College Visits for Younger Children

Question: My wife and I are both college graduates, and we definitely want our three children — ages 6, 8 and 15 — to go to college. We talk to them often about how much we enjoyed college. When is the best time to take them on college visits? — College Bound


Answer: Your 15-year-old should be visiting colleges now. And it is not too early for the other two children to get an idea of what college is like. College visits usually should begin at schools close to your home. Your first visits should include fun activities, from college sporting events to special campus events to hiking or camping in the area. Younger children just need to get the flavor of what college campuses are like.

Your older child needs to have a checklist of things to see at each school, including taking a campus tour, visiting a class, checking out eating and dorm facilities, talking to students and learning about the courses offered. After each visit, he or she should write down which aspects of a school appealed to him or her and which ones didn’t. It will make it far easier later on to make a decision about where to apply. Incidentally, visits for older children need not be limited to schools they might want to attend, as each visit will help them formulate what they really want in a college.

The ideal time for college visits for high-schoolers is when school is in session — simply because it gives the best picture of college life. Nevertheless, summer vacation visits can be very helpful, as it gives children of all ages an idea of what other things in the area around a college might make a particular school appealing, from mountains to the seashore to big-city or rural life. So when families are on vacation this summer, they should make an effort to at least drive through a few college campuses near their vacation spots.