<p>I am currently in an undergraduate music theory/composition program, and I have an interest in going to graduate school for music (probably composition). How important is it to personally visit all of the schools you apply to? If I want to go to grad school right after undergrad, is it better to visit grad school junior or senior year?</p>
<p>It helps you learn about the programs of course, but visits also help you learn what kind of attention graduate students receive. That is hard to tell without a visit. Visiting also helps cement your relationship with the program directors that will likely be involved with the admissions process.</p>
<p>I disagree. I don’t think it’s worth visiting until you are admitted. Most schools will in fact fly out students they have admitted or are interviewing.</p>
<p>Find out what the norm is in your field. If it’s expected that you visit ahead of time, you should probably do that. If a visit is part of the application process (e.g. for an interview or open house for admitted students), you probably don’t want to spend too much money on visits beforehand. I would however visit local programs before applying - you don’t have much to lose and you can get a better sense of what you are looking for and if you are really interested in that particular program.</p>
<p>Visiting a school while you are an applicant puts a face and personality to the application and increases your chances of admission (especially if you end up on the bubble). Whether or not you are on the bubble, it helps you understand the program better and have more clarity about where you will ultimately want to go. Of course that is also possible after getting your offers, but if visits help you see which schools you want most passionately, you are more prepared to fight for a specific school, or articulate why a particular school during an interview. It shows the adcom you are more serious.</p>
<p>Of course later when you are admitted, you can visit again. Perhaps this time you can focus on relationship building instead of fact finding.</p>
<p>Visiting early has no downside except the investment and had good upside benefits.</p>
<p>As b@r!um pointed out, it depends on the program. I don’t really know how humanities programs work but in my field (econ), visiting early and trying to contact faculty gives the impression that you don’t really know how the system works, and it isn’t looked upon favorably.</p>