Come to the edge, he said.
They said: We are afraid. Come to the edge, he
Said. They came. He pushed them,
And they flew. . .
Guillaume Apollinaire

Rather than waiting for the busy junior year or the panicking time in senior year, parents need to make time to take their students for college visits in freshman, sophomore, and/or junior year.  Most admissions offices are happy to accommodate prospective visitors.  Many colleges offer both morning and afternoon tours. Through the college visit, most students gain some perspective by listening to the upperclassman tour guide and will see young adults casually walking by on their way to class or on the lawn throwing the Frisbee or sitting at the coffee house reading or working with their laptops.  Students can recognize college is a place of independence. Thus, the college visit often serves as an introduction and an inspiration, and the college becomes an attractive reality worth working hard for. For most, the college visit becomes a serious part of the searching for a best-fit college.