for a guided tour before like 11th grade?

Just curious and would love to hear ways you guys get your kids thinking about their life beyond high school.

Hi. Most schools have public tours and prospective student tours. We just went to a prospective student tour and this school had us in a conference room talking about grades, application, financial aid, etc. for an hour before the walking tour. Maybe not all schools do that but I won't know. There was only one incoming high school freshman, few more incoming sophomores, but mostly incoming juniors and seniors. If your daughter is only going into 7th grade, she will be bored to tears with the presentation part, and chances are everything will be different by the time your daughter applies to college. So I recommend check out the public tour. It is more of a touristy thing, but you will get to see the campus and students, feel the vibe, learn fun facts and notable alumni of the school.

 

[gymbeam]

good to know! we definitely don't need to get into all of that, but it could be fun to have a college student just show us around for a little bit and see things from their POV. i'll definitely take your advice and distinguish tours if and when we ever do one!

 

[Deleted member 18037]

I only have a 6th grader so we are not there yet. And my kid is not going for gym for sure............

I will start by having her do online research. Demographics, city or not, inland or coast............... We will then visit locally, large, mid, small campuses so she gets a feel. We work quick look arounds on our vacations and visiting so its not a pressure thing.

Then when a search starts in earnest she will have a vague idea of type of campus, then it will be program based.

She has already visited Harvard and West Point.................

 

[thefellowsmom]

I found this cool site. They have really thorough profiles on every university and even have a sort on universities with gymnastics programs ranked by overall university, not just gymnastics. You can drill down and see all the programs they offer and how big they are and if the program is good or not. They have demographics, costs, lifestyle stuff. I even think they have a matching algorithm. I have been having a good time drilling down and poking around but haven't even scratched the surface.

https://www.collegefactual.com/rankings/sports/gymnastics-women/

My dd will (assuming everything goes as planned) compete level 10 this year and is going into 8th grade. Her coach just had a sit down with us telling us about what's coming and the recruiting process (lots of other things were covered as well, but this was part of the discussion).

They let me know what I should and shouldn't be doing at this point and what schools they felt she could feasibly target and which they thought would be a good fit for her.

At this point they said to start researching and making a target list and then setting up social media and you tube and such and what we should and should post etc.

I am thinking if we end up in places where we can visit campuses we will start doing that next year and I like the idea of visiting local universities to let her see what different campuses feel like and look like and let her start getting her vibe on. She works by her gut in a big way so this will be important.

 

[gymgal]

Just driving/walking through the campuses should be enough at your dd's age. It will give her an idea of size, weather, building style and campus layout. If she finds one she thinks she might like and it has a gym camp, then sending her to it in the next couple of years will give her exposure to the coaches and first hand experience of living on campus.

Does your dd express interest in looking at colleges right now? If not, then I would hold off another year or two. If she is top prospect, the coaches will let your club know they are interested and then you can begin talking about it with her. If she is likely to not commit until much later, then I would wait a couple of years.

 

[gymbeam]

thanks so much for that link. very handy!

 

[gymbeam]

Just driving/walking through the campuses should be enough at your dd's age. It will give her an idea of size, weather, building style and campus layout. If she finds one she thinks she might like and it has a gym camp, then sending her to it in the next couple of years will give her exposure to the coaches and first hand experience of living on campus.

Does your dd express interest in looking at colleges right now? If not, then I would hold off another year or two. If she is top prospect, the coaches will let your club know they are interested and then you can begin talking about it with her. If she is likely to not commit until much later, then I would wait a couple of years.

no, she hasn't asked to visit any colleges but she wouldn't even know thats a thing. i don't think she'd protest though. we live near three universities and go to their campuses and their "main drags" to walk around, get ice cream- that sort of thing and it sounds like visiting other schools at this stage wouldn't be much different.

and no, not a top prospect. although, she will be a level 10 in 8th grade if she stays on current trajectory. her coaches encourage them to start targeting schools and visiting their camps when they get their level 10 skills. i'm not sure if this will mean going to camp next summer while training 10 or the following summer after she has competed a season of 10. either way, without starting to get a feel for schools i don't know how she would even be able to decide what camps she'd like to go to. thats also why i kinda want to get her wheels turning- won't be too long until she has to decide on camps and with only one camp a year, there aren't many chances to try out different ones.

 

[raenndrops]

Public tours if they are offered when you are there.
If not, walk around. Look at the architecture. Look at the athletic facilities. Visit the student union and a library. Eat some campus food.
Chat with a friendly student. Look for public transit in the area.

 

[mommyof1]

If you just want to get her thinking about college in general, what about summer enrichment camps? Several of our local colleges have day programs, and there are a number of residential programs as well. CTY through JHU used to be excellent, and I have heard good things about the Duke program. There are also some outreach programs that host "college days" for targeted groups (gifted kids, disadvantaged kids, etc.) with presentations on college readiness, choosing a college, the application process, etc.

 

[gymbeam]

If you just want to get her thinking about college in general, what about summer enrichment camps? Several of our local colleges have day programs, and there are a number of residential programs as well. CTY through JHU used to be excellent, and I have heard good things about the Duke program. There are also some outreach programs that host "college days" for targeted groups (gifted kids, disadvantaged kids, etc.) with presentations on college readiness, choosing a college, the application process, etc.

Oh! I'll have to look into things like that.
We do have a lot of universities within a few hours driving distance so surely we could find something that would work in to our budget and schedule.
Thanks!

 

[profmom]

If you're looking at summer college programs, shop carefully. Some are set up solely to serve as cash cows. The programs themselves often bear very little resemblance to what goes on in actual college classes.

Honestly, I don't think it makes a lot of sense for most kids to start fretting about college until they are rising juniors, as long as they have "going to college" generally as a goal. They just don't know enough about their interests and needs until they're closer to the process for it to make sense to start filtering. What excites an eighth grader may be completely off the radar screen as an interest by the time the child is starting her/his junior year in high school. A lot of folks are making a lot of money marketing to upper middle class parents' anxieties about giving their kids a leg up in the world.

 

[mommyof1]

If you're looking at summer college programs, shop carefully. Some are set up solely to serve as cash cows. The programs themselves often bear very little resemblance to what goes on in actual college classes.

I would agree that the summer programs don't have anything to do with actual college classes and that some of them are just money-makers, but there are a few good ones out there. My daughter attended a local program that turned out to be an overpriced waste of time, but the program I attended as a young teen filled critical gaps in my public school education and was a great life experience that built independence.