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It’s finally almost here….my family’s first college visit trip! I’m pretty sure I’m more excited about this than anyone else in my family.
We were supposed to already have a college visit under our belts by now. Last summer, my son was going to attend a tennis camp at Texas A&M University, and we figured we’d tour the campus at drop-off or pick-up. Thanks to Covid, that didn’t happen. Tennis camp was canceled.
Our original plan for college visits was to take advantage of special visit days for high school juniors and seniors at in-state schools. It also looks like those plans may not happen because those events are still on hold due to the pandemic.
Alas, we may have to adjust our plans to self-guided tours and small-group guided tours. There is also a show on Amazon Prime Video called The College Tour.
Visiting University of Central Florida
Our first unofficial college visit will be to the University of Central Florida. It might seem like an odd choice since we live in Texas. However, it is one of a handful of colleges with a specific area of study my son is considering. It also happens to be close to our vacation destination that we already have planned, Disney World. So, why not?
UCF is not offering guided tours or other events due to Covid. So, we will follow the self-guided tour on the website.
Our plan is to visit UCF on one of our days off from the theme parks. We will head there mid-morning and plan to grab lunch on campus. Summer school will be in session, so we will still catch a glimpse of the campus atmosphere during our visit.
Future College Visits
I hope to fit in another college visit this fall. My kids have a couple of three-day weekends off from school, which would be a good time to make the 5+ hour drive to Texas Tech or the 3-hour drive to Texas A&M. We will plan to visit one next spring along with at least one local college. My son is allowed two excused days off school during his junior year and again during his senior year for college visits.
Have you gone on any college visit trips lately?
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Author: Nancy
Nancy lives near Dallas, Texas, with her husband and three kids. Her favorite vacations include the beach, cruising and everything Disney.
My husband and daughter flew to Houston to have alumni interview at Rice, drive by UofHouston, attended events at Texas A&M and Baylor, drive-by UT Dallas, flew to El Paso to see Univ of NM, NM Tech, fly back to Denver from Albuquerque in a long and exhausting weekend with Universities-drive-airport-hotel in repeat. Couldn’t do it without Southwest CP and 10-15K IHG hotels on points. Best of luck on your visits.
Wow, Agnes! That sounds like the ultimate college visit trip! Glad to hear that miles and points came in handy.
We have done one in-person self-guided college tour and about 4 virtual tours so far.
If your son manages to become a National Merit Semifinalist (based on PSAT score in his Junior year), he could go to UCF on a full ride scholarship (tuition + room & board), plus be automatically accepted into the Burnett Honors College @ UCF.
@Angie Thanks for the info. Wow, that’s a great deal! I’m not sure my son will make the NMF, but UCF does have some scholarships for out-of-state students that he could hopefully get.
Nancy,
I love to see how your travels progress as a family. My son is still young so college is still a decade away. Because I didn’t grow up in the US I find so interesting to learn the ins and outs of college admission and how families make decisions.
I am an UCF alum but I went to school a little bit older and I was working at Disney full time. I didn’t have a true college experience because I felt I was always rushing to go to work or to go home. I majored in Hospitality Management and my classes were most off the main campus because UCF has a hospitality campus near Universal Studios. But I love the school and the teachers.
Good luck on your college visits!!
@Tania How cool that you’re a UCF alum! I’m glad you enjoyed your experience there. I’ve heard it’s a great campus. If my son goes, he would likely have a few classes at the Hospitality campus.
We haven’t visited since Covid as our son is already in college and our daughter is only a sophomore in high school. We were going to visit her first choice college this year but decided that it might be more open next year. My niece has done visits. If you travel a distance to see a college and talk to them, you might get a tour.
Almost all of our points now go to travel back/forth to see our son in college. We even vacation near his college as he has decided to go to school year round.
Enjoy!
Thanks for the advice, Michelle! If my son ends up going out of state (especially to Florida) I also imagine we will vacation near him. We already go to Florida at least once a year. 🙂