<p>So, I plan on applying to Tulane, Johns Hopkins, WUSTL, UVa, and Vandy on top of the schools I have visited. However, I won't have time to visit them because of jobs, sports, money, etc. However, if I get accepted, I will definitely visit. Is the a normal thing to do? Do you guys have any experiences with doing this?</p>
<p>I never visited 2 of the 3 universities I went to, and transferred out of the one I visited because I wasn’t doing well there.</p>
<p>My wife had never even been to the United States before she started college in California, and she loves the university she attended.</p>
<p>Our kids never visited the universities they are attending, and they seem happy enough.</p>
<p>Most students don’t visit until after they’re accepted. At my school, the number of touring students in April (after acceptance letters have been sent out) is vastly higher than the number of touring students in any other month. </p>
<p>I didn’t visit any of the schools I applied to until after I was accepted and compared merit offers. IMO I wouldn’t want to fall in love with a university and then get either financially or academically rejected.</p>
<p>It makes for a stressful and expensive April to wait to visit. If you get into those schools, plane tickets are super expensive on short notice to go visit, and you are scrambling to visit AND try to prioritize schools in your mind. I don’t recommend it.</p>
<p>Ok. Thanks for you input guys!</p>
<p>Lots of colleges have “accepted student” days to help you choose/not choose them post-acceptance.</p>
<p>In fact, lots of kids who visit schools BEFORE APPLYING revist-so no it’s not weird to visit after getting in-in fact, if you are seriously interested in a school post-acceptance it is considered normal to visit.</p>
<p>Also, if you get into all the schools that you have not visited-it is doubtful that you will not already have a few favorites among them that have accepted you. In that case, just start with the one or two you like the most-you might only need to do one or two visits! (sometimes you just know what college is right for you…it just happens-it happened to me and many others)</p>
<p>For reference: I applied to 8 school-got into 6-out of the 6 I got into I never looked at 3 of them. 3 college visits was really managable-and I don’t regret going to the school that I picked!</p>
<p>Don’t worry!</p>
<p>OK. Awesome. Thanks!</p>
<p>It is common to apply to schools without visiting beforehand. Not everyone has the luxury (in terms of time and money) of being able to visit a lot of non-local schools before applying. Also, not everyone has selection criteria that place a high importance on factors that can only be determined by visiting.</p>
<p>However, some schools which consider “level of applicant’s interest” in admissions may record visits as an expression of interest (if you visit such a school before or during application season, figure out how to have the visit recorded).</p>
<p>My daughter applied to 12 schools, but had only visited 5 of them before applying. We figured we’d wait to see if she was accepted before visiting them. She was accepted EA to four of them, so we were able to spread those visits out during the winter and early spring. She got into three others RD… but things were so crazy in April with sports, prom and other stuff, she only got to visit one of those. I still feel horrible that she never got to see those schools to give them a chance (although she’s very happy where she is). Unless you’re certain that you’ll have plenty of time and money to travel in April, I’d suggest visiting those schools earlier, even if you haven’t gotten a decision yet.</p>
<p>It is fine not to visit schools, especially if they require a plane ride. I would get in touch with admissions and see if any of these schools offer local interviews (done by either alumni or an admissions officer who is traveling to your area). These could prove to be helpful to you in terms of learning more about these colleges and it would show admissions that you are truly interested in that school.</p>