Prespective college students and their families take a tour of Tufts University in Medford, Mass. (Contributed photo )
Secretly, I'm congratulating myself.

The night view of Boston was spectacular from 52 floors up at the Prudential Center.

The food at the city's renowned Top of the Hub was superb, especially the lobster soup and warm chocolate cake.

But it wasn't the choice of restaurant that was making me so happy, it was that we'd survived a day of college touring in Boston without a melt down and with everyone still speaking.

Anyone who has ever toured colleges with a high school student - and I'm on my third round - knows that's no small feat.

Boston boasts some 57 colleges and universities and college applications and college tours are up, as they are most everywhere.

According to the College Board (www.collegeboard.com), college applications have risen 50 percent nationwide in the last decade. Just that morning at Tufts University in Medford, which is just outside Boston, there were high school students and parents from California and Colorado. Boston University campus tours hosted nearly 50,000 prospective students and their families last year, an increase of 52 percent since 2001, said BU spokesman Colin Riley.

These visitors mean big bucks for Boston, tourism officials report, contributing more than $350 million to the local economy each year.

Boston has become such a popular college tour stop that the city has developed a college visit area on its Web site (www.bostonusa.com).

Hotels have special college visit packages. (Check out the Royal

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Sonesta's College Club in Cambridge, for example (www.sonesta.com/CollegeClub), as well as other cities that offers 20 percent room discounts. Wherever you book, ask about college visit rates. Boston has terrific winter hotel deals at under $100 a night.

(Check out the Warm Winter Specials and the Family-Friendly Value Pass for discounts at www.bostonusa.com.) And don't think you can avoid the crowds by touring campuses in winter. February and March have become particularly busy times.

"They want to see what winter is like in Boston," jokes Janet Ferrari, a senior admissions official at Simmons College, my alma mater.

She adds that this crop of students and their parents aren't necessarily waiting until they are high school juniors or seniors, either.

Admissions offices now are welcoming families with younger students adding a college tour to their vacation agenda.

The good news for those officially on the college tour circuit in Boston: There is so much to do that children will quickly forget their jitters. "Planning some offthe- campus fun can definitely lessen the stress," says Susan Ardizzoni, director of undergraduate admissions at Tufts University. "Don't make it all business." Check out the penguins and the seals at the New England Aquarium (www.neaq.org) or shop till you drop in Harvard Square or Faneuil Hall Market Place (faneuilhallmarketplace.com).

The other good news for parents about college visits to Boston is that if you are just starting the search, you can see a variety of schools all in one trip.

Eileen Ogintz, a resident of Fairfield County, invites questions, comments and stories about your family travels. Write to Taking the Kids, 578 Post Road East, #566, Westport CT 06880, or visit www.takingthekids.com.