Visits
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Cliché:
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Who’s that knocking on the door?
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POCS Reality:
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POCS can visit students; students can visit POCS.
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Phone calls may keep families in touch but nothing touches a POCS’s heart more than a well-planned visit.
POCS of commuter students may also agree. Just because a student is living two doors
down the hall from his POCS’s bedroom door does not mean the family has oodles of quality togetherness time.
Many colleges sponsor family days and weekend events.
The success of these visits may depend on the ratio of supply and demand.
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What is the ratio of available supply of local accommodations
to out-of-town visitors needing a place to stay?
The greater the demand, the lower the supply,
and the sooner POCS should consider making early reservations.
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What is the ratio of planned activities to downtime?
Find your family’s happy medium to avoid irritable participants.
Too many activities can lead to exhaustion and bad tempers and too little activities
can lead to boredom and bad tempers.
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POCS don’t need a college occasion to visit.
Plus, the ratio of supply and demand may work in your favor.
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Without a college event to draw POCS crowds,
a bonus may result - accommodations may be more plentiful and traffic less abundant.
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However, without a roster of College Family Event activities to choose from,
families may want to do their own planning.
A little research will find what activities the college and
surrounding area offer on the days of the visit.
The ratio rule of planned activities to downtime applies.
Find your family’s happy medium to avoid irritable participants.
Too many activities can lead to exhaustion and bad tempers and too little
activities can lead to boredom and bad tempers.
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Planning a family vacation?
If your student has younger siblings, you may want to coordinate calendars before making reservations.
College calendars often don’t align with public school vacation breaks.
As for spring break (the one-week college holiday in March)…
Don’t be surprised if your student wants to take his own vacation with his new college friends.
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U.S. colleges may participate in a student swap.
Some schools permit students to take courses for credit at neighboring universities.
These “consortiums” may include several local schools.
Other colleges allow students from certain local or distant schools to study for
entire semesters (Fall or Spring, mini-Winter or Summer) on their campus.
For example, an environmental or marine studies major from the lower 48 could do field work in Alaska,
or a state university student could experience college life at a participating Ivy League school.
The student gets a “wow factor” resume boost and the family receives an excellent opportunity to visit.
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If your student intends to study abroad for college credit, POCS may want to follow.
Family visiting foreign lands together can be a unique experience and the stuff of fond family bonding memories.
If your student is studying in a country where you have relatives and friends,
the visit can become a family reunion vacation.
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The Thanksgiving holiday may be the first extended visit home a student makes.
It can be an adjustment for the entire family.
POCS may want to brace themselves.
They sent their child to college but are getting back an independent adult.
As for the ratio of planned activities to downtime…more elbow room may be required
as families refill their space with the brief return of their child.
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The longer the visit,
the greater the need to prepare for another bout of separation anxiety…when the student leaves for college again.
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Will financial aid cover the program’s expenses including travel?
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Will the home college accept full college credit?
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Will the program interfere with the time it takes to earn the college degree?
