<p>How important are they in terms of getting a solid feel for a school? Did a visit ever move a college you were simply "considering" to the top of your list, or visa versa?</p>
<p>I ask because I live in the midwest and am considering schools on the East Coast- however, my parents won't pay for a visit out East until I'm actually accepted to schools. In retrospect, it makes financial sense, but I'm worried about flat-out not applying to a school that in the end may have been perfect for me. (And yes, I'm using the "college visits" feature, but it's not the same.)</p>
<p>DD had a few colleges on her radar scope that she threw out based on visits and a couple that she fell in love with. She ended up applying based on what she liked. If we had the application $ and no time to visit I could see not visiting until after acceptances come in. We just felt more comfortable the other way around.</p>
<p>I found that my college visits were extremely important in helping me discover which colleges I liked best. For example, I held the schools Vanderbilt and Georgetown both in high regard before visiting them, yet after seeing the campuses and college presentations, I completely removed Georgetown from my list while moving Vandy to the top of the list. The campus appearance and the attitude that the school gives off are surprisingly important once you experience them firsthand.</p>
<p>Visits can be extremely important to some schools, because these very selective schools factor your interest in the school into their admissions, even though they don't explicitly say it in their websites. If you can't visit, then make an appointment to interview with the regional Admissions Counselor.</p>
<p>And pvike08 is right on the money about the feel of the school. Perhaps if you told us your interests and your list of schools, us Eastcoasters could give you some feedback and suggest options for a whirlwind tour of your schools. I think it is money well spent.</p>
<p>Visiting really helped me clarify my list - I eliminated two schools that seemed really nice on paper, and one that I wasn't initially too keen on became one of my favorites. Schools look mostly the same on paper, but each one does have a unique character. IMHO this is especially important if you're looking at any small schools, though still quite valuable elsewhere.</p>
<p>You may want to remind your parents that if you don't visit before you apply, you may end up spending extra time and money doing more applications than you would if you'd been able to visit and narrow down your list. I'm from the east coast and it took a lot of persuading to convince my parents to let me visit schools in the midwest & west coast (VT->MN & OR), so I feel your pain.</p>
<p>Visiting helps so much. It's the one thing I stress to everyone applying. For years, I wanted to attend UC Berkeley. It was my dream school, and the summer before my senior year I went on a road trip to visit it and I realized that it was not the place for me. I was lost because I didn't know where I wanted to go anymore and I heard of a small private woman's college named Scripps. On paper it didn't seem like the type of school I would like (no men?!?) but with a trip to the campus I fell in love. I'll be attending this upcoming fall and cannot picture a more perfect place for me. </p>
<p>If you can't afford the plane ticket just apply to the schools and wait until you've been accepted to go. (I'd preffer spending $150 extra on a few applications than the hundred on airfare for you and your family, plus hotel, food expenses, etc). For those schools that you're on the fence about, do some research. Talk to people if you can, find people on facebook and join groups to ask questions, use collegecondifential (of course :>), and you might want to check out college *******. Use as many web sites about the school as possible.</p>
<p>I agree with most people in this thread that say visiting is important. There isn't really an substitute that's equivalent to actually going to the college to understand what the atmosphere is like. I was never going to apply to Harvard, I thought it was too Type-A and overhyped, but then I visited the campus. I fell in love with the place and now it's my top choice (unfortunately :(). If it can't be done, at least you'll be visiting once you're accepted, and lintu has some great suggestions to get a feel for places that you can't visit before applying.</p>