So far, our college hunt hasn't been all that scientific. He's gotten tons of brochures from colleges all across the country. Many of them are schools we've never heard of and we're pretty much counting those out. He's also gotten invitations to attend football camps at Princeton and Columbia, which he plans on attending this summer. He has a former teammate who's at Penn. So, he's considering those Ivies. He doesn't want to be really cold (a strike against Northwestern University, my alma mater), and so far, he hasn't seemed really interested in going too far away (probably more a testament to my laundry abilities than my mothering skills).
So, we went to check out Johns Hopkins. It has a beautiful campus in Baltimore - a decent-sized city with cultural attractions and just two hours' drive away from home. He even ran into three friends who were also touring the campus at the same time. We met with the football coach and listened to a student tour guide point out all the positives of the academics and campus. We had lunch with a former baby-sitter who's a freshman this year. In many ways, it looks like a place where Jason could do well. His biggest concern? He says he didn't see enough "cute girls" during the tour. Though my first instinct was to pooh-pooh his observation, I realized I had to listen to what he was saying. I met my husband when we were at college together. And I really do feel that social growth during the college years can be just as important as intellectual growth. Johns Hopkins is still in the running – but the tour made me realize we definitely need to expand our search and consider many more factors than academics and football to find a school that will be a good fit.
GoCollege.com has some good tips on making the most of college tours along with a guide to search engines that can be helpful in finding what kind of school is right for each student. The College Board also has similar tips and information on its web page. We'll also be talking a lot more with Jason's guidance counselor over the next few months.
It's going to be an interesting journey. We'll keep you posted on how we're progressing.
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