<p>I did a search using "visit" and searched titles only, but I got about a zillion threads and didn't want to read through every one....sorry if I'm repeating here:</p>
<p>Anyway, we are going to visit several schools Aug 4-15 and I'm wondering if the visit has really swung a kid's decision yay or nay. Does that happen a lot, or do most kids come away with an opinion pretty much the same as before visiting? Did a school your kid felt ho-hum about all of a sudden look awesome or his/her first choice become the last?</p>
<p>We'll be visiting schools that S (and I, for that matter) have never seen before. I'm just kind of wondering what to expect. Even though I know of course that every kid is different ;)</p>
<p>Absolutely it can make a difference! Before our grand college tour last summer, D had ABC college as her #1 choice and had heard next to nothing about XYZ college. After the trip, ABC was off her list, and XYZ was at the top!</p>
<p>I think for some kids, my S included, the visits serve to up the "engagement" level in the process. He really didn't have a ranked list of his choices before our visits. He definitely had an evolving one as we did the visits. I doubt he would have had his ultimate choice highest on his list without the visit - he just wouldn't have known enough about it. We visited this school a little more than midway through our visits, when it vaulted to the top of S's choices and stayed there.</p>
<p>thanks for the responses! :)
My S has his list of which schools are ranked where on his own wish list, but I don't think he really knows why he feels the way he does. And for the most part, they are definitely reaches (for anyone). We are going to visit a couple schools that I have suggested and they are more in the match and safety range. He is willing to go have a look, and I think one reason for his reservation is that they are just schools that (most) people haven't heard of out here in the northwest/mtn states. I'm hoping the visit might make a difference and he'll get excited about one or both of them.
Unfortunately we can only go in August as schedules and dollars are limited. Hopefully that won't make too much difference!</p>
<p>D also had a different list of schools before she went visiting. She had gotten to the point that she did not want to apply to a school site unseen.</p>
<p>Her problem was she visited sat in one some interesting classes and would come home with a new favorite all the way up to the last school she visited which shot to the top of her list.</p>
<p>Nothing wrong with visiting schools in S's safety match range. You know the mantra, love your safety (likely admit).</p>
<p>DrDrewsMom, Absolutely. My son visited 14 schools with the intention of narrowing in on 8. Because we live overseas we knew this was a one-shot opportunity and that repeat visits wouldn't be possible, so we did a lot of research before hand -- internet, books, videos, friends. I really didn't want him applying to schools that we hadn't visited. All visits were in the summer which although not ideal was acceptable.</p>
<p>His pre and post visit list was practically turned upside down. His #1 ED school was a last minute addendum. We wouldn't have gone at all except for a bad experience at his former favorite and a hunch on the part of his father. He came, he saw, he applied ED! No regrets.</p>
<p>His previous top three choices fell off the list all together. The reasons were various and maybe not even valid, but for any and all reasons, once there, he and the colleges just didn't click.</p>
<p>The best part, for me, was that his opinion of his safeties was greatly enhanced by being there. I'd say visiting -- and if possible interviewing at -- less selectives is critical to appreciating them.</p>
<p>Before our trip, we had reviewed viewbooks, watched the Collegiate Choice videos, etc., but nothing compared to actually visiting the college. It is very hard to get a sense of the size of the campus, layout, and surrounding area without visiting. We visited all kinds of schools, from urban to very remote. We found there were definite differences within each category - exciting urban vs. gritty, scary urban, charming and not too far from civilization remote vs. no cell phone reception and one hour to WalMart remote.</p>
<p>How valuable is visiting a college when classes are not in session? We have a few schools that we will be seeing in August and that is the only time we can get to them before applications are due. I am concerned that he will not get a true flavor of the schools. Thanks for any insight.</p>
<p>palermo, visiting in August is not ideal, but for many families it's the only realistic choice. Even if they don't have a summer session the colleges are not deserted. There are ususally summer kids around, the dining halls are open and the admissions departments are in full swing. </p>
<p>An August visit combined with a re-visit after acceptances are in is a workable combination.</p>
<p>Absolutely. We have visited 14 schools with DD. There were some she loved based on their infomail, and websites. After the visits she HATED them. In one case, she didn't even want to get out of the car. With DS (now a college junior), his ultimate choice was not a top choice UNTIL he made the visit.</p>
