Campus Touring Advice Needed!!!!

Chance Me / Match Me!
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<ol>
<li><p>So I have a lot of colleges in mind that I want to go to. Based off my last thread, it seems like a good number of these colleges seem achievable with my application & stats. People say that campus touring is very important, so I think I'm going to visit all of these colleges. Is that a good idea or is that not necesary???</p></li>
<li><p>I live in NY. Most of these colleges are pretty far away from me. How should I plan this out if I want to tour during spring break and during the summer(if they even HAVE tours in the summer)???</p></li>
<li><p>Also, all of this touring seems pretty expensive lol. How much money would all these visits add up to???</p></li>
</ol>

<p>My list-</p>

<p>All Top Undergraduate Business Schools: </p>

<p>University of Pennsylvania(Wharton)
Cornell(Dyson)
Carnegie Mellon(Tepper)
NYU(Stern)
Univerisity of California Berkeley(Haas)
University of Michigan(Ross)
University of Virginia(McIntire)
University of North Carolina(Kenan-Flagler)
Emory University(Goizueta)</p>

<p>A few other ones:</p>

<p>Northwestern
Brown
Univerisity of Chicago
John's Hopkins
Emory
Washington University St. Louis</p>

<ol>
<li>Also, does anyone know if you do a seperate tour if you only want to go to a business school?</li>
</ol>

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<p>bumpppppppppppppppppp</p>

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<p>Most schools do have tours in the summer, although you won’t get the flavor of having students there. I would advise, if you have the time, to pick a few in a general geographic area and do a road trip. We have been able to fit two or three such trips in. Some people would say that it isn’t that important to visit before you apply, but I would tend to disagree. My D was able to eliminate a hand full of schools after touring, and it helped narrow her list. The only pitfall would seem to be falling in love with a particular school that might be a financial/academic reach. As long as you have a realistic list when the time comes to apply, I would say visit as many schools as time/money allows.</p>

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<p>That’s a pretty tough tour list geographically speaking. The only two close together are Chicago and Northwestern. First, are you considering any of these as a possible early decision candidate? If so definitely visit that school. </p>

<p>Second, I suggest trying to decide what type of environment you want to be in - big city vs suburban or state school vs private. If you have any leanings then try to visit that type of school first. The environments at Michigan, Berkeley, Virginia and UNC are very different than those at Carnegie Mellon or Emory.</p>

<p>Third, pick a handfull of schools you’re sure you’d want to attend and visit them. Then apply to a few more and, depending on admissions results, you could visit a few next year before you have to make a decision. The environments at Michigan, Berkeley, Virginia and UNC are very different than those at Carnegie Mellon or Emory.</p>

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<p>Wait I thought u visit colleges BEFORE you apply, not after…?</p>

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<p>I agree you’re all over the map, so to speak. What do you have time for and what can you afford. Bigger schools will be better at showing a school feel even in summer since they generally have summer school. Avoid summer tours at schools that don’t have summer school. Having said that, if going in the summer makes it more financially feasible then do it. It still can give you a feel for the area, especially completely different parts of country like Emory and Calif schools. </p>

<p>If you can’t do anything else, visit the schools closest to you and try to vary by size and setting (rural/urban) and that might help you get a feel for what you prefer. If it is very expensive to visit then do your homework on majors/requirements so you won’t waste time at schools that are on list. And yes, you can visit fall of senior year and even after you see where you are accepted but I think it’s good to look beforehand when possible.</p>

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<p>Money isn’t a problem for me.</p>

