<p>I really like Claremont Mckenna College and I am confident that it is my top choice, so I want to apply ED, but I haven't been on a campus visit. I live on the east coast and it is pretty difficult to get out to California, so I am unsure whether or not I should try to fly out to there to visit. I have pretty much consumed all the information about CMC available on the internet and I actually have been to campus, although we just drove around, but I still got a general feel for what the campus looks like. Without going to campus, I feel like I have a good sense for what the school is like. Flights to LA are expensive, so I am wondering if it is worth it to visit campus? What do you think?</p>
<p>maybe wiat until you get a decision and go to an admitted student weekend if they have one </p>
<p>are you telling us that if you go to CMC and hate it you will continue to matriculate even though you hate it? really? if you are to apply ED, then go visit it soon.</p>
<p>have you run the net price calculators? are you quite sure your parents will pay the Expected Family Contribution? have you asked them? have you asked them if in addition to the EFC they are ready to pay for your to travel to the school to visit before accepting? if you answered no to any of these questions, then you aren’t ready to apply ED.</p>
<p>Parents who let their kids apply to schools on the other coast without giving them the wherewithal to visit are surely being short-sighted about investing their money well. how are the parents going to feel when the child hates the place and foregoes all that first-year applicant financial aid to attend a school where they get much less FA support?</p>
<p>Don’t do it… to ANY college you haven’t visited.</p>
<p>@jkeil911 </p>
<p>Thanks for the reply. I have talked to my parents about our finances, and we are able to pay for tuition etc. They are also willing to arrange and pay for a trip to visit campus. I just wonder whether I will really gain all that much from visiting campus. Since I have already seen the campus and talked to former students, how much more will an info session and a tour really help or influence me?</p>
<p>Ah, missed that you have physically been to the campus. Well… don’t come complaining back here if you don’t like it. CMC is not for everyone.</p>
<p>I’m in the same boat as OP, but with Vanderbilt. I’m applying ED1 without having visited it, simply because I know it’s my top choice and my family can’t afford to get to Nashville from Washington. My parents are totally fine with it though, and I’ve got an estimate on our EFC so I think I’m okay.</p>
<p>That’s a much more focused question, and you can read a great deal on CC about whether visiting a campus before applying/being admitted/agreeing to attend makes any difference. The consensus seems to be among the students who were affected by this decision, one way or the other, is a pretty strong affirmative. Students have reported that they visited their #1-3 schools and demoted each of them after the visit. Others have reported that “the school I visited to make my mom shut up” turned out to be my favorite campus visit. I’d be surprised if you were a student to whom a campus visit made no difference. At the very least, you need to know from campus visits whether a small LAC like CMC will be a place where you thrive, whether that’s by visiting CMC or another small LAC with generally more conservative students with strong interests in social sciences and esp. political science who are generally quite bright and outspoken about their ideas and prepared to defend those ideas in the face of significant opposition. Have you taken your question to the CMC forum? what have the students and parents there told you about the school and/or whether you should visit?</p>
<p>put the question to your parents this way: are you willing to invest CMC tuition times 4 to send me to a school I might hate because you didn’t want to spend $500 for airfare and transport to the campus? more importantly, are you willing to spend even more than CMC tuition times 4 if I insist on leaving CMC?</p>
<p>That’s a really good point. I think I am leaning towards visiting, especially because my parents are willing to take me… Thanks for the help. </p>
<p>Since you know you want to apply there - if you do go visit, don’t just go on a tour. Sit in on classes, meet with professors in your area(s) of interest. Email the professors ahead of time and set up a formal meeting. They might also be able to introduce you to students in the department, who could give you a more personal tour. This will make your trip truly valuable.</p>