<p>How important is it to visit the campus PRIOR to submitting your application? My daughter is applying EA but is so busy with sports and academics that she can't visit until after the EA deadline. However, she will be attending a couple local "ND on the Road" events in her home town and will definitely visit the campus in November or December. </p>
<p>My daughter was accepted EA and she had never visited the campus or attended any admissions events before applying. ND is one of the most geographically diverse schools in the country, so I would guess that a good number of students they accept have not had the chance to visit before applying, especially in the EA round. </p>
<p>You will find a lot of interesting information in the Common Data Set, including how student interest is considered. Here is a link to all the CDS files for Notre Dame for several years.</p>
<p><a href=“CDS -- Office of Strategic Planning & Institutional Research”>http://www3.nd.edu/~instres/CDS/CDS.shtml</a></p>
<p>Section C7 indicates that student interest is “considered” (other categories are “Very Important”, “Important”, and “Not Considered”. So it is not a big factor, but they do notice if she has been in contact or not. If she signed in at the “ND on the Road” events, that is good. If they have a way to sign up for emails at the admissions website and she hasn’t done so, she should. It is fine that she will be visiting, but probably those other things would be enough to show she is interested already.</p>
<p>Something to consider is how close you live to campus. If you’re outside of the Midwest, I wouldn’t worry about it at all. I didn’t visit until after I was accepted, but I live in the north east so that is understood. An email to her local rep could be considered</p>
<p>She will be fine. I agree that if you are from a distance it is fine not to visit, especially since you are attending local events. Be certain to register/sign in for the events that are local so the school knows you were there. And a visit in November or early December will still be before any admissions decision is made – she can always send a brief email her local rep after a visit (if it is before decisions are made) and update the application to let him/her that she did get to the campus and what her impressions were, why it makes her want the school more etc.</p>