Experts disagree about when families should start visiting colleges. Before sophomore year, most students aren't focused enough to gather useful information about the features of a particular school.  On the other hand, a general tour that can show 13-14 year old all the cool things they can do in college can be inspiring, especially for students who have not been exposed to college before.  And allowing younger students to tag along on college visits is a great way to build interest, without much pressure.  Another reason to start early: we live in a remote area and probably do not have too many opportunities for cross-country travel.  In my family we availed ourselves of the opportunity to check out colleges whenever we traveled with our high-schooler. My son really loved seeing Princeton when he was 14, because it reminded him of Hogwarts.  

Visiting far away colleges might not fit your family's schedule or budget.  Or you might just hate the idea, because college visits weren't a thing when you went to school.  In most cases, you DON'T have to visit a school before you apply to it.  But here's a caveat: Some schools which are selective may consider the fact that a student visited as a point in their favor in the admissions process. There may be ways to work around this.  One way is to apply for a fly in program (see below). It may be possible to reach out to school to tell them you won't be able to visit but are very interested.  Let me know if you need help reaching out. 

In our region we are fortunate to have a wide range of colleges. You can experience the feel of  large and medium sized public universities and a range of small and mid-sized private colleges. You can arrange a visit on almost any weekday; or better yet, you can take advantage of one of the special visit days offered to students in the fall and spring.  Here's a partial list of upcoming events:

Many colleges and universities throughout the United States offer fly-in programs that allow students to visit for no or low cost.  Some of these programs are limited to students who are members of underrepresented minority groups; some programs give special consideration to low income students and first generation students, and some programs consider students from our part of the inland northwest to be deserving of special consideration.   College Greenlight, an organization dedicated to serving underrepresented groups, maintains a list of college fly-in programs.They have yet to update the list for 2018, but they will soon.  Here's a special bonus: Palouse Pathways is recognized by College Greenlight as a group serving underrepresented students.  If you register for College Greenlight and indicate your connection with Palouse Pathways it may help you get an invitation to a fly-in program!  Contact Palouse Pathways to find out more.

If you are accepted for admission to a school, you should probably visit before saying yes.  Most schools have admitted student weekends, and many will pay for students to attend.  These are valuable events because it you will not only see the college, you'll be able to meet your future classmates. University of Idaho offers Idaho Bound, WSU has Experience WSU  and LCSC has Warrior Registration Days. You've got a lot more information you'll want to pin down, so here's a pretty long list of questions you might want to think about.  

Palouse Pathways maintains two facebook groups: a general Information group and a group focused on scholarship information.  We'd love for you to join, if you haven't already and to invite your friends with middle and high school students to join too.  The Palouse Pathways Group  has  great information for college bound families.  It is suitable for both parents and high-schoolers.  Here are some of the articles posted on the Palouse Pathways group this week!