With schools wrapping up for the summer, any parent of a high school grad is already thinking about college. And if your teen is ready to take the plunge, then your upcoming summer could be mostly spent checking out colleges together.
Narrowing the Pool
Depending on what your teen is wanting to study, it will help tremendously to narrow down the pool of colleges before visiting them. Your teen may want to check them out in order to make a decision, but it’s a better idea overall to visit five colleges at most. Obviously, everyone is different and requires different needs in a college, and checking them out ahead of time may be in your best interest. But taking on too many places to see, especially if some of them are out of state, could make it quite difficult, and tiring.
You and your teen will want to be able to see every college with a fresh set of eyes, and make sure you aren’t missing any details. If you are looking at many different colleges, you may forget some details or even forget to check out certain things, which can lead to confusion later on and even more questions. Having a shorter list of options to check out will make the checklist of items easier to remember and easier to get done with each trip. You want to make sure you’re only stopping at these places once!
Getting the Scoop
Once your teen has their list narrowed down, it’s time to hit the road! Ideally, it may be best to start with the colleges your teen is most excited about, and then work your way down. The top three choices may have everything your teen is looking for, and you may even be able to stop the tours at this point, saving you time. If they aren’t quite what they’re looking for, you can easily top off the gas tank and sally forth!
Be sure to talk with your teen ahead of time and prepare a checklist of items that you and your teen want to double check on while visiting. It could be logistics based items, such as where the dorms are located in relation to the school buildings, how easily they get to the bus, etc. Or it can be seemingly innocuous items that your teen wants to check on, like accommodations, job opportunities, and what kind of social activities are happening.
Remember to also have fun while exploring these places with your teen!
Katie Kyzivat