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DS & I are touring one college (not much of a search yet, but he's a rising jr and I just wanted to start things off). We;re learning as we go.

Are you looking for suggestions in the southwest? What are his interests?

Our "one" tour is of a CA school--really because I'm already going there to pick up another of my kids.

Jr DS seems more interested in east coast schools, so we'll need to plan a trip to see some of those this yr. I know there's a wealth of info about this process, but I really feel like such a novice--and I'm worried that DH tries to impress his opinions/biases on DS so I'd prefer to at least start the process with just the 2 of us. DS is interested in sciences and econ, maybe environmental science. He likes access to urban areas and he is a fun-seeker (movies, theater, bowling, basically lots of different activities), so an isolated campus would not be a good fit.

"The Best 368 Colleges" is a good starting place--gives all of the information about popular majors, student life, location, and admission information for many colleges, as well as contact information for visiting campus.

DS seemed to love our first college tour (and of course wants to go there--Stanford--done (not)). 5 prongs of what they look for:

transcript
test scores
extracurricular
teacher/counselor recommendations
essays

Evidently the 2nd biggest campus in the world--my blistered feet wouldn't doubt it.

I've always been partial to the U of Penn in Philadelphia. Top notch school in all aspects. Phillie is an awesome, livable city with a bunch of colleges & students. He will never be bored at Penn or any of the other Phillie area colleges, that's for sure. ;-)

Boston has an amazing array of educational opportunities, culture, plus the joys of the New England seasons and outdoors.

I'd also recommend looking at the colleges in Western Mass- Amherst area- that is a vibrant piece of the state.

Ok so a trip to Boston & other Mass schools should be next. Maybe in Oct when all the trees are gorgeous.

And we'll definitely go to Philly (that's where I grew up and I agree with Frustrated NJMom's "awesome, livable city". I walked around Penn's campus with DS 2 yrs ago when I last visited Philly, but we didn't do an official tour and I think DS was too young to be thinking colleges then.

If you are going to Boston, try to time it near the weekend before Thanksgiving and catch 'Splash' at MIT. Yummm.
Grinity

Oh yeah! Splash Rocks! Gifted kids 11+ will love it.