Debrief after every visit

After every visit, while it's still fresh, sit down with your student and talk about it. You'll both be tired and a little cranky. Do it anyway. A good debrief earns its keep four times over.

It doesn't have to be elaborate. We like opening with a simple how did you feel, and what did you notice?

You'll get a lot of "it was chill" and "the vibes were good" at first. That's a start. Ask gentle follow-ups (they're still teenagers) and dig for specifics. What was on the walls? What did someone say that stuck? How did the teachers talk, and how did the place feel to move through? What, exactly, are they excited about? The specifics are the whole point.

The first payoff is the obvious one: you understand the school better. The second is that those specifics are exactly what interviews and essays run on. A student who can name one precise, true thing they noticed lands far harder than one offering vague enthusiasm, and an essay needs concrete detail to come alive.

The third is the thank-you note. After each visit, have your student write one to the admissions team and anyone else they spent real time with. Does it help with admissions? Probably a little. Is it good manners, and good practice at being a person in the world? Definitely. A note that points to something real, a moment in the student panel or the thing in the science wing that made them lean in, beats a generic "thanks for a wonderful tour" every time: it shows the school your student was paying attention, and writing it makes them process the visit once more. Reflection disguised as etiquette. It doesn't need to be long or polished. It needs to be theirs, and it needs to point at something that actually happened.

The fourth payoff is the easiest to miss, and maybe the best: these conversations are your clearest window into your own kid. What they noticed, what moved them, how they're making sense of a big stretch of their life. You come away knowing your student better, not just the schools.