Although it's still a bit out on his horizon, my oldest is starting to zero in on his college plans.

William & Mary had been his top choice (mentioned previously on this board) until I more or less forced him to walk around the campus there. He didn't say anything negative at all, but after we had been there for about 30 minutes he told us, "I think I want to go to Tech."

Obviously we'd be thrilled to see him wind up in Blacksburg for several reasons, not the least of which is the fact that Mrs. Fiji and I absolutely love our alma mater. Between the two of us (and including ourselves) we have 7 total family members who have gone to Tech -- so for our family it's definitely "our" school. And the boy is fully aware of that dynamic.

Yet we both feel an odd obligation to give him a full view of things going in and to encourage him to come to his own independent decision.

Thus my plan to take him there on February 9th. I picked that date specifically (and told him so) because I figure chances are good that the weather might be absolutely lousy. He has asked why I am discouraging his interest. My response is that I'm not -- but my experience was that Blacksburg can be a pretty challenging place to live during the winter and I don't want him to be surprised by that aspect of it.

My plan is basically to park in the cage, walk to my dorm (Pritchard) and basically retrace my schedule one semester that had me starting the day at Litton-Reeves, heading to a classroom in the War Memorial gym building, and ending at McBryde -- which I did back-to-back to back on MWF. Also planning to eat on campus at Dietrick and maybe plan a few other diversions (such as the spot near the Duck Pond where I proposed to his mom).

Would be interested in feedback or guidance. Any specific sites or things that we should incorporate into the visit? And are we a bit nutty for taking this approach?