WhooHoo! Your teen has decided to go to college, and you’re excited!
You’ve made plans to take a half-day off on Friday, and you and your teen will spend two nights in the college town.
There’s an informal get-together Friday evening where you can meet other potential students and parents.
Saturday morning is a campus tour followed by a home football game in the afternoon.
Sunday morning is a brunch when they’ll help you complete the college application.
The weekend was great. You can picture your teen having a great future, diploma in hand. But on the way home, your daughter says, “Mom, I’m not sure it’s the right school. The football game was fun, but what does that have to do with me?”
Your spirits don’t exactly crash. Seeing if your teen can visualize herself on campus is a positive step, but you aren’t sure how many more college visits you can afford.
Single Campus Visit Costs:
Gas: 300 miles roundtrip. 25 miles in and around campus. 20 mpg. $5 gal. – $81
Hotel: 1 room. 2 beds. 2 nights @ $150 ea. – $300
Meals: Approx $13 ea. per person X 10 (conservatively) – $130
Swag: Sweatshirt for the game – min. $50
Parking: $20 a day – (a parking pass is another college expense to consider) – $60
Application: School application fee (avg. – fee varies by school) – $50
Total – $671*
*Does not include airline tickets or a rental car. Other pre-college costs can be ACT/SAT testing and tutoring. If your teen’s school has waived these tests, they may require their own testing.
The average student applies to seven schools. That’s nearly $5,000 in visits before classes even begin!
There is a better way. There are schools your teen is considering applying to that aren’t a good fit. My Ideal College can help you strategically plan college tours to save time and money.
Doesn’t it make sense to tour a school after you and your teen have considered its location, internship opportunities, graduation rates, class sizes, extracurricular activities, scholarships, and of course, the big one – – COST to attend?
Cost is a factor that cannot be ignored, but another one is your teen’s major. Does he know what he plans to study? Not every school on his list may offer the degree he wants.
Some teens know what they want to do. (Or at least they’re pretty sure, right?!?) Other teens have a general idea. Finally, some teens just want to go to college for the experience.
I would never take a student’s college dream away, but I also never want a student to graduate deep in debt with a degree he’ll never use.
First, we work with your teen to determine what careers they should consider based on their skills. Choosing the right major should be your first criteria in selecting a college.
Then we work with you and your teen to determine the right college at the right price.
We find out from you and your teen the type of environment they thrive in, what locations would serve them, and what options they want for extracurricular activities and free time.
Finally, we look at your financials and student grades to determine the true cost of attending a specific college, including scholarship opportunities.
How we helped Dena and Heavynn
Heavynn had no idea what she wanted to do but knew she wanted to go to college. Her mom, Dena, is a busy working mom.
Working with Heavynn and Dena let us understand their family better. Assessments and analyzing grades and interests determined that Heavynn could start a career path in graphic design.
My Ideal College created a customized College Planning Guide that included a list of ten schools Dena and Heavynn should consider based on financial and personal needs.
The guide had schools they knew about and some great options they had never considered. The family was amazed at the level of detail in the guide.
As Dena said, “This was the best money I have spent on my daughter!”
Schedule a College Assessment Plan call today if you’d like to start with a smart strategic plan for your teen’s college dreams. Our goal is to help you and your teen find their ideal college.