college visits:

Who, What, where, when, and Why

One of the most revered times for a parent is the college visit. When done properly, it can be one of the best experiences to get to know your child beyond their activities and schoolwork. Most important is that the focus of the visit is solely on the child applying for colleges. It’s not about mom or dad’s busy career(s) or about a sibling and their life. Most importantly, it is about choice—the ability to choose any academic focus at any one of hundreds of colleges. Oh, and they will likely be living somewhere else for four years. And doing (or not doing) their laundry and making (or not making) their bed.

We are approaching the time of year when parents take students on college visits. I was prompted to write this particular blog post because it seems as if college visits follow some secretive set of rules. My thoughts are to try and bring some pause and reflection to the process with the hope of making it a more productive experience for all.

Each year some of our students apply to a couple of Colorado schools. I spent some time this summer visiting 7 schools (University of Denver, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado College, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, Colorado School of Mines, University of Colorado Boulder, and Colorado State University) to see first hand what they have to offer. I came back both knowledgeable and impressed. I saw a mix of private and public universities and schools that had small, medium and large numbers of undergraduates. This Blog post will cover Colorado College, a small college with nearly 1900 students. I will cover the rest of the schools over the next month.

Overall impressions:

There is a wide range of colleges in the area. In addition to an expected Colorado based student body, there seemed to be a fair number of students from California high schools, as well as throughout the country. Some of that is attributed to the Western Undergraduate Exchange (WUE) whereby eligible students can go to an out-of-state WUE school for 1.5 times what an in-state resident would pay. Whether you believe that Denver has 245 or 300 days of Sunshine each year, I can attest to the brightest blue sky imaginable. I found a wide range of interests from the students, depending on the school. Some came to their college because of activities like snowboarding, but most students cited academics as the reason they chose their school.

One surprise was the student union at CU Boulder that had a great outdoor pool. But I will highlight others that will best showcase their schools.

The facilities at every one of these schools were top notch. Like most schools in other locations, each Colorado school I visited was unique: an important reminder that researching a school and truly understanding its value is a more thorough process than a simple internet search. One commonality that I did find was the commitment to taking care of the student.

Look for my follow-up posts in this series where I will highlight the other schools to give you both a written and visual view of each school.

Colorado College

Colorado College is the only small liberal arts school in the Rocky Mountains. What separates this school from any other in the U.S. (to the best of my knowledge) is that a student takes one course at a time in a “block”. Each block covers 3 and 1/2 weeks. And there is a fair amount of flexibility to drop a block, take a summer block, etc. So, it will be all about that one course and as you might expect, there is little room for getting off track. Students that will do well in this environment are those that will advocate for themselves.