Duke University students walking into auditorium, N.C.
Start checking out campuses sophomore or junior year, but at this early date, take a casual approach.
If you always wanted to go to Chicago, why not go and tour four or five schools? Sit in the general information session and check out the surrounding area of the campus.
Instead of visiting faraway schools, start with a trip to a nearby university that's similar to the one you are interested in.
Save the hardcore campus visits for after the admissions letter arrives. When you know which schools you can get into, you can go back and visit the ones that you're most interested in and do that careful study. That's a way to save time and to keep from going crazy at the beginning of the process.
Once you hit campus, take the official tour, but make that just a small part of what you do there. Have your student go to the places and do the activities she would if she were attending the school.
Visit a variety of dorms instead of settling for the one they show you on the tour, which will undoubtedly be the nicest one.
Sit in on a few classes. It's easy to arrange or if your student is feeling adventurous he can just drop in on a larger class and sit quietly in back.
Think about taking a buddy along. Sometimes Mom and Dad just don't see things that a good friend will.
Arrange to stay overnight if this is one of the colleges on your very short list. It's important to see what the campus feels like once it gets dark and if it's safe or loud.
The more time you spend on campus, the better. When you've found the right one, you'll know it.
Collegiate Choice — college search tool
www.collegiatechoice.com Provides videotapes of hundreds of real college tours, as conducted by individual college counselor Cliff Kramon
Princeton Review's Counselor-O-Matic
www.princetonreview.com An advanced search engine that combines your academic and extracurricular history (screens 1-3) with your preferences (screens 4-8) to help you find the right college.
)
