“Our family will be traveling to Boston this summer, should we visit colleges?” I hear this question a lot as parents wonder how to take advantage of summer vacation to visit colleges. Most college campuses are fairly quiet in the summer, some may offer summer school for a small group of students and then host teenagers for a variety of sports and academic camps. Any visit to a college is worthwhile, even if you aren’t getting the full effect. Visiting in the summer is still valuable, because it gives your child a chance to see the campus live and in person, to walk across the quad, enter the student union, and check out the neighborhood around campus. If your child is young 9th, 10th, 11th grade, this is a perfect exposure to get them thinking about college. If your child is a rising senior and you only have the summer to visit, it is better to see the school in the summer than to not see it at all. It is likely that your child will want to go back for a second visit once they have been admitted to see it with students on it. As crazy as it seems, colleges “feel’ different once you have been admitted and it becomes a more real option. Each visit is a new perspective that helps students make an informed choice. Lastly, be sure to let the admissions office know you are on campus; by scheduling an official tour, or stopping by to get information. Anytime you can "demonstrate an interest", it is critical to do so. So even though summer might not be the perfect time, it is always a great time to pick up a t-shirt, pencil or a magnet in the student store!