Our kid has a couple weeks off before 10th grade so next month we're taking a college trip. Our only parental goals are to show her that the U.S. Naval Academy is not the nation's only institute of higher learning and that it's good to have a plan "B". Her goal is to humor us in our mistaken beliefs, especially if there'll be side trips to Mainland shopping malls.
This will be good practice for everyone, and it's amazing how quickly the calendar fills up. We want to get a head start on helping her work through her USNA infatuation before she feels obligated to do it. (Maybe she'll find a new infatuation.) I'm not a big fan of traveling during Christmas vacation, especially with crowds & winter airport delays. Spring & fall breaks are only a week or two and always full of reading lists & science projects. Next summer might be a school trip abroad or a sports camp or a college trip to a different part of the country. She wants to spend a couple weeks after junior year at USNA's Summer Seminar. Suddenly we realized that we needed to start looking around now!
She's seeking smaller campuses with engineering degrees, NROTC units, and women's basketball teams. Environmental engineering is the flavor of the month but she's also interested in civil, aero, & mechanical. Considering the size of the Notre Dame football team's defensive line, I was surprised to learn that the school is "only" 8500 students, and that's probably as big as she's willing to go.
The logistics have been pretty straightforward. Each college offers a group brief with a tour. Since she's not a senior she's not able to shadow a student or to stay overnight in a dorm (even if classes were in session). She's e-mailed some alumni (family friends) for their wisdom. Over the next couple weeks she's going to build her list of questions and swap e-mail with the Admissions offices to see if she can talk to engineering profs/students or NROTC staff. We've left an extra day on the schedule in each town for more visits/activities or just to be tourists.
I don't think I have any parent questions-- if she's happy and committed then any of them are worthy of the college fund. I'll be collecting the usual FAFSA paperwork and listening for the Admissions staff to let slip their worries. And like any teen, we also need to make sure she listens to what they say instead of what she's expecting to hear.
Anyone have any lessons learned from a college trip? Anything else we should be doing before we go? Anything you wish you'd done differently or skipped altogether?
This will be good practice for everyone, and it's amazing how quickly the calendar fills up. We want to get a head start on helping her work through her USNA infatuation before she feels obligated to do it. (Maybe she'll find a new infatuation.) I'm not a big fan of traveling during Christmas vacation, especially with crowds & winter airport delays. Spring & fall breaks are only a week or two and always full of reading lists & science projects. Next summer might be a school trip abroad or a sports camp or a college trip to a different part of the country. She wants to spend a couple weeks after junior year at USNA's Summer Seminar. Suddenly we realized that we needed to start looking around now!
She's seeking smaller campuses with engineering degrees, NROTC units, and women's basketball teams. Environmental engineering is the flavor of the month but she's also interested in civil, aero, & mechanical. Considering the size of the Notre Dame football team's defensive line, I was surprised to learn that the school is "only" 8500 students, and that's probably as big as she's willing to go.
The logistics have been pretty straightforward. Each college offers a group brief with a tour. Since she's not a senior she's not able to shadow a student or to stay overnight in a dorm (even if classes were in session). She's e-mailed some alumni (family friends) for their wisdom. Over the next couple weeks she's going to build her list of questions and swap e-mail with the Admissions offices to see if she can talk to engineering profs/students or NROTC staff. We've left an extra day on the schedule in each town for more visits/activities or just to be tourists.
I don't think I have any parent questions-- if she's happy and committed then any of them are worthy of the college fund. I'll be collecting the usual FAFSA paperwork and listening for the Admissions staff to let slip their worries. And like any teen, we also need to make sure she listens to what they say instead of what she's expecting to hear.
Anyone have any lessons learned from a college trip? Anything else we should be doing before we go? Anything you wish you'd done differently or skipped altogether?