<p>i was just curious how much it would add up to anyways though</p>

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<p>Part of what goes into a college search is having a realistic expectation as to what your odds of being accepted are, and not knowing your stats, it is hard to predict which schools on your list you should make more of an effort to visit prior to applying. I agree with vinceh that if you are thinking of applying anywhere ED, absolutely visit before applying. All of your schools seem to be in roughly the same tier as far as selectivity. You might want to find a few less selective schools that would match up geographically with some of the schools on your list, then put together a few three or four day trips. It was my experience that after three or four days, everything starts to look the same, and complete exhaustion could make a great school appear only so-so. If geography isn’t a factor, one tour you could do would be to fly to Chicago, do U of C and Northwestern, rent a car and drive to Bloomington, IN to see IU (great business program), drive then to South Bend to see ND (Mendoza is consistently ranked as one of, if not the, top ranked undergrad business schools), then drive to Ann Arbor to see U of M, then fly back out of Detroit. You might also be able to package UVa, Unc, and Hopkins in a similar fashion. FYI, my daughter applied to 10 schools and has only visited 5. another 5 or so were knocked off her list after visiting.</p>

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<p>Cost can vary a lot. Money is an issue in my family so we have gone on/planned less expensive trips (Megabus, inexpensive hotels, minimally touristy things). The trips are extremely helpful though, I have eliminated schools from my list after visiting, as has many of my friends. Visit your top choices before you apply and then after you have been accepted to schools visit all the other schools you have been accepted to.</p>

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<p>

</p>

<p>That’s a preferable strategy if you have the time and money. If you had a handful of schools on your list then that would work, but since you you have a large, geographically diverse list it seems unlikely you’ll get to them all before you need to apply.</p>

<p>I suggest doing more research about these schools, throw in a few safeties as well (IU - Bloomington is an excellent option) and focus on those things that are important to you environment wise. Then choose a few schools to visit.</p>

<p>Cost is impossible to estimate - airfare, rental cars, hotels, food etc vary widely by city visited and time of year.</p>

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<p>HERE ARE MY STATS IF IT HELPS</p>

<p>GPA: 3.8 unweighted out of 4.0 </p>

<p>-My School GPA system works in intervals of .5 (4.0, 3.5, 3.0 etc…), where a 95 to 100 in a class=4.0, a 90 to 94=3.5, an 85-89=3.0 etc…</p>

<p>-Say you take 10 academic classes, and get an 100% in 5 classes, and a 94% in 5 classes, your GPA=[(4.0x5)+(3.5x5)]/10= 3.75</p>

<p>-In conclusion, the system ^ sucks lol</p>

<p>UC GPA: 4.2
Act: 34 (in 1 sitting)
35 (superscore)
Sat I: 2290 (one sitting)
Sat II: Math Level 2 (780), BiologyM(?) US History(?)</p>

<p>Advanced Placement Classes:
Junior: AP Calculus AB, AP Biology, AP US History, AP Environmental Science(Self Study), AP Psychology (Self Study)
Senior: AP Stat, AP Physics B, AP European History, AP Spanish, AP Macroeconomics (Self Study)</p>

<p>Extracurriculars, Jobs, Volunteering, Sports, Music, Awards etc…
President of Books for Africa (school book donation organization)
Intern at Forte Capital (Summer of 2011, 2012, likely 2013)
Varsity Swim & Dive Team 4 years
Track & Field 1 year
Lifeguard/Coach
Piano 6 years
Clarinet 5 years
Saxophone 5 years
HS School Band
HS School Chorus
Volunteer (500+ Hours Total)-
Soup Kitchen (50 hours)
Re-Modeled/Planted garden at Underprivileged School (2 week project)
Teacher Assistant at Local Community Centre (Weekends, 3 hours each time for 2 years)
Assistant for Head Start Day-Care Center
AP Scholar with Distinction (Projected)
National Merit (Projected)
Swimming All-Conference 3 years, All-League 3 years,
Awesome Math at Cornell 2011 (Summer Program)
Civic Leadership Program at JHU 2012 (Summer Program)</p>

<p>(Probably 4-5 more after this summer)</p>

<p>Teacher Recommendations: Will probably be great
Essays: Also will probably be great
State: NY
Financial Aid: No
Ethnicity: Asian
Legacy: None. Parents immigrants, only went to grad school, but I dont believe that counts for anything
Income: $1,000,000++(Income is a general idea, actually lot more than what is listed, i doubt it matters too much though so specifics dont seem necesary).
Also,not one penny has been donated to colleges.</p>

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<p>would this info ^ help?!?!</p>