5 Tips for Visiting a College on a Budget

Every year, high school guidance counselors are meeting with rising juniors and seniors on their college prospects and encouraging parents to take their young students on college visits during schools breaks and over the summer. But travel can be expensive, any time of the year. Here are 5 tips for success and savings.

First, start early. I do not mean start the college visit process early - though guidance counselors at my daughter's high school suggest visiting prospective colleges after a student's high school year - I mean start preparing your visit schedule early. Get your student organized enough to write a list of colleges he or she is interested in attending as early in the process as possible. If a geographic trend or a clustering of locations can be found, that will help the visit scheduling. Also, discuss the budget and make sure that your student narrows his or her choices to an affordable number. Many high schools will provide tools that your son or daughter can use to select schools of interest. Other sources include College Board and its College Search program. Find it here.

You may be able to coordinate a college visit at the beginning or end of a vacation or during a school break. It is also possible to make 2 college visits in a day, if geography cooperates. It can be a long day, however. I know this from experience. Also, remember that the summer months can be hot and humid. This may also dissuade you from trying to visit two campuses in the same day. Things can get a little sweaty and smelly and your student may not be able to give a good first impression.

Second, while it would be best for your student to take an interest and do the research him/herself, given that there is money involved in the travel aspect, go to each college or university's website yourself. Locate on the website either an "admissions" or a "prospective student" tab and follow it to a section that will likely guide you to "planning a visit" or something similar. In my 6 years of experience traveling with two prospective college students, nearly every college or university will encourage visits and will guide you through their website to "how to schedule a visit" and "tours and information". A key to planning is to remember that some colleges and universities are largely shut down over summer, and therefore offer limited tours and very little student and faculty interaction. A trip in the summer may be time wasted. Prospective students like to see what a campus full of students is like - how they dress, where they hang out, eat at the dining commons, see a room, etc. If the campus is largely locked down, your visit money can be wasted and your student gets an incomplete picture.

Be on the lookout! Many colleges and universities have "junior days" or special visit programs on holidays like President's Day or Martin Luther King Day or in the fall around Veteran's Day or Columbus Day. Colleges know that many high schools have these days off and coordinate programs for large numbers of visitors. Again, check the websites.

Third, colleges and universities will generally recommend accommodations locally. Be wary that these may be the more expensive hotels and motels in the area. But also, the hotels not listed may be of substandard quality. My husband recently stayed in New Haven, CT in a hotel he found on the web. It was cheap at under $80 per night, but he had to talk his way into one of two inside corridor rooms and the hotel apparently lacked sufficient heat. Hotel affinity and points programs can be helpful for not only locating free rooms for visiting campuses, but through the college visit process, sticking with a single hotel brand can build a nice pool of points you can use later for parents weekend when "Junior" is enrolled in a college of his or her choice.

Fourth, take a camera. My daughter's college counselor recommends taking a picture of the name of the university as the first picture you take upon arriving on a campus. Then you know every picture thereafter is associated with that college or university. This is particularly useful if you are making multiple visits on a trip. Buildings and facilities can begin to all look alike and information can run together.

Another suggestion is to make sure to drive the perimeter of the campus to get a feel for the adjacent neighborhoods and ask about where off-campus students typically live, if any. Also, ask your tour guide for food recommendations and try to eat on campus or at a favorite off-campus establishment. I also always visit the main book store - it will tell you a lot about what matters on the campus - sports, apparel, etc. - and my daughters have always wanted a t-shirt from a favorite campus as a souvenir.

Fifth, remember that colleges and universities recognize that it is beyond the ability of some families to make a college visit. Virtual tours are increasingly available. Encourage your son or daughter to make a contact with the admissions office as soon as he or she becomes interested and make sure that he or she communicates to the admissions counselor that a visit might be beyond your means at this time. Many prestigious universities want contact with the student, so if it cannot be in person, make sure that other means of contact are not forgotten - even video, Facebook, e-mail, and old fashioned US mail.

Plan early and enjoy the college visit process. But keep the budget in mind.