My daughter visited both NEU and BU in 2019 and was accepted to both. Her brother is applying now with fewer ECs and leadership roles but with the same GPA (3.9 unweighted) and a higher ACT(35). He has signed up for a virtual tour and info session at BU and has done three virtual webinars with NEU and is following all the social media accounts and opening emails. Would an in-person visit count more for demonstrated interest or are virtual sessions adequate due to COVID? He would rather visit for an accepted students day but is worried that not attending an in-person event might affect his chances of acceptance. We are in Wisconsin, so visiting is not easy.
If your son has officially registered and attended the virtual tours and information sessions, that COUNTS as a visit and his interest has been noted. He does NOT need to visit campus. (If you lived within easy driving distance, I might not say that.) If he would like to cement his interest one more way, he could consider emailing his local/regional admission rep for each college (Aya AL-Namee, Assistant Director
aalnamee@bu.edu is the BU rep for Wisconsin and Jermey Caldwell is the NEU rep for Wisconsin) and ask them a specific question (one that could not be easily answered on their website).
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He emailed NEU admissions and asked to be connected to the regional counselor with specific questions but they replied that he would only be able to email him if admitted and that all questions must go through the general admissions email. Thanks for the BU email though. Good to have in case he has questions.
Interesting! I wondered why there were no email addresses for the regional reps! Thanks for letting me know. Good luck to your son.
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No, visiting is not necessary. He has done plenty to show his interest. Those two schools are actively recruiting from all over the country and they realize not everyone can visit. He won’t be penalized for not visiting in person. Save it for after acceptance if needed, but unless he really can’t remember, does he need to visit again? Sounds like he has been to both already.
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I agree with above posts. He has done his due diligence with demonstrated interest, especially since you live far away! I would think too that you live in Wisconsin would be appealing to these schools for the geographic U.S. diversity!
I live in the Boston area and went to BU for graduate school and my husband works at BU, so if you have any BU questions or about the area happy to help! Good luck!
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We heard from a few schools (pre-2020) that they used demonstrated interest more in cases of “closer” students. They felt if you lived an hour or two away and didn’t come in person, it mattered more than someone who would have to fly and didn’t/couldn’t.
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No, he has never been to Boston. His sister has seen both schools and was admitted. We were trying to decide if he should do an in-person visit before applying to demonstrate more interest because we weren’t sure if that played a big role in his sister’s acceptances.
I understand. The answer is the same: no, he doesn’t need to visit. They both accept plenty of kids from all over the world who never set foot on campus before move in day. He has shown plenty of interest. They are aware that a student living in Michigan or Arizona can’t just drive by for a quick visit.
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