Host: Should parents accompany their students on college visits?
Jerome Cole: Absolutely, I think especially in the very beginning, I think parents should always go, I think it is very valuable, I think from a student perspective, you may or may not want mom or dad taken along with you, Oh! You know, she talks too much, he will embarrass me whatever. One of the things that you are going to want when you go to visit these colleges, is you are going to want that second opinion, that third opinion, that is mom and dad. They are the subject matter experts on you. So, when they go and they look at these colleges and universities with you, you will have your own perceptions, but they are going to be able to add to that. They may point out some things that you missed.
So, I think and parents ultimately, you want to be involved in this process, you want to see where your child is going to be living for the next four or five years. So, they are many, many reasons why parents should go and I would say, in the very beginning it is an absolute Yes that parents should accompany their students. I think what happens in the senior year, in the spring of your senior year, once you have been admitted a lot of students will take a second visit or in some cases, it may be the first visit, they will revisit those colleges or universities. In that instance, it is probably, okay for mom or dad to stay home, because a lot of times colleges will have overnight visits. So, for an overnight, what do you do? You are not going to stay in a dome with your son. You are going to be down the street at a hotel or whatever or you are going to be back at home.
So, that would be the only exception that I say, is probably okay for you to stay home and send your child off on your own.
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