Organized 31

Ideas from a Military Mom

College Visit Checklist

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 We took our first “official” college visit trip last month.  Sniff.  Sniff.  How in the world is my baby old enough to be saying the word “college”, let alone be looking at them?!  Give me a moment.

 
But seriously, this college search process is daunting.  Last summer we spontaneously took two college tours just because we were in the vicinity of those colleges.  We immediately realized that you need to prepare for your college tours.  You can’t be a spectator in this process and gain anything of value.
 

So to make these visits be more productive I just had to make a College Visit Checklist, of course.

Organized 31 - College Visit Checklist
 
 
You can download your own copy of my College Visit Checklist. 
 
We visited 3 universities in 2 days.  We heard the spiels and took the tours at each university.  That’s a lot of information.   I figured it would help my daughter keep each school and all the associated details straight if she could write the information down in one spot. 
 
By using a prepared checklist,  it helped her pay attention and focus on what’s important to her parents  her and to ask specific questions if that information was not discussed in the presentation.  There’s also room to add information that we didn’t anticipate (which was a lot!).
Much of the information is available on the schools’ websites.  It was helpful to spend 15 or so minutes before visiting each college looking at their website.  We looked up some of the general information about the school and got started on filling out the checklist.  That way my daughter had a quick orientation to the school and could focus more on the presentation rather than just the worksheet.

I realized that carrying loose sheets of checklists around wouldn’t work.  I had to find a folder of some sort to carry the checklists in.

I found the perfect Martha Stewart folder (sorry, Mom) to hold the checklist at Staples.  It’s very thin so we didn’t have to lug a big folder around with all the walking we did. 

In addition to being thin, I liked that it “locked” closed.

The folder is made from thin plastic and my daughter would need something to write on.  Rather than carrying a clip board (I’m pretty sure that would be uncool), I made a lightweight “clipboard” for her to write on. 

I grabbed some cardboard about to go into the recycle bin and cut it down to fit in the folder.

I grabbed a roll of vinyl that I already had and covered the card board to make the “clipboard”.

 

I added a small clip and the worksheets to the “clipboard.” 

Everything fit perfectly in the folder and there was still room to add any brochures or business cards that we collected on the visit.Organized 31 - College Visit Checklists & Folder

The folder and the checklist worked well for us on the visits. Since we took the time and made the effort to drive 10 hours each way on this trip, I wanted to make sure that my daughter (well,  really all of us) got the most out of each college visit.  And the checklist helped us do just that.

 We’ll definitely use the checklists again for our next college visits.

More Parenting Tips and College Ideas

Parenting Tips from a mother of 3 and parent educator with 20+ years of experience.

Parenting Tips from a Mother of 3 and Parent Educator

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  1. You are such a good Mom! Love the folder, love the “clip board” I bet your daughter was happy to have them! College visits are stressful, but it sounds like you were prepared!

    Thanks for linking up to the In and Out of the Kitchen party! I am always amazed at your organization skills!

    Cynthia at http://FeedingBig.com

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  2. Following the Scout motto- Be Prepared! I hear ya…my daughter is finishing her 2nd yr of college and back when it came time to consider colleges we were stunned she was old enough to graduate and go to college – where was our baby?! Campus visits are important because something can look good on paper (or online) and when you walk through the campus you will usually get an immediate ‘nay’ or ‘yay’ feeling that you should listen to. That tiny voice that says I ‘just don’t feel it here’, or ‘I’m getting a great feeling about this university’! Visiting from the chicken chick. Good luck with the search and upcoming graduation! 🙂
    shawn

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    • Shawn, Thanks for the encouragement. It’s such a daunting task! I’ll try to pay closer attention to that “tiny voice.” It’s good to hear that other moms and dads survived kicking their babies out of the nest. 🙂

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  4. Hi Susan! This is so clever– but first off, I’m in-love with your blog! I really like that upcycled sweater idea. I just want to add on books and fees, yeah some schools are using e-texbooks with pricey access fees, we need to keep that in mind.

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