<p>I agree (personally) about Brandeis’ campus – I had been there before taking my kids there, and it doesn’t appeal to me personally – but both of mine liked it. Go figure!!</p>
<p>I just posted this today on another thread, so I’ll just copy it here to offer our anecdotal experience:</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, my D will be attending a school that did not really grab her on the campus visit in August. There were other schools on her list that she liked better on the visits and that later accepted her. But after the decisions were in, she looked more deeply into each school and program and all their offerings and happily decided on the school that didn’t impress her so much on the visit. Of course, this was August (another time was not an option), the campus was very empty, it was drizzling out and she’d already been to a bunch of schools. I would just say based on this that you shouldn’t give too much importance to a superficial impression (and don’t cross off any just because of a tepid reaction). There are many more important factors when it comes down to it.</p>
<p>The previous post illustrating why, even though it may be the easiest time to visit, I think visits when colleges are not in session are a waste of time and money…and I’m <em>very</em> pro “visit.”</p>
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Huh. I think two weeks ago Thursday the Bard Young Republicans <em>did</em> hold a musical.</p>
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<p>I didn’t receive this impression from my visit to Brown and I have to admit I’m a bit incredulous as to why an admissions rep. would ever say “We don’t need to convince people to apply to Brown”. Their ultimate objective/job is to convince prospective applicants after all.</p>
<p>It seems weird to me that so many people have enough money to make all these visits before even applying to the schools.</p>
<p>^ Many visits can be done through a short road trip, which costs next to nothing. Also, wouldn’t it be a bit counter-intuitive to go an visit a school only after you’ve applied? College visits are a good way to get a general “feel” for schools which have garnered your interest.</p>
<p>Many visits can’t be done through short road trips. And even short road trips can start to add up if you have to stay overnight somewhere and can’t stay in the dorms.</p>
<p>I’ve found that some wealthy people tend to think they aren’t really that wealthy at all…</p>
<p>I guess you don’t miss these “comforts” or having parents who do these things for you until you actually don’t have the means to do things like this…</p>
<p>I agree skeletalLamping- It seems like a waste of money to visit before being accepted. Even roadtrips start adding up with gas, motels, food… You have to remember that posters on CC don’t really represent the general population. Most people we know do not go visit schools until they are accepted.</p>
<p>It’s a matter of priorities. CC regulars tend to care more about social/subjective fit than the general population.</p>
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<p>That depends where you live. Where I live, everyone visits before applying.</p>
<p>Visiting schools before being accepted is more important for athletes, who have to decide if it’s worth their time (and that of the coaches) to go through the recruitment process. My son visited a couple of schools and realized they were NOT for him, so he didn’t bother contacting those coaches anymore.</p>
<p>When the cost of college is from $80K to $200K, the cost of a couple of road trips is in the margins. Considering the weight of a potentially life-changing decision, I think it’s money well spent. Among other things, visiting some colleges had my D reconsider her criteria in a number of important areas. Her #1 on paper, she didn’t even apply to. Whereas other colleges got added to the relatively short (seven) applied list and one was wound up being the #2 choice.</p>
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<p>Why does it seem weird? Certainly you know that there are full-pay people, right? Why wouldn’t some of them have the money to visit?</p>
<p>Actually to me it seems weirder to wait til after acceptance. Why bother applying to schools, taking someone’s slot with an acceptance and then finding out with a visit that it’s not a place you like? The idea of running around like a chicken with my head cut off to squeeze in visits in April seems goofy (esp when I have twins who don’t have overlap in their choices), when I could have taken all the time upfront to have them visit. That doesn’t mean that we’ll hit everything, but doing the visits has really helped them solidify what atmospheres they like, and helps us come up with “If you like x, you might like y and z” scenarios.</p>
<p>agree with pizzagirl on this one; and fwiw, the attitude that spawns “let’s see where we get in first” could possibly be why the waitlists everywhere are so huge this year; how can one only apply to the schools they want to go to when they don’t know which schools they want to go to…</p>
<p>I agree with pizagirl as well-- and why waste the time and money applying to a school you may end up disliking?</p>
<p>Also, for some smaller schools, it can probably help to ‘show interest’ beforehand.</p>
