Back in the day, nobody visited unless they were applying to college’s in their own state or region.
My parents would have fallen over if I had suggested getting on an airplane to visit colleges. I ended up at a place I had visited, but only because it was an hour away and I had an older sibling take me.
So what’s the choice-- Stanford vs. something else she hasn’t seen, or Stanford vs. a campus she knows and likes?
There are students at Williams who did not visit the campus before arriving for freshman year. Some were international or lived far away or were unable to visit for financial or other reasons. The same will be true at Stanford and everywhere else.
Orientation programs at colleges at the start of freshman year welcome everyone and bring them into the community. While it provides some comfort for a teenager to see their college before sending in a deposit, if they cannot do so, they will not suffer harm.
Make sure your daughter does her research via reading up on Stanford online and in guide books. If it sounds good to her, she can feel confident enrolling. How bad could the experience be? It is one of the world’s best colleges!
D18 and I didn’t step onto her campus until last June for orientation. We had been to the city once for her sister’s wedding.
She’s been there almost a year and 1000 miles from home. The campus is beautiful, she loves the school, weather, being close to her sister and is very happy with her choice.
No, but I would not be concerned about sending a kid to Stanford sight unseen. "
Actually, I’d probably also be happy if my kid just flipped a coin at this point. I’m so done with this process.
@Vnorovy ,
What are your D’s other choices if she did not want Standpford?
A acquaintance’s daughter was accepted to Stanford last year. She loves it so much, she did not even comes home during winter break.
@blossom So funny, but true and relatable. I went to the University of Michigan in the 1970’s but only visited there because my high school principal took me. We lived in the middle of nowhere, a couple of hours from Ann Arbor, and he was from New York, and I suppose didn’t trust the local hospital system. His wife was expecting their first child so went to “The U” for health care. They invited me and I tagged along - for her tour of the labor/delivery unit and a campus tour! Otherwise I probably wouldn’t have been exposed. Things have changed!
DD is also considering UMich, where she is very comfortable and familiar , and UWisconsin Madison, which has a great program for her major.
@ChaosParent23 Thanks for the link! This is good!
My son’s first ever visit to the University of Chicago was on admitted students day. The next morning, after an overnight. he declared “This will do.” End of college search. He never visited some of the other colleges to which he was admitted.
@Trixy34 Yes, thankfully it’s almost over!! So done
@gpo613 I am laughing hysterically. Have a delightful weekend.
@rphcfb That is really encouraging to hear!
DD considering University of Michigan (visited many times and comfortable there), U Wisconsin Madison (have not visited there either, but seems more comfortable as a midwest school, about 5 hours from home).
Can I ask why she can’t visit at all between now and May 1?
Has she looked at any YouTube vlogs from Stanford students? Those could be very helpful. Also, having a recent alum talk to her by phone could be helpful. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LC0SoGSM9aU My nephew graduated from Stanford a couple years ago and absolutely loved it.
Back in the day, I never visited ANY of the colleges to which I applied. I grew up in L.A. My first visit to Reed College – a thousand miles away – was for orientation. Everything worked out fine. I first met some of my classmates at a gathering of admitted students in Los Angeles. I took a train to college, and we joined a larger contingent of Reedies in San Francisco. We arrived on campus, checked into our dorms, and then took a bus for 3 days of orientation and bonding at a campground on the Oregon coast.
Probably many students’ first visit to campus is the first day of class, or the day they go to campus to do administrative things. Many such students may not be in a position to do pre-visits (e.g. international students, students from low income families attending out-of-area schools), or do not have enough of a choice that doing a pre-visit would matter (e.g. students academically or financially constrained to attend the local community college or state university).
Also, not all students would be swayed by things that a pre-visit would reveal, so visits may not be of that high value to them.
But it seems like most people on these forums are not constrained as described above, and are or have students who would be swayed by what they see on a pre-visit. However, the student should consider what s/he is looking for, and avoid taking random chance events as being necessarily representative of the most days of student life there.
@intparent, the D is on a study abroad program.
D17 and I visited several liberal arts colleges while I was helping her put the college list together. I could see what she liked in a college and what I thought would be valuable to her. Some schools were crossed off the list after visiting or because of estimated cost. However, I added a number of schools that we did not visit based on her interests and what I read about the colleges. While she got into all but one of the colleges, most were not affordable once we saw the financial aid. In the end D was deciding between the honors program at our state flagship and a very selective LAC that gave good aid (but we had not visited). I knew that college was a bit of a reach but I had a good feeling about it for her based on what I had read and heard. Due to the cost of traveling and mostly because my D was the lead in her school musical and could not miss any rehearsals during April, it ended up that it was not possible to visit the LAC (but she was able to speak to a graduating senior by phone - the daughter of one of my college friends). Close to May 1st D decided on the state flagship but after a few hours changed her mind and decided to take a risk on a LAC 15 hours away from home. We didn’t see the college in person until move in day! She had a rough start but is currently a sophomore and is happy with her choice.
I did. Twice. (Undergrad and grad.) Got it right once. That was the one in Palo Alto.
Really recommend visiting if at all possible, though. If it’s going to be really wrong, you can usually tell.
Stanford medical school (the part of Stanford University that is actually within Palo Alto city limits)?
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Palo+Alto,+CA/@37.419196,-122.1766338,13.5z/
Stanford is a beautiful school - large enough such that you may need to take a bus between buildings. The ugliest buildings (mainly for the employees) they are getting rid of and moving them to Redwood City some time this year. The Stanford hospital is also very outdated but also moving to a new building very soon. I have an issue with them with admittance for certain demographics, but you’re past that hurdle so things should be great there.