<p>As a rising Junior, I'd like to get a headstart on college visits this summer.</p>
<p>I was just curious how many schools, on average, people usually visit before applying.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Same here. My thought is that I should visit whatever schools on my list fit together in a trip itinerary.</p>
<p>rather than starting with an absolute number in mind, your 1st step should be to visit area colleges of different types; a LAC, a large U, schools in urban & rural areas, etc. Get an idea of what you like by visiting rather than just thinking of what you’d like. A lot of kids that are sure they’d like a particular type find themselves changing their minds when they’re actually visiting a real example instead of just imagining what it must be like.</p>
<p>Mike gives some great advice. Then go visit as many as you can, and try to visit when classes are in session.</p>
<p>I visited 1 school before I applied and 1 school while I applied (both were regional safeties). My plan was to wait until I was accepted until I visited to save time and money. However, I think some top privates factor in whether a student visited in considering admission.</p>
<p>And I definitely think I learned enough online and through the mail to the point where a visit was not necessary to determine whether I liked a school or not.</p>
<p>Visit any and all you are interested in if possible BEFORE you apply. I only formally visited 3 schools that I applied to (and I applied to 11) beforehand, and had been to the campus of 2 others. I might not have applied to some of them had I visited. The third school I formally visited was SUNY Stony Brook. Before the visit, I thought it was going to be one of my top choices. After the visit, I chose not to apply. Visits really help you get the feel of schools, and every school, even schools of the same type and approximately the same size and location are very different from each other. So visit what you can, and do major research on everything else.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot for the feedback, this advice gives me a pretty good idea of how I should plan visits.</p>