<p>What about Carnegie Mellon? Duke?</p>
<p>What was your daughter’s most impressive achievement/activity, @mommidwest?</p>
<p>Sorry for hijacking this thread :/</p>
<p>Oh, and Dartmouth says that they do not take visits into consideration.</p>
<p>Duke says that they do not take visits into consideration.</p>
<p>I think It lot depends on school, some school have formally less interest.</p>
<p>wow, thanks for the many responses!</p>
<p>It depends a LOT on the school- it’s best to go through your college list and figure it out one by one. Generally speaking, I think a lot of schools will take it into some consideration, but won’t make it a major factor. It definitely varies hugely, and you should look into it on an individual basis.</p>
<p>How will they know if you really visited though?</p>
<p>Yes, maybe, by like .0001%. So actually… no, not at all.
However, if you’ve visited a college campus before, that MAY allow you to write a more convincing generic false-sincerity “why choose our school even though you know nothing about it except for the USNWR ranking” essay.</p>
<p>collegehelp1, they’ll know if you visited because you check in for an info session or tour. If you show up at a time when there are no tours, you can still show up at the admissions office and leave your name. </p>
<p>If you live nearby (nearby=close enough that you could easily go home for an evening as a student) then you should visit. Smaller schools especially may think it’s odd if you’re applying but haven’t been able to stop by. Even if they don’t mention “demonstrated interest” on their CDS as an admissions factor. </p>
<p>Some schools really, really, really want to be shown a lot of love. These are generally schools that aren’t at the very tippy-top of the heap. Once you have a list of schools you’re interested in, you have to go digging and find out which schools do give a significant admissions tip for visiting or otherwise showing your love. CC is a great resource for that. </p>
<p>Remember, you can show demonstrated interest by sending questions to the admissions office or a department, by attending a regional visit by an adcom, by showing up when an adcom comes to your high school, and so forth. If no adcom is going to show up in your area or at your school, email the adcom for your general area and ask if they might consider visiting. </p>
<p>I’ll also strongly encourage you to visit your safeties before applying, if at all possible. If you don’t like the school at all, it’s no safety.</p>
<p>I know that Emory University takes interest into consideration :)</p>
<p>Some schools could care less if you went there twice a week</p>
<p>Davidson does. Duke admissions told us they did not.</p>
<p>Do schools take into account how far it is from their campus to where you live before deciding to consider if you did or didn’t visit? </p>
<p>If you do live far from a campus, will a school accept an interview with an alum as a viable alternative to a campus interview/visit?</p>
<p>Do schools differentially consider someone who just visits from someone who also takes an on campus interview when they visit?</p>
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<p>Often. But the important thing is showing your interest in the institution (when demonstrated interest is an important thing, which it isn’t always). Visiting isn’t the only way to demonstrate interest in a college. </p>
<p>If you’re interested in a college far from home, find out the name and email address of the admissions officer who handles applications from your area. Email that person and ask whether he or she will be in your area–at your school, at a nearby school, at a college fair, etc. Make an effort to go see that person. Take his or her card, and leave your name with him or her. Follow up after the meeting with an email saying how much you appreciate having had the chance to learn more about [name of college]. Even if you can’t meet the college rep when he’s in your area, at least the rep will know from the email exchange that you tried.</p>
<p>Write a killer “Why [name of college]?” essay. Lots of selective colleges and universities have them on their supplements. Really talk about that institution, and not just how much you want to go to college in Boston or DC or NYC or California. Tell not only what you can get from the college community, but also how you can contribute to it.</p>
<p>I would say yes</p>
<p>One, they keep track of visitors</p>
<p>So they must care</p>
<p>Two, my brother’s kid got into Cornell, but got wait listed at Syracuse.</p>
<p>He suspects that the reason is that he never visited Syracuse.</p>
<p>Basically, schools that do give you a better chance if you visited only do so because they want to make sure you show interest and will most likely attend if you get accepted. Now, for schools such as the Ivy Leagues, they really do not care whether you visit or not (although I encourage you to visit them) because they know that they have a plethora of applicants willing to attend if accepted, so they do not need to worry whether someone is interested in the school or not. They know everyone who applies to their school has it in their top 3 choices…</p>
<p>floridadad55, schools keep track of visitors so they can see how many students/prospies/tourists stop by and so that they can send out mailings to try to interest a student to apply. Our family strolled around Columbia years ago. D1, then a rising high school freshman, gave the admissions office her contact info. Sure enough, a shiny viewbook appeared in our mail a few weeks later. Columbia doesn’t consider demonstrated interest at all–this is just marketing for them.</p>
<p>Syracuse doesn’t publish a Common Data Set, so there’s no easy way to check their policy on demonstrated interest.</p>
<p>Lots of schools say they don’t – but then ask the question “Why do you want to come here?” At some level they want to know why you’re interested.</p>
<p>Essentially, it may not help, but will never hurt. The further you live from a school, the it will matter if you don’t visit (but on the other hand, it does sort of stand out if you do). If a school is day-trippable and you don’t visit it’s sort of sending the message that this isn’t your first choice.</p>
<p>(btw, with my D, her GC strongly recommended visiting every school that was in driving distance).</p>
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<p>Nah … just Google “USNWR Rankings,” take the top 25, and game away. That’s the College Confidential way.</p>