<p>My parents have a rule that I can't visit colleges until i'm accepted to them. I have seen a few but because we had reasons to go there. There are many more I'm interested in so I don't know what to do. What are some good ways to learn more about schools besides here and collegeboard and princeton review? Will it be bad that I can't visit them before I apply?</p>
<p>And this is a random question: What's a good amount of schools to apply to?</p>
<p>thank you for your help!</p>
<p>Ouch. I’m not applying to any schools I haven’t visited. You can’t really get a grasp on the atmosphere and feel of the campus unless you visit there first, so your situation is a little rough.</p>
<p>Why are they so adamant about this? Is money tight?</p>
<p>Anyway, I guess you should apply to a variety of schools, then visit and see which one you like best. </p>
<p>Well, the number of schools depends on the person. Some people have a few reaches and a few safeties, some people have tons of different choices. </p>
<p>I’m applying to five max. If I get in ED for my top choice, it should only be three.</p>
<p>Just narrow down your choices to the ones you like the best. If it’s five, okay. If it’s ten, that’s okay too, but that’s a lot of money on applications.</p>
<p>Visiting campuses could be a help in getting accepted. Some applications - e.g. Columbia’s - ask if you’ve visited. I just checked at random half a dozen of the CC “Stats Profiles,” and the number of schools to which the students applied ranged from 5-11 with an average of around 6. My D who just completed her freshman year of college applied to 8.</p>
<p>At your local bookstore their may be books you can read about the colleges that you are interesting in.</p>
<p>Money isn’t tight at all in my house. They just think it’s a waste to visit places I might not get into. But it doesn’t matter how much I spend on applications, which is nice. When I have visited schools I’ve thought it was extremely helpful, but yeah I can’t visit everywhere. </p>
<p>And I’m new here so sorry if this is silly, but why is the website starred out? So i don’t know what it is haha</p>
<p>That’s the same way my parents feel. </p>
<p>(well, along with the fact that we honestly don’t have any time to take such flambouyant excursions… actually, that’s the only reason. I lied above. 
)</p>
<p>Anyways, enough with myself and my own fun life. Here’s what you should do.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Apply to as many colleges as you feel comfortable dealing with. I’m applying to 7, plus Harvard to be stupid and frame the rejection letter (that app will obviously submitted pen-and-paper). I also might apply to a couple of others for fun that mailed me applications, as well (like almost all of the LAC’s I might apply to).</p></li>
<li><p>Scrape up $100 and go to the bookstore. ONLY buy books about the college processs (selection, admission, financial aid, etc…NO TEST PREP BOOKS). A nice cocktail, IMO, is Fiske, Princeton Review, College Pr owler, and Students’ guide to the top 100. Anyways, read them over yourself at the bookstore, take them home, and read about every college in depth. You will find many suprises.</p></li>
<li><p>Using your new-found knowledge, browse around here, interact with other forumers, put some of your own bias out there and see how well it is received. Then worry about applications.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Good Luck!!!</p>
<p>Well, personally the good ways is actually going on youtube and have a visual visit at your preferred colleges. Or even better, request information from the schools and get a contact with the admission officers, they would be delighted to help you. </p>
<p>It won’t be bad if you couldn’t visit them, I wanted to see many schools but don’t have the money to fly to the East Coast (I’m living in the West) and there are tons of students who couldn’t. </p>
<p>In my opinion, the good amount of school to apply to is 6 to 12 :</p>
<p>meaning 2-4 for safeties, 2-4 for matches and 2-4 for reach(can be less)</p>
<p>Hope that helps :)</p>
<p>Wasn’t there this website that sold videos of campuses of schools for 15 bucks per? I think that’s perfect for you.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>That’s a pretty good plan, though if your safeties are truly safe, you probably don’t need more than 1 or 2. It’s always good to remember that a school at which admission seems safe may not be viable if you can’t afford it without a certain level of aid.</p>
<p>Sorry to hear that.</p>
<p>I didn’t get to visit most of the schools I applied to before I applied…but that’s because my parents said go during the school year, and I was sick for 6 weeks from the end of September to the beginning of November, and by then there was too much going on and applications were starting to be due…</p>
