The institute program can be a starting point for students deciding which college to attend, or a resource for those preparing to attend an already-determined school. When Stephanie Baker was evaluating her college choices, she was interested in attending Princeton, but in researching the area institute program, she felt that it was too far from campus.

"That kind of clued her in that that wasn't going to be a good fit for her," Linda Baker said.

The CES Web site, www.ldsces.org, features an "institute locator" for the entire United States and Canada that provides contact and enrollment information for each institute and identifies which schools they serve. Once contact with the institute director is made, the students also can be referred to priesthood leaders, church members, and LDS students and faculty members at the school to "get their feet on the ground academically and spiritually," Graf said.

"The institute does a lot to help the incoming person know temporal as well as spiritual kinds of things," he said. "Anything that we can do to help, we do.... Our role is to assist the individual, parents and priesthood leaders, so we welcome opportunities to do that."

The institute can provide information about Institute Men's and Women's Associations, the campus Latter-day Saint Students Association, and institute class schedules and activities.

It also can be a helpful resource for finding a place to live. Many wards serving universities call housing coordinators to assist incoming students.

"I could give them that phone number, and they could make that contact, and that person would start working on finding them a good housing arrangement," Killpack said. "Those are critical kinds of things to have in place."

It worked for Stephanie Baker. After contacting CES in the Manhattan area, she became acquainted with another LDS student who is her current roommate.

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AFTER HAVING SPENT most of his life attending small branches in places like the Philippines and Italy, deMik was astonished at the volume of support he received from local church members.

Still, as one of the few active Latter-day Saints at the Naval Academy, he had to take the initiative for his own spiritual growth.

"You were really forced to do it on your own, and it was kind of neat for us to take responsibility for ourselves," he said.

Aside from finding apartments, selecting roommates and becoming familiar with the institute, one question needs to be addressed — more so by the parents than the student. Is your son or daughter mature enough to live far from home and still have a positive experience?