<p>Hey all,
I just came back from an alumni interview at starbucks and I thought it went pretty well. I told my interviewer that I have not yet visited Midd, and he said it would probably be a good idea to do so soon because Middlebury sort of "expects" campus visits from serious prospective students who live relatively close by (I live in CT).</p>
<p>Can anyone provide any input regarding whether or not a campus-visit from has any impact on the admissions decision? (I suppose not visiting if I live close by might, at worst, be interpreted by adcoms as "I just threw my app into the pile. I'm not really serious about attending)</p>
<p>assuming the adcom even cared about telegraph signals like that, an alumni interview by itself would be more than enough. IMO, the interviewer was being over-zealous.</p>
<p>Yeah, I think I basically agree with Johnwesley. While, I do think it’s certainly in your best interest to visit, especially when living as close as CT, I don’t think it will do much damage. I think a failure to visit is something that could only come into play when it comes down to two candidates - all other things being equal. I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it.</p>
<p>i’d go if you can work it out. they want to protect their yield and hence like to admit students they think want to go there. visiting doesnt really establish that even if you went before you applied–it just establishes you had the money to go i guess–but like you said, youre risking the perception that you had just taken a shot without specific interest</p>
<p>fyi: i got waitlisted at bowdoin never went, waitlisted at cornell never went, got into middlebury had visited, got into wesleyan had visited, and so on…</p>
<p>no way of knowing if theres a correlation–but i do believe they split hairs when it comes right down to it and if you really like midd id do it since itll ease your mind about the whole thing. if you didnt get in youd have the non-visit to beat yourself up over and if you did get in it might save e a visit afterwards to decide if you wanted to go there or not</p>
<p>I agree with fisherman. Schools want to admit kids who really want to attend (and also protect their yield). No school is going to assume it’s your first choice if you’ve never seen it. So you are sending a message if you haven’t visited, especially since you live relatively close. But I’m not sure if visiting now will change impression or not… I guess it can’t hurt to make the effort.</p>
<p>As a former resident of Ripton (right outside Middlebury), I’d guess that the interviewer figured that a campus visit would really sell you on the school. Why? Because the campus is beautiful, and the setting is spectacular. The town of Middlebury is the quintessential picturesque little New England town. There’s a HUGE waterfall right smack in the middle of town – I kid you not. </p>
<p>All in all, it’s an absolutely idyllic place to spend four years. And if you love the mountains and the outdoors, you won’t be able to resist. </p>
<p>(No, nobody paid me to say all this, LOL. But, when we lived in Ripton and I worked in Middlebury, I always used to ask myself, “Why didn’t I go to that college?” The campus and the setting were just soooo appealing!)</p>
<p>Thanks for the replies. I’ll definitely try to make it up there at some point. I’m going skiing in northern VT over Feb. break, so maybe I can stop at Midd on the way home.</p>
Although indeed informative.</p>