We did a whirlwind college road trip last summer with my D22 and did hit some other schools here and there along the way. Here are some highlights - all told, we probably visited about 25 campuses. She did not apply to every school we visited and we did not visit every school she applied to. In the end the school she chose was a school we did not visit until admitted student day. 
Swarthmore - Way up - It was the admissions materials and the emails that made my daughter apply at the last minute (last day to apply). On our whirlwind, 20 state college road trip last summer we didn’t make it to Swarthmore because we ran out of daylight, although it was probably 15 minutes away. (We hit UPenn, Bryn Mawr, Haverford and Villanova - and she ended up applying to only one) She hadn’t been paying much attention to Swarthmore, but I was talking to her about needing to look at some other schools, possibly some LACs before the deadlines closed. So, she started looking at all the material she had received from Swarthmore and Haverford. The material from Swarthmore was so different from everybody else, the mailings were quirky and fun, so she applied. Not only did she apply, but it was probably the quickest essays she wrote. She had more fun with the application and felt like she was more herself in the essays she wrote for Swarthmore than any other school and sort of wished she could start the admission process over with this new mind set. She took her queue from their marketing and thought that they were her best essays and she wished she had kind of used a similar approach with other schools. We happened to be sort of in the area in late February, so we visited - it was freezing cold and we did a self-tour, but the people we encountered were friendly (including a random family we spoke to who were also self-touring and turned out to be from our town, 1500 miles away) and she really liked the campus, it is beautiful, and the town and the proximity to Philly. At this point, although admissions deadlines for everybody she applied to were past, it moved way up her list. She was accepted in mid-March. Unfortunately, they blew it in the end with the second visit - they couldn’t get us into the only Swatstruck day she could travel to because it was ‘full’. They said we could come up for a regular tour. Made it sound like they would have something set up for admitted students at the tour, even a 30-minute session, or something. But they didn’t, just dumped us and one or two other accepted families in with a bunch of people who were thinking about applying next fall. There was a very good info session for people who were considering Swarthmore, but then the tour guide my D selected out of the handful based on his major had clearly just rolled out of bed and was not a very good guide. We did have an excellent tour of a particular department later that my D set up on her own, but it was too little to sell my D22… probably finished 3rd.
Duke - way way up - On our big multi-state college tour - Duke was supposed to be sort of on the front end but got moved to our last stop. By the time we got towards the end of our trip, we were exhausted and the person who was going to give us a tour cancelled. So, we diverted before we ever got to North Carolina because it wasn’t really on my Ds radar anyway. Never saw the campus before applying, I convinced her to apply because there are some particular unique quality options for a minor or double major available for her that I thought she would like if she decided to pursue it that she might not have at other schools and thought she should at least consider it. She barely got in the application by the deadline for interviews - which I think was in mid to late December. Ended up being her last interview I think, in mid-February and her favorite interview by far, which moved it way up her list. When we finally made it to campus, it was as an accepted student on a Blue Devil Day and I guess it was a completely different experience to what several here seemed to have - weather was perfect, campus was beautiful, and they did everything right. They sold the school to the student and the family over and over again. Also noted on the Blue Devil Day sign ups (in contrast to Swarthmore) that it said if they were full to contact the admissions office and they would get you into one. After finally touring Duke after her acceptance, it shot to the top of her list of schools she had been accepted to. She fell in love with the campus and the area and the way they broke up admitted student day, the students were separated from the parents and making friends and having a good time. (From my personal viewpoint, the campus is beautiful but unnecessarily enormous for the relatively small student body and I don’t like that the freshman live on a separate campus and buses are required to get to/from.)
NYU - Down - still loved NYC and still applied, but after visiting campuses like Hopkins and Vanderbilt and Washington & Lee (tour of opportunity - it was right there a couple miles out of our route, Virginia Tech was too, but she had no desire to stop) and even Columbia it no longer held the same appeal for her. So, it definitely moved down the list. Was accepted and was in the mix at the end, top 6.
Johns Hopkins - moved down the list a little after visiting - because of Baltimore, not because of the campus. On subsequent visit, moved up the list again. After acceptance they also did a bad job with restricting their accepted student day numbers because of Covid. They did a better job of separating accepted students at the normal tour we had to attend for our 3rd visit instead of the accepted student day, actually gave her a swag bag. Separate meeting and tour for accepted students, but not the full accepted student event (Blue Jay Day). But then there was still Baltimore… also what hurt was lack of housing for juniors and seniors. In other towns, cities I would be ok if she wants to move off campus junior or senior year, but not so sure about Baltimore, and you don’t have an option. If 4 years housing was guaranteed, I would have pushed harder for Hopkins. But on that 3rd visit, the info session was excellent, and the tour was also excellent. Wished we could have seen a dorm room. After just being blown away by Duke and disappointed by the Swarthmore tour, prompting her to eliminate Swarthmore, we spent a day and half in Baltimore before the Hopkins tour, and she was ready to leave without doing the visit. However, once on the tour I could see she was completely torn. The campus is beautiful and the students they chose for the information session for the admitted students and the tour were all perfect choices, they were extremely articulate and highly motivated with multiple majors, and they made my daughter want to go there. So, it moved back up the list and ultimately finished 2nd I think.
Boston U - Up - liked the campus but loved Boston and really liked the programs BU offered, was in the final mix top 6.
Northeastern - stayed the same - liked the campus, didn’t like the info sessions, tour was ok, had a better tour night before with friend. Info session was like sales pitch, but not one you wanted to be at. (Note: I realize all info sessions are sales pitches, but some schools make it seem like a used car sales pitch and you feel the need to bathe, and other schools make you really want to go there). Ended up not applying.
Washington & Lee - self tour - got on the list so I guess Up, just because the campus was nice, and the town was nice. Ended up applying and it was one of her favorite interviews. She was accepted but it had too many strong contenders.
UVA - off the list - visited campus after deciding we weren’t driving through North Carolina on our big college road trip. Liked the campus, thought it was beautiful, but it didn’t impress her enough to apply.
Pace University - off the list - this school probably seems out of place, but there is a reason for it to be on the list, and absolutely the best tour we had of any campus during our multi state tour. (Granted of the 20+ campuses we visited, only had official tours at about 7 or 8.) However, the tour convinced her that she was definitely not going to apply there.
Tulane - off the list - wasn’t really on her list to begin with, but there seemed to be some good things about the programs, and it was a good first night stopping point and they were offering actual tours. To say she hated it would be an understatement. She hated the campus, hated the city. The information sessions were again, kind of like bad sales pitches. The tour was terrible, absolute worst of the official tours, (although I think the best free swag) she couldn’t get out of there fast enough. Did not apply. Campus did not seem well maintained at all, everything overgrown, buildings in disrepair, which made me wonder what they did with that $83,000 a year.
MIT - off the list - was never really on the list, but we were in the area so we self-toured MIT. Did nothing for her. Touring campus didn’t get it onto the list and did not apply. Didn’t like the campus and didn’t change her lack of desire to apply to MIT.
We were supposed to go to some more admitted student days, but we were exhausted, and we had no time. Had signed up for two on the same day thinking we would decide on one, in the end we cancelled both because she decided she didn’t want to see anything else. So, we never got to tour Emory or Northwestern. The other ones, we figured we had been to campus already or she had already decided no. Never even made it to the closest school she was accepted to, because we always figured we could hit it any weekend, but we never found time - UT Austin.
Where did yours end up accepting?
- lol