COLLEGE CAMPUS VISITS AND SUMMER VACATIONS

Campus visits are an important component of the college search, but finding the time and the money to get there can be difficult. So if colleges happen to be on the route to vacation destinations, it makes great sense to tie in the family vacation with the campus visit.

While it is true that students are not present on the campuses in large numbers, there will be student tour guides who can provide their point of view and the admission staff will be able to provide additional student contacts for follow-up questions and conversations.

The main purpose of a summer visit is to have that chance to compare the college view book with the real thing and decide if the physical campus environment is a match for your needs. For a guide to questions to ask during the visit, be sure to visit NSSE: National Survey of Student Engagement.

CHOOSING A COLLEGE FOR FIT AND FINANCES

The CTCL message about choosing a college based on fit, not on rankings, has always included advice about taking family finances into consideration early in the search process. This past year's admissions cycle found more students needing to weigh the cost of attendance as they made their final choice.

For families just starting the search process, CTCL has gathered resources to help with understanding the financial aid and scholarship process. Visit the Scholarship and Financial Assistance link for useful information-it is never too early to gather information to help make an informed college choice.

• Start With a Map Start by making a list of the colleges within four hours of home-the distance most students travel when choosing a college. There are many web sites that allow you to search by geography, so pick your state and those nearby and try out the search feature of the search feature of the US Department of Education College Navigator.
• CSI: College Search Investigator Start asking the people you know and respect if they went to college and where they attended. Ask relatives, friends, teachers, neighbors, church members, co-workers and others in your life. You may be surprised to learn about colleges you have never heard of that will be great for you to investigate. This is also a way to learn more about colleges from an insider's point of view. Just make sure to get more than one opinion before you add or delete any from your list!

WHAT ARE YOU READING THIS SUMMER?

If you are trying to find some interesting summer reading, check out The Big Read, a program of the National Endowment for the Arts, designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. The NEA presents The Big Read in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and in cooperation with Arts Midwest.

The Big Read brings together partners across the country to encourage reading for pleasure and enlightenment. The Center for the Book is another program started in 1984 by the Library of Congress.

Get inspired to read a good book this summer!

FOURTEENTH ANNUAL CTCL PROGRAMS KICK OFF AND SET AUDIENCE ATTENDANCE RECORD

Since 1998, the Colleges That Change Lives have been traveling together to meet directly with students and families around the country. The 2011 series of events kicked off in late May and hit record attendance in DC and New York City with over 1,000 students and their families in attendance at each of these locations.

Three more tours, in 20 cities in the West, South and Midwest are scheduled for August, including a return, after several years' absence, to Raleigh, NC and Kansas City, MO.

Each program begins with a 30-minute presentation on how to approach the college search to find the right fit, followed by a 90-minute college fair featuring the CTCL colleges. Please visit CTCL.org for a full listing of dates and locations. We hope you will join us to find out "How to Choose a College That's Right for You!"

JOIN CTCL ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER

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