<p>Just finished a two week long college trip with my daughter. We looked at 20 schools - some we toured, some we drove through and others she met with coaches, toured athletic facilities and attended practice. We learned a lot and my daughter was able to really focus in on what she wants in a school. As an athlete, some of her considerations are different than the average student. And because of her sport, the fall is the worst time for her to be away, so we really needed to start narrowing her choices early. It was exhausting, 3300 miles and 12 hotel nights, but I figured it was better than wasting time on the recruiting process with schools she did not like.</p>
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<p>It would have suprised me too if I had not been there. It was a very intense and uncomfortable hour. The woman who ran the session was fantastic but it left a very “let’s get out of here” feeling with us. Plus, you’ve got so little time to weed out schools, I just felt like if my kid wanted to cross a school off, fine. </p>
<p>We found the info sessions very unpredictable. The Yale tour (second school of the tour)was the most friendly, relaxed and ejoyable of any of the tours we went on. By the time we got to Harvard (second to last tour), we were not expecting the experience we had, not at all. </p>
<p>Also, we went on our tour this past summer because we live in Texas and have family on the East coast that we only see during the summer. There is no way we could have afforded to send him to tour the schools he got into this Spring. It was far from ideal…classes were not in session, we spent a maximum of a half of a day at each school and so on. But it’s what we could afford and I know we’re very lucky to have been able to afford to do that. </p>
<p>I’m still not sure what the right way to handle all of this is, no matter how big of a budget you’ve got to work with. Can anyone really make a decision about a school based on a visit, even an overnight one? Yet is not visiting a good idea if it’s at all possible to go? Even having been through it now, I don’t know the answer.</p>
<p>It pains me to see accepted students realize in April that what they really want isn’t represented in the list of schools where they’ve been accepted.</p>
<p>Our philosophy is that if you can’t see yourself being happy and challenged at a particular school, it has no business being on your list. Of course, as time went on, my kids developed some favorites from their list, but holding-your-nose-and-picking-a-safety-you’ll-NEVER-attend-so-help-you-G-d is not a good strategy. Just ask all the kids this year who applied to one safety and a dozen reaches, and got waitlisted or rejected everywhere except…you guessed it.</p>
<p>To the extent to students are involved in MUN, debate, FIRST, sports, etc. – take the opportunity and pay attention when you go to these events at colleges. The schools want you there for these events so you will be interested in applying. S2 has reported that over the past couple of years, all the college-sponsored MUNs he attended have had current students come in and give a spiel on the school. </p>
<p>We’re not rich, but there were a lot of schools we were able to visit in conjunction with staying with family/friends/within a day trip. We are lucky that there is a good range of urban/suburban/rural/private/public/large/small colleges within a day’s drive, and between both of my kids, we saw a significant number of schools within four hours of home. For the amount of money we are about to commit to the next four years (or for a full ride scholarship which would alleviate us of said commitment), I want this to be an INFORMED decision.</p>
<p>Both my kids found a couple of schools early on that they each really liked and could name some specific characteristics about them that were important. We could then look for more “schools with X” or “school y’s vibe” online and suss out whether it might be worth an IRL visit. Believe me, my DH was not going to drive from the mid-Atlantic to Minnesota without first having a darned good idea that Mac and Carleton were really serious candidates for S2!</p>
<p>We also found these trips to be a worthwhile use of frequent flyer miles/hotel points/Amtrak points accrued from business trips, etc. :)</p>
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<p>I learned the wonderful phrase, “love thy safety” here on CC and I’ve modified it to “Start with thy safety.” It really forces students to figure out what they need in a school verses what they want. And if you love your safety, the rest of the process is so much less stressful.</p>
<p>Thank goodness for all the information on-line these days!</p>
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You drove?! :shock: My dad and I drove out (also from the Mid-Atlantic) to visit LACs in Ohio, primarily Oberlin, and I thought that was a looooong drive. I later flew out to Carleton, but on the college’s dime.</p>
<p>My family is true middle class, qualifying for significant need-based aid, and I am very grateful to my immigrant parents for humoring my desire to visit a LOT of colleges (two road-trips plus a few locals). We’re also lucky to live in the Mid-Atlantic where driving to colleges is feasible.</p>