<p>DrDrewsmom, I would say that visits can make a big difference; for example, after visits, my D decided not to apply to two schools that had been on her preliminary list and seemed on paper and by what we already knew about them to be excellent choices for her. After visiting another school that was one the initial list but not expected to be a favorite she was almost ready to apply ED (did not, though). Another school that she liked very much after visiting during the summer before senior year didn't make as good an impression when she visited it during classes after being accepted. So all in all, visits at alls stages of the admissions process were key factors in her application choices. (However, she ended up attending a school she had not visited prior to acceptance--it did a great job with its accepted students weekend:))</p>
<p>Summer visits are ok but a a visit after admission to get the a real sense of the culture is important if you are looking at small schools. The larger universities have much more range and most students can find their niche but the difference between a Reed and Colgate on paper is much less than the reality.</p>
<p>The summer before my daughter's Sophomore year, we drove through 2 college campuses on the way home from a vacation to get a feel for college campuses before she got overwhelmed with visiting (she disliked both of them).</p>
<p>We visited 4 schools during her spring break Sophomore year. The "definite number one" school on her list dropped to last place as soon as she visited it. One school that I had to encourage her to visit (after all, it's on the way home, and has a great program) became her top choice. She hadn't wanted to visit because she had heard bad stuff about the campus (both from h.s. acquaintances and studentsreview type websites), but really liked it when she got there...We visited one more college that summer to make sure that she wasn't missing something, but everything seemed to point back to the school that was originally her Last choice before visiting. She finished her first year at that college and knew right from the first day that she had found the right school for her!</p>
<p>College visits are important--the actual campus environment cannot be captured in websites or photos. Too often the people marketing the college don't understand what actually appeals to the student, or they understand it too well, and make the college literature conform to what they think the student wants to see...students that visit can see through the glitz and see how they would fit in on the campus....</p>
<p>Also...pretty isn't everything. We visited both Pepperdine and Elon, arguably two of the prettiest small college campuses in the country (Pepperdine overlooking the Pacific Ocean is gorgeous). They are both great choices for the right kids, but DD HATED both schools....couldn't see herself there for four years. BUT we have beautiful pictures of the Pacific from the Pepperdine campus.</p>
<p>Visits, as everyone has said, can make a huge difference. I think that it is a rare kid that is not influenced in some way by visits - after all, it makes the school a reality.
My experience is that the match/safety visits are by far the most important ones. If he is applying to smaller schools particularly,he will need to demonstrate interest in the school, and visits help with that. We traveled from far away for visits, and the tendency is to see as many reaches as possible (you just want to visit all those cool places that you've heard of), but if one of your son's wish list items is to go far away to school, you may want to be sure he sees a safety that will give him that choice. Things worked out for DD, but because she was burned out on the visiting trip, she dropped 2 of the match/safeties she was going to tour, and was left with no faraway safeties on her final list.</p>
<p>Be prepared - they just get bad impressions of schools for the oddest reasons, and you can't talk them out of it! Most kids, though have to narrow down the list somehow, and arbitrary decisions are as good as any - at some point it will hit you (after the 3rd info session that sounds just like the others) that your kid won't really know how much they like the school until they get there.</p>
<p>We had spread our visits out over a year+ so the first college that D visited (August before her jr yr) ended up getting deleted from the list. Major visits were a weekend in October (Yom Kippur so school was closed) and April vacation week, both during junior year. By the time April came, D knew what kind of school appealed to her so those visits carried much more weight and was when she decided on her top choice (school relatively unknown to her beforehand).</p>
<p>palermo--
During our one August visit (Amherst), the tour guide was a student, and there were others on campus with whom D had informal conversations. Also visited Swat and Oxy weekends but found students (art gallery and student activity) for conversation that proved very helpful. Even though a school may not be in session or it's a Sunday, it's still possible and you should try to find students just so your S will get a sense of the student culture.</p>