College Tour Planning for Families

As a family, you’ve probably sifted through brochures, scoured the Internet and read as many books as humanly possible about prospective universities for your college applicant. Perhaps you’ve even created a spreadsheet to compare schools' pros and cons. While this abundance of facts and figures is helpful, it’s still quite two-dimensional. Sure, that university's quad looks pretty in the photographs and the students are all smiling (just like in every college catalog), but after a while everything just melds together into one big group of smiling students on a sunny day. You still can’t get a true sense of each place and what spending four years (and thousands of dollars) on and around a particular campus might be like. Time for a campus visit.

The Importance of Place

The days of first setting foot on campus the week classes begin are long gone. In recent years, as tuition increases and schools become more competitive, the need to pick the right schools to apply to has taken on a greater sense of urgency. Since college is such a huge investment, it’s no wonder students and parents alike want to take a closer look at potential schools. Thus, families have increasingly packed their bags and ventured out to discover the perfect college as their children near the nest-abandoning age.

Along with cost and academic reputation, location plays a crucial role in making one college perfect and another a frightening vision of the next four (or so) years. The communities beyond the quad can offer further opportunities to learn and gain experience during the course of study. From local cafes to museums to music venues, off-campus locales go a long way in determining if a school is the right fit, which can go a long way in determining scholastic success. By visiting campuses as a family, both students and parents can gain valuable insight into what the future might hold and put to rest some of the unease involved with selecting a school. While younger siblings may shout in protest, campus visits can be family vacations, allowing families to explore new destinations and everything they have to offer while helping to find the right school for one or more of the brood.

Top Locations, Big and Small

The best locations depend on your preferred environment: urban, suburban or rural. According to the College Destinations Index (CDI) by Collegia, a rankings system of school locations based on a combination of academic environment, quality of life and professional opportunity; the most popular major city destinations are Boston, New York City, San Francisco, Washington, D.C. and Atlanta. In addition to offering several schools in a concentrated area, each of these cities offers a wide array of activities beyond campus, crucial for a student’s future and, more immediately, those younger siblings in need of alternative activities.

If you’d prefer a smaller location, the most popular college towns are State College, Pa. (Penn State), Bloomington, Ind. (Indiana University), Champaign-Urbana, Ill. (University of Illinois), Iowa City, Iowa (University of Iowa) and College Station, Texas (Texas A&M). While these towns might not have the same number of choices as their urban counterparts, each have unique local offerings. Downtown Champaign, just outside of campus, hosts the Roger Ebert Overlooked Film Festival each April, a good opportunity to explore the burgeoning area. However, if you plan on visiting several schools in a region, travel times will be lengthy, perhaps to the displeasure of some in the traveling party (read: younger siblings).