<p>What do you do for college visits?</p>
<p>It never made sense for me to travel a great distance just to visit, especially if I didn't get in yet.</p>
<p>I mean, it makes sense to sample what a small vs big school is like (LAC vs University), but the parents on CC seem to take their kids on a zillion visits before apps whereas most people at my old school applied and got in and then visited.</p>
<p>I visited colleges near where I was traveling. Since I have appointments in Boston a lot I visited all the schools there I wanted to see. Plus, I’ve seen campuses doing summer camps and other things.</p>
<p>So if it fits into your schedule, I’d visit them. But I wouldn’t go out of my way to visit a college.</p>
<p>Ah, that makes sense to me. If you’re in town, it’s smart to check it out. </p>
<p>It’s just that people in the parents forum talk about driving their kids 10 hours to see a school O_O which my parents would never do.</p>
<p>I am somewhere in the middle. I am visiting all the schools I am looking at that are within like 4-5 hours of where I live. Other then that I am applying and seeing where I get in. If I get into one of my reaches that is further away I will probably visit.</p>
<p>I’d never do that unless I had to do an on-campus interview or something. That would be a huge waste of time and money, imo.</p>
<p>Artsygirl, that makes sense too. 4-5 hours isn’t too terrible and is ok for a day trip. </p>
<p>I live in a different country (though I moved from a state that has tons of schools) and my list will probably be very reach heavy, so I doubt I’ll be visiting any schools. There were 2 good schools in the city I used to live but I never visited -_- because I didn’t think I would have to move, but oh well. </p>
<p>I’ve been around at the local university for ECs and it’s okay, but definitely not a place I’d want to go.</p>
<p>It makes sense to visit a college before you apply, to save time with apps for schools you wouldn’t want to apply to, but if you’d spend more time visiting then applying then I wouldn’t bother. You just have to decide based on how many schools your applying to, how busy you are and how far the school are. Also some people are less bothered by what the campus is like and more by other factors you don’t need to visit to gauge, so bear this in mind.</p>
<p>I’m visiting before applying, but all of the places that I’m visiting are 4 hours away maximum, so it isn’t too bad of a drive</p>
<p>A lot depends on the types of schools to which you’re applying. If you’re looking at large numbers/major driven schools it may not be as important as if you’re looking at small schools with a more holistic admissions approach.</p>
<p>For instance, many students who look at Bowdoin College also look at Bates and Colby. They’re all small, rigorous Maine LACs and on paper they look very similar, but in my experience kids who visit them have a visceral reaction to each. After visiting these three schools my DS knew which one was for him and he knocked one off his list altogether. In total he’s seen 11 schools and 5 were scratched off the list after visits. He’ll apply to one additional school that’s just too much of a pain to visit.</p>
<p>Another reason to visit small LACs before the decisions roll in is that they tend to value fit and keep a record of “touches”, the number of ways you’ve experienced the school through visits, interviews, information sessions, the website, etc., as a way of gauging your interest and whether you know the school culture well enough to know the school is one you’d be happy attending. Early visits can also help applicants pinpoint any clear front-runner, making ED/EA an option.</p>
<p>Of course, if travel to schools is cost prohibitive for your family or excessively difficult for other reasons the admissions committee will understand. For many applicants it makes sense to wait and visit the schools that have sent them acceptances.</p>
<p>It doesn’t matter, except try to visit the closer ones before u apply. I plan to visit after I get accepted</p>
<p>Sent from my LG-VM696 using CC</p>
<p>It makes sense to first check it out before applying if that’s feasible, simply because it saves you time and money if you don’t like it. Also, you are taking some other kid’s spot if you visit and decide its not for you.</p>
<p>Thanks Sue! 
That was really helpful.</p>
<p>For the sake of argument: I think the time/money thing goes both ways- if you drive 10 hours and stay in a hotel to visit 1 school, it’s probably more money than the app itself!</p>
<p>Also, you can always decline and kids get picked off of the waitlist later, right? </p>
<p>I am thinking of visiting schools after I get in because it makes no sense for me to fly and see places without being even admitted.</p>
<p>I would visit first, just so you can weed out schools you don’t like. Also, some colleges care about “demonstrated interest,” so visiting might actually boost your chances of getting into that school.</p>
<p>I would apply then visit. Most of my schools are over 1000 miles away and I have neither the time nor energy to go around visiting these schools. I try to get the best feel of the college through YouTube videos and looking through any pictures I can find. If you’re in reach then you can visit then apply, but I don’t see anything wrong with applying then visiting if you’ve done your research.</p>
<p>I live near most of the colleges I will be applying to, so I’ll probably go there for my interviews and maybe the open houses. Idunno, I’m kinda chilled about that kind of stuff. I’ve already been to one of my good places (I go there with my high school for a program) and it seems good. I’ll probably be commuting anyway, so as long as the classes are good I’ll be okay. If I consider any colleges out of my area I am sure as heck not visiting them early unless I’ll already be there.</p>
<p>Campus feel is a BIG thing for me, so I’ve visited like 7 of the 9 colleges I’m applying to. Four of which are 5+ hours away (although three of them are in or around Boston).
I’ll probably revisit the ones I’m most interested in after decisions come out.</p>
<p>If you have 3 or 4 schools in the same area, it makes sense to visit. As Sue said, they may all seem similar, but each has its own personality and fit. We stopped at Bates and Colby while driving home from vacation in Canada - a couple of hours out of our way, but worth the trip. One dropped off D’s list immediately (not enough trees), the other has moved to our reserve list. She also visited 8 colleges in NJ and PA in one weekend this summer. 3 tours, and 6 drive through visits, to get a sense of the campuses. With the small LAC’s, they all seem somewhat alike, so it helps to narrow the field. We also considered a trip to the west coast to visit 3 colleges there, but ultimately decided those could wait for acceptances - but we did arrange for local interviews to solidify their sense of her commitment. The colleges will consider the context of visits - if you live within 2 hours drive and never visit, and they take interest into consideration, they’re going to think you’re not particularly interested.</p>
<p>I’m applying to colleges now too, and I personally visited all of the colleges I was considering applying to and it really helped me narrow down my list. However, all of the schools I was considering are about 4 hours away from my house at the most. I would say, if you don’t feel you need to visit until you are accepted, then don’t! You can visit to decide which school you’re going to, because to be honest, it really does help to get a feel for the school on campus. If its inconvenient, don’t do it!</p>
<p>Interesting opinions!</p>
<p>I can see why visiting helps you figure out whether you like a place or not. I’m probs going to apply to a slew of schools and visit afterwards. My mom made a really good point yesterday though- that you can’t really tell if you like a place in 1 day or 2. Sometimes there’s instant love but lots of times people get turned off of because of one thing that might be in retrospect nbd.</p>
<p>Ecouter11-</p>
<p>Remember that you’ll only have a short window for visits after acceptances come out. Unless they’re geographically clustered you may not be able to see more than a couple of schools before you need to put a deposit down.</p>