So are you thinking about taking your child on a college tour this summer? On one hand, visiting college campuses can be extremely beneficial. On the other hand, long-distance college visits can be notoriously pricey.
So how can you fully explore your child's college possibilities without breaking the bank on an unnecessarily expensive trip? And better yet, how can this trip actually increase your child's financial aid options once they do apply? Allow me to explain.
Starting with a local visit
A huge part of the college evaluation process is uncovering the specific qualities you are seeking in a school. Are you interested in a big university with a variety of offerings or a small liberal arts college with more personalized attention? At the beginning, most students haven't considered questions like this in a really thoughtful way.
As a result, your first few college visits will likely focus on sorting out these conflicting priorities. You can start this process well in advance of your trip by scheduling some visits to local colleges, even if you are not actively considering these schools. This might help you eliminate some unnecessary (and costly) stops from your subsequent college tour.
Leveraging other travel
One of the easiest ways to save money on a college tour is to piggyback on your other travel plans. Have you promised to visit a certain relative this summer? Can your mom or dad extend a business trip, include some college visits, and have you accompany them?
My own family took this approach after I won a national scholarship prize that included a trip to Washington D.C. Hoping to leverage the cross-country plane tickets that were provided to us—I grew up in Oregon—we extended our trip to include a tour of East Coast colleges.
Know each school's calendar
Many students tour numerous colleges during the summer months and then schedule term-time visits to their top choice schools once they've been accepted. It's possible, however, to gain the same benefit without the need for multiple trips.
Because many colleges begin their school year as early as mid-August, try to schedule your college tour for late summer when campuses are bustling with activity, classes can be audited and dorms may be available for overnight stays. By only needing one trip instead of multiple ones, you can save quite a bit on travel costs.
Collect helpful contacts
If a college offers the option of an admissions interview during your child's visit, sign up well in advance. Schedule additional meetings with financial aid officers, faculty members, prospective coaches and club advisers. And be sure to remind your child to collect business cards and send thank-you notes.
Not only does this help your child get a better feel for each school, but cultivating these personal relationships can enhance subsequent appeals that you may make for additional financial aid.
Think of it this way: When people on campus know your child well, it is much easier to ask them to place a phone call to the financial aid office on your child's behalf. And when someone affiliated with the school makes this type of extra effort, it lets the financial aid office know that your child is one of those "special" cases that could be worthy of the best possible financial aid deal.
There are no guarantees, of course, but the amount of scholarship and grant money that you can potentially gain from having this on-campus advocate can more than pay for your entire trip.
Known as "America's Scholarship Coach," Ben Kaplan is publisher of the www.CityofCollegeDreams.org website and the winner of two dozen college scholarships worth $90,000. For more details on this topic, visit his College Admissions information page.
© 2009 BY THE BEN KAPLAN CENTER FOR EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY