10 Tips for College Tours
College education is a big investment for American families. Making the right choice of where to send your kids to college is not only crucial for their future, it is also important to know what you are getting for your money. This is the best time to start planning and incorporating your summer road trips with college tours.
Here are Travelmath’s 10 tips for college tours for the whole family:
One: Visit their website and take a virtual tour
With the Internet it is really easy to find out more about the colleges you want to visit. Take their virtual tour and get a feel of what you will be seeing before you arrive at the college.
Two: Plan out your road trip
For help with your road trip use Travelmath’s various calculators:
1.
Driving distance and driving time.
2. Cost of driving – for example if you are driving from Charleston to Boston, the
cost to drive is $139.77 one-way. (at the time of writing)
3. To book a
hotel at your destination.
4.
Halfway point between your destination and point of origin. Here we are using Charleston to Boston.
Three: Make a list of the people you need to meet
You may want to interview the admission officer, the head of the department, student representative or parents of current students to find out more about the college. Make a list of the people and questions you want to ask to have more effective college tours.
Four: Take it as a family vacation
Research on places of interest in the city you are taking college tours including must-see places, restaurants, entertainment and more. It can be a fun time for the whole family while you help your college-bound kid make one of the most important decisions of his or her life.
Five: Make time to explore the college
Remember your most important goal is to explore the college. Plan enough time to discover the various parts of the college including student dorms, cafeteria, lecture halls, library and more. Take notes on the various places and maybe spend some time at the cafeteria.
Six: Test-drive the place and talk with the locals
There are no better ways to explore a town than to speak with the locals. The locals know the best places to eat and shop. Go to the places they recommend and see if you agree with them.
Seven: Check out the local restaurants, supermarkets, entertainment centers, places of worship and more. Most of the time these places will tell you a lot about the local community. You may find out if it is a party town or family oriented town and more.
Eight: How far is the college from home?
Your college-bound kid may have his or her own fears of leaving home for the first time. Questions like what if they get sick or need to go home when a need arises, would it be easy for him or her to get home in a few hours?
For example if you live in Los Angeles and your child picks a college in Minneapolis, MN, driving time is one day four hours and 24 minutes. Or he or she could take a flight for
three hours 33 minutes. You can figure out the
cost of flying compared to driving using the Fly vs Drive calculator.
Nine: Cost of living
Make a chart of the cost of living of each college town including rent, food, entertainment, transportation and trips home. What is the
cost of flying or driving from home to the college town?
Ten: Are the courses suitable to their chosen career?
Studies show that about 70 percent of college students change their majors at least once. What if you could reduce that rate and help your college-bound kid clarify his or her chosen career with suitable courses? Imagine paying for an engineering college only to find out he or she is not interested in these courses but prefers accounting?
Don’t wait until your college-bound kid is a high school senior before planning college tours. Give your sophomore or junior a head start by planning your family road trips with college tours. It will help you reduce stress and not miss out on all the important application dates and details.
You will also need to plan ahead and make appointments with various colleges for full-guided tours. For more information on road trips, driving distance, driving time, cost to drive or fly, please use Travelmath’s calculators.