<p>So I visited schools after I got accepted.</p>
<p>It’s not that bad, but it’s definitely better to go before if you can. If you visit a school before you apply, you might decide that you don’t want to apply (this happened to me with a school that I visited in the spring of my junior year).</p>
<p>I applied to 11 schools which was probably too many…8 I think is good.</p>
<p>
They’re at [Collegiate</a> Choice Walking Tours Videos](<a href=“http://www.collegiatechoice.com/]Collegiate”>http://www.collegiatechoice.com/)</p>
<p>For the OP, I agree with your parents if they’re talking about reaches; it doesn’t make sense to spend a lot of money (assuming that’s the case) to visit a far-away school until you get in. However for schools that are a drive away, you should go. And you should definitely be visiting your safety. Summer is the time of year when senior’s dreams are filled with reaches; just how will they choose between Stanford and Dartmouth? But reaches are like a dessert; great if you get it, but you’ll live without it. </p>
<p>Too many kids spend hours selecting reaches, but the safety is an afterthought. I’d suggest spending a lot of time looking over a few safeties until you find one you’d really be comfortable going to; maybe not ecstatic, but alright with. And then after that things can just get better – if you get into matches that’s great, and if a reach comes thru then its wonderful. But my point here is that you definitely want to be visiting the potential safeties, and during the fall when school is in session.</p>
<p>As for other ways to learn about schools you can’t visit, one thing you can do in addition to the videos is contact the admission office and ask if they can put you in touch with current students in your area home for the summer. Meet for coffee and find out about the school; of course you should have some questions ready in advance.</p>
<p>Try and find people you know who go to the schools that you want to visit/apply to. Ask them detailed questions about what you’re looking for in a school. Find some blogs of students at those colleges. Look online for photos (not those professional, advertisement photos) of the school and its facilities. Read the CC College visits section. :)</p>
<p>My son visited 12 schools in total, beginning sophomore year. Then he didn’t do as well on his SAT/ACT as the PSAT/PLAN tests indicated. We had to rule out four of those schools. Then he decided on a very specific major the summer before his senior year and had to rule out most of the rest. Because of this, he did end up applying to 3 schools he hadn’t visited (accepted at 1) and 3 from the original list (accepted at 2). So I totally see both sides to this issue.</p>
<p>YouTube.
Internet=friend</p>
<p>I would never let my sons attend a school they have not visited, but applying is a different story. </p>
<p>Older son has a list of 7 schools he is interested in - 2 safeties (meets automatic admission criteria), 3 matches, 2 reaches (he recently eliminated another reach school - since he isn’t really interested in it). </p>
<p>We have gone to specific recruiting event at one school and went to another while visiting family nearby. We are going to try to fit in one more before school starts, but we will wait on the others until we get the admissions decisions. Several of the schools are in somewhat out of the way locations and are not a quick/easy plane ride away.</p>
<p>i didn’t visit the school I’m going to and I have no problems with it, because I have researched it extensively. Go to the school’s website and take the virtual tour, look at people’s myspace, facebook ect. that go there, they’re bound to have pictures of their surroundings. See if they can’t send you pamphlets with pictures and detailed descriptions of the campus. Apply to as many schools as you want, and don’t apply just for the sake of applying. If you have no interest in a school, don’t apply. But, if you like 15 colleges and would consider going to any one of them, then apply to 15 colleges.</p>
<p>The other problem is that you will have a small window to visit the schools between acceptance time and deposit time. Your “Accepted Days” will most likely conflict. You should at least try to visit 2 schools that are very different, ie. large urban, and small, isolated LAC. Could you do that in your hometown even if you weren’t interested in those exact schools? Are any close enough that you could visit by yourself, with a friend, or a school sponsored visit?</p>
<p>I think it’s a good ideal not to pay for visits unless excepted, or with school etc… How long is your list?</p>
<p>My parents have the same rule, it sucks.</p>
<p>I don’t think visiting a school for one or two days will really have that much benefit.</p>