I’d like to schedule several school visits during April vacation so my son gets a fresh look at each place he’s been accepted to before committing to one of them. He’s waiting on RD notification for most schools at this point.
This isn’t a “demonstrated interest” ploy, even though a few would require considerable travel. It’s more about seeing the schools during nicer weather, with classes in session, so he can get a decent feel for each place.
My worry is that scheduling visits before being admitted will be perceived as a demonstrable sign my son isn’t sure he wants to attend each school.
Could it possibly hurt his chances for admission? Am I completely insane? Could they possibly have time to track stuff like this?
Wait and go back for admitted student days to the 2-3 favorites that he is accepted to. I found that admitted student days were very helpful compared to regular visits. They are courting you at that point (not the other way around). For my daughter, it meant hitting two schools on one weekend (each several hours in opposite directions) and planning those trips at the last minute - but it is what helped her to make her decision.
We actually found it more useful to visit on days other than the organized accepted student days. I would wait to schedule visits with the schools after admission, but I would think a visit would show interest not uncertainty.
We liked the admitted student days. The school is working to put it’s best foot forward. And sometimes – THEY DON’T. Some of the things we saw on D2’s accepted student visits were stunning (and not in a good way). And the school my kid picked did a great job with it. They clearly really wanted their students to get a good view of all the campus had to offer, and really rolled out the red carpet. Lots of student demos of different kinds, ability to attend multiple classes, etc.
Agree that waiting and scheduling for the 2-3 he likes best (and are affordable) once he has acceptances is a good plan. We flew all over – Chicago, LA, and Philadelphia in April. It was challenging, but critical to the decision process. The school D thought she would pick kind s*** themselves in multiple ways during her visit. We were both turned off. She ended up picking the school that was in 3rd place in her mind going into the final visits, and had a great experience there.
I don’t understand. You say “visiting in April before we know he is admitted.” April is the month when you know whether or not he is admitted (the last acceptances go out in late March). So April is actually the traditional time for “final decision” visits. Now if you’re thinking of booking ahead plane flights in April, think carefully. You may be booking a flight to someplace he’s rejected from-- bad idea!
I was going to say what @donnaleighg said. By April 1 all admissions decisions will be in, though you may not have a financial aid package, if that is a factor.
Way over thinking it. Visit when you can. If you visit before acceptance, the schools are still in marketing mode to get you to commit. If you visit after you are accepted, they are in marketing mode to get you to commit.
At this point, you are deciding which school to go to (assuming acceptance). I’m not sure waiting for perfect weather is a good thing since he will be going to the school when the weather isn’t perfect. I have one daughter in Florida who has been through two hurricanes and one in Wyoming who has had a few days of snow - including some in September.
It won’t hurt his chances of admission. How could it? Visiting before the last month crunch can help him see what he likes/doesn’t before it’s stress time.
We visited a school during a rare April hail storm. When she said it was beautiful and she wanted to go there, it was clear that she REALLY liked it, and not just because it had a pretty campus when the sun was shining.
Many people visit schools before they are admitted, usually before they apply, but sometimes after. Remember too that booking tickets after you hear and wanting to fly out quickly could be $$$.
Regardless of which way you decide, @Time2Shine, I wouldn’t worry about the psychological angle of “scheduling visits before being admitted will be perceived as a demonstrable sign my son isn’t sure he wants to attend each school”. I think colleges expect prospective students to want to visit before committing so I don’t think they would read an unintended meaning into it.
Are you flying or driving? Flight costs could go up but I’ve found that for many flights these days you can still get good deals several weeks out and booking early isn’t necessarily a savings. Depends on routes and seasonality, though.
I guess it depends on the schools and the likelihood of your child getting a yes. Are these far reaches where acceptance rates are dismal for most or would be a longer shot or more matches for your child?
Another thing I’d through out there is that you never know what kind of incentives are tossed your way with an acceptance. I don’t know how common it is but surprisingly several schools offered to fly my kid out for accepted student days (and in two cases one or both parents as well) as well as pay for other trip related costs. If we had already planned and paid for it, we wouldn’t have benefitted from that cost savings.
If you can get refundable airfare, or fly the wonderfully flexible Southwest, then I guess it would be reasonable.
I’m a big fan of admitted students days though and would encourage you to consider doing those. They suited my kid’s personality better than individual visits. He was not the kind of person who would go out of his way to talk to current students or professors, so being in an environment where that was encouraged made a big difference to him. He also enjoyed meeting other accepted students who were his potential classmates.
My plan was to drive to the distant schools which is why I was looking at April vacation. I’m concerned about the tours filling up before we know if he’s accepted or not. I’d love for him to do an accepted student visit but some of his top choices are 500 miles away and he’ll have athletic commitments that could conflict. He’ll definitely attend the more local accepted student days.
Accepted students are in a different category than prospective students. If your child can’t visit during a special admitted students event and you need to schedule at another time, most schools should be accommodating. They want your child to attend! Tours for accepted students are unlikely to fill up in advance.
For my child, the most critical part of the visits after acceptance was the opportunity to sit in on a class or two.
We actually did plan in advance without having all acceptances in hand because air travel and driving was involved and the window of opportunity was very restricted because of a time-intensive EC. Had our child not been accepted to all schools on the visit list, we’d have substituted shopping and tourist attractions for campus visits.
@timetoshine, soon (if not already), you may be able to see when admitted student days are by scrolling through the schools’ calendars in April. We did this just to get a sense of what scheduling might look like. Based on our experience, you should definitely try to get to these if possible – they make a point of assembling the people your kid will want to meet, from profs to coaches to nutritionists for those with special dietary needs! And the interaction with current students is very informative. MUCH more will be made available to you than in a regular visit for prospective students. (for example, some schools that don’t show dorms on their normal tours invite admitted students to stay overnight.) DS found a few schools were less appealing than he’d thought they’d be when he was originally touring while others (including the one @intparent referenced) really climbed. Questions that you may not have wanted to ask before acceptance are now fair game.
Presumably, the info that was shared during the kind of tour you’d get if you just signed up on your own is the info you used to apply. Now it’s a matter of picking the place you’ll call home.
I have never heard of a college that couldn’t piece together something meaningful for an accepted student even on short notice- which will be much more valuable than the dog and pony tours targeted to HS juniors. Your son will have specific questions about departments he’s interested in, activities he wants to continue, and not just “over here is the engineering building” type of tours.
And what athletic commitments are more important than him making a college decision? There’s no point in visiting a school if it’s at the bottom of his list and you have better (or more affordable ) options. But if it were my kid, short of needing surgery, he or she would be attending the accepted student event for the top 1 or 2 schools “just in case”.
If you can’t afford to visit- then don’t. But if it’s a question of missing a sports event… yikes.