I was planning a visit to USC when I noticed that USC actually visits my town and so does Vanderbilt and some others.
For example, http://admissions.vanderbilt.edu/vandybloggers/2015/05/we%E2%80%99re-coming-to-visit/
Do many cc’ers attend these events? What do you think of them?
Are they sufficiently informative that you don’t need to visit the campus?
Thx.
In the fall, my high school hosts one or two college reps just about every day. There’s an announcement at the end of the school day that “A representative from ___ college will be in the college placement office after school.”
I think it’s a great way to speak to a lot of the reps from schools that are far away, or too far away that you don’t want to waste the trip on a school you’ll end up hating. The rep can answer a lot of the basic questions, and give you more of a feel for the school than you can get from the website.
(And, if the school is one that counts “showing interest” as a factor in admissions, it can’t hurt to have a chat with an admissions counselor.)
But I wouldn’t think of it as “instead of visiting the campus.”
The few (4) schools I’ve been to with my son so far-- he’s a junior-- have all been pretty similar on paper and in terms of the websites. I imagine the reps would have painted a similar picture. But one of the 4 has a significantly larger student body than the others, and we learned that my son would prefer a smaller student body. (That’s why there was only one larger school. Once he decided that it was too large, we cut some other visits off the list.) He had no idea until we actually visited the campus that he would have a preference.
So go, absolutely, and talk to the reps. Give a good first impression, and figure out ahead of time some of the questions you want to ask.
But, unless it presents a significant imposition, I would suggest that you also visit the schools you’re thinking of attending.
There’s really no substitute for an onsite visit when deciding where you want to attend, but that’s not always practical , especially during the application process when the net is still very wide, so a local info session can tell you a lot about a school’s emphasis, and maybe help you decide whether or not you even want to visit (let alone apply).
Sometimes, due to distance, the visit has to wait until you’ve been accepted. For example, we’re planning to visit any school the kid’s interested in that’s within reasonable driving distance (including a variety of representative types of schools), and we did one plane trip that included a loop of five schools, but beyond that, we’re likely to limit any explorations to local info sessions until the results are in.
If you look at common data sets for each college it’ll tell you if “demonstrated interest” is important. Attending such an event counts. Plus some schools have regional recruiters there who can be strong advocates for you. I myself as a parent felt their advice was valuable as many talked about the college application process and that advice you could use anywhere.
But I wouldn’t say it’s a substitute to visiting. Just another important tool you can use.
I’ve seen representatives at college fairs. Depending on the person the school sends, it can be an informative experience. Sometimes, the exchange can be a little lackluster but you can receive plenty of information. It is no replacement to actually visiting.