I’m an indian who will be applying to us colleges this year. We have summer holidays all throughout June and half of July.
I’m thinking about visiting colleges this summer.but if I stay at home I can do some more volunteer work or internships(if I find some).
What do you think will be better?
Will visiting a college have any effect on my app?
Visiting colleges during the summer isn’t really recommended because everyone’s gone and you can’t get a feel of what the school is really like. Visiting colleges doesn’t really effect the app. Sure, some places don’t mind seeing demonstrated interest but you should spend your summer doing volunteer work, internships and other activities.
I’d think you would want to look at a few at some point so you know what to shoot for. There are four or five regions of the US that can be quite different.
No school expects an international applicant to demonstrate interest by visiting the school so no, it won’t hurt you if you decide not to visit. They don’t even require US applicants to visit if they don’t live within driving range.
Do whatever you planned to do at home this summer and save your money for something more worthwhile.
You can still get a feeling for the college by visiting in the summer. One of my kids attends a school she first visited on a 100 degree day in July. If you can afford it, that is fine. But agree that they don’t expect it as much from international students. Some schools don’t even take applicant’s interest into account anyway.
Thanks a lot for the opinions people!! 
do whatever is most affordable. You feel me? if you can afford to fly to the U.S. and visit schools then do it