My youngest child has toured colleges with his older siblings since the age of 10. We have toured all.the.schools. to help our kids with their college searches. Big schools. Small schools. Football schools. Non-football schools. Liberal arts colleges. Frat schools. Granola crunchy schools. Catholic schools. D1 schools. D2 schools. D3 schools. You name it.
In fact for middle child, what started as a college tour became a family vacation with oldest child tagging along! Our #Collegetourcation was a 4-state, 6 college, and 5 tourist attraction road trip. And we even saved money! Here’s how we saved money on our family’s college search:
- Stayed in suite hotels…there are 5 of us and suite rooms have 2 queens and 1 sleep sofa. Plus all suite hotels have free breakfast buffet. At many Hampton Inn & Suites, they give out To-Go bags of water bottle, muffin, apple, and granola bar. We always grab one after breakfast.
- We booked hotels midway between 2 colleges, so that we could do a morning tour at one college, drive to the next college, and do another morning tour. We scheduled tours allowing for adequate drive time. One day, we had 2 tours, but that was hard on youngest child.
- We stocked up on Costco packs of snacks, water bottles, and Gatorade. We traveled in August and were grateful for drinks. Once we arrived at a hotel, we unpacked a bagful of snacks and drinks, thereby saving money.
- Though not the healthiest option, we did eat at fast food restaurants. It’s cheaper and kids got to experience new restaurants (Zaxby’s in GA, Cook out in NC and FL, and Sonic in VA and MD).
- Once checked in to hotel, we also ask desk clerk for local pizza place that deliver. 2 large pizzas, 1 salad, 2-liter of soda, cups, plates, and napkins was reasonably priced. We either ordered bottles of soda or brought drinks from minivan up to room fridge.
When my youngest child applied to college, it was 2020 and we were 10 ten toes deep in the Coronavirus. Life looked very bleak. I was working remotely. So was my husband and oldest child. My middle child was doing remote learning for college, while youngest child was doing remote learning for high school.
My oldest child graduated from a private liberal arts college in New York State, while my middle child graduated from a state college in Pennsylvania. My youngest child knew that we might not be able to tour any colleges. COVID-19 changed life so much. There was nothing we could do. All the youngest child could do was work with Dad Knows Better on a college search strategy.
With multiple college tours with his siblings, intensive internet research, and a data-rich spreadsheet, youngest child started formulating a list of colleges to submit applications. But, it was a short list. Very short. While we wanted him to submit at least 5 applications, my youngest child was set on applying to only one school, maybe two.
We managed to plan a tour to the college that was youngest child’s number one choice. Youngest child applied to 2 schools in the fall of 2020. As part of the tour for the top choice, youngest child was offered Instant Admission. What a whirlwind of a day! Not only did youngest child get admitted, but youngest child fell in love with everything about the college! Youngest child even converted his acceptance to Early Decision.
College. That’s all we seemed to have talked about the past 10 years. With all three kids now graduated from college, I am so glad that we are done!
