<p>How important for your application is it to visit Carleton ? We are from Chicago , but in a bit of a financial fix right now since Dad is out of work. Son says he 'd visit for a final enrollment decision if he were accepted. His academics are great (4.7 gpa, 8/340. good HS, 10 APs, AP scholar w/ distinction), but his ACT is on the lower end of CC's mid 50 at 29. ECs are light. His 'passion' is school.Recs good probably.</p>
<p>We were in the same boat - live on East Coast, flights too expensive, so my daughter did not get to visit before applying. Not a problem…Carleton understands.</p>
<p>However, she did show interest by attending an interview in NYC and a traveling LAC college presentation that Carleton was part of that was withing driving distance. Perhaps have your son check out what’s in the Chicago area and try to attend? My daughter was interviewed by an alum who drove 6 hours to come and help out - that impressed her. The “interview” was just a nice conversation and she came back with a great impression of the sort of folks that choose go to Carleton. She’s now a happy sophomore.</p>
<p>Same as fostertv, East Coast, son did not visit before admission. But son went to NYC interview and had a great conversation with an admissions officer, attended a regional Carleton event, and, while he could NOT fit an interview with a local alum into his schedule, he had talked with Carleton Dean of Admissions at a high-school college night in October of his senior year (this is what got him psyched to apply as he loved the conversation). He’s a very happy freshman.</p>
<p>Definitely don’t worry about visiting being a factor in admission to Carleton. A campus visit to Carleton is for the applicant’s benefit to help decide whether the school is a good fit. </p>
<p>Schools where a campus visit matters from the school’s perspective are those that take into account the level of the applicant’s interest in the school when making admissions decisions. Carleton does not. </p>
<p>However, it does ask ‘why Carleton’ in its supp. Your S needs to put some thought into that answer. </p>
<p>An off-campus interview can be a factor in the admissions decision. Your S should request one.</p>
<p>thanks for the input.</p>
<p>but I just happened upon this thread, indicating that visiting is pretty important.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/carleton-college/697687-what-does-take-accepted-into-carleton.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/carleton-college/697687-what-does-take-accepted-into-carleton.html</a></p>
<p>While some posters on the older thread felt that visiting the campus had a (positive) impact on their admission results, Carleton itself in their Common Data Set says that the level of the applicant’s interest in Carleton is not considered in admissions decisions. I would take them at their word.</p>
<p>In our case (we live on the East Coast), similar to many above, S2 did not visit before acceptance, but did interview with a Carleton rep in NYC. Had a very nice interview, got accepted, and is a happy freshman at Carleton.</p>
<p>THis is one reason I inserted the fact that we live in Chicago, a mere 7.5/8 hrs and about $150 in gas in our gas guzzling jalopy away - does being in the mw , from a realpolitik point of view, tend to make an expectation from admissions that a visit is close to req’d? I think most or all of the posters here are from NY, which is understandable if they did not make it to visit.</p>
<p>@ roderick : I am no more informed than you are, but I’ve done the road trip between Minneapolis and Chicago as a college student – in the dead of winter – and it’s not a walk in the woods. Unless you skid off the Interstate and down an embankment, that is. A trip of that length is not something to be expected. As niceday and dadx3 point out, they’re not even penalizing those who don’t make the trek from Minneapolis-to-Northfield.</p>
<p>I think for people who did get accepted and did make a visit, they had lots of warm and fuzzy feelings and felt as though their experience was so good that it must have had a positive impact. Yet these people know just as little as you or I about what the admission office took into account when deciding to accept them. The fact that they received an offer of admission gives them no special insights that you or I can’t glean from the admissions office.</p>
<p>Considering that Carleton has taken a public position that interest is not a factor, they should expect that people are relying on that and not going the extra mile…or hundreds of miles…to ensure that item gets addressed by a campus visit. And since they understand people are relying on that, I strongly doubt that they’re secretly penalizing applicants for taking them at their word.</p>
<p>Still, I think there’s good advice here. The “Why?” essay will be important because other applicants who do visit will have more fodder to draw from. And, for that reason, the regional visits and local alumni interviews will be important. Not just for crafting the essay but also for coming to an informed decision should that be an option come April.</p>
<p>If you’re asking because you’re hoping to weed out some application fees from son’s list – with the idea that it’s not worth applying to Carleton because he’ll be too harshly penalized by the “no visit” to make it practical – I think you’ll need to continue looking for low hanging fruit. We had a tough time thinning out son’s list so I feel your pain.</p>
<p>thanks, dyer. I know we have spoken before. I 'm not interest in thinning the app list here; rather, I wanted to do whatever we cd to bolster his app to Carleton since we think it wd be a good fit and I am weighing the time and money costs vs benefits. We’ve already sent test scores, transcripts, the lot, to CC. </p>
<p>and Yes, you are right about the trip .We have relatives in the Twin cities and have seen MANY a car in those embankments. It’s novena time when driving in the dead of winter!</p>
<p>As a blind traveler myself, roderick, I feel obliged as a matter of professional courtesy to lead fellow blind travelers, such as yourself, through the college admissions process.</p>
<p>Roderick, I think you should go by what the college says, that they don’t take interest into account in admissions. That was certainly my son’s experience (he’s now a senior). We live in the south and didn’t visit. When he filled out the Common App, he didn’t even request an alumni interview. I thought, “That sinks it,” but I’d already used up my two admissions suggestions for the month (those usually sent him in the opposite direction anyway), so I kept my mouth shut. Just another data point here. Good luck!</p>