<p>I'm a current junior and wondering, do you think it's necessary to visit a college before you commit to it? Since college is such a huge commitment, I would think you should be 100% sure of your decision, and sometimes looking at pictures and reading statistics might not be enough. I'm aware that each campus has a "vibe" to it and sometimes it just doesn't fit with a student. Should I take time out of my summer to visit all colleges I'm applying to to get a sense of the "vibe"? Any college students/parents have comments?</p>
<p>It seems like today’s trend is to visit at least prior to accepting an offer. But, there are plenty of older folks who headed off to colleges for freshman year sight-unseen. And it worked. </p>
<p>Visting in the summer may not give you an accurate feel. Some of the smaller colleges we visited last summer were pretty empty, and we did not see many students. We have to go back now to revisit during the year.</p>
<p>If you have the money to visit, I would highly recommend. My son loved the programs at University of Michigan, but after he was accepted an visited, he said it was very unlikely he would attend. I enjoyed our experience there, he was turned off. I hate the thought of him going to a school - sight unseen - and realizing his first week that he hates it. </p>
<p>That being said, some people can thrive anywhere and make the most of the opportunities available.</p>
<p>Even if you visit, which I highly recommend, you are never going to be 100% sure. There are tons of threads here about people who visit, love it, and then wonder why they see other people give a place negative reviews. Like, what did they miss, were they taken in, my friend hated that place, all my relatives say it’s too big/small/cold/humid/crime ridden/far/close/rural/urban, etc. And my favorite, I love it, but it’s my dad’s rival school and he won’t talk to me if I go there. (Something about Michigan vs. Michigan State hockey 35 years ago.)</p>
<p>We mostly did our visits during spring break and summer, so we never got to see gobs of students, but there were enough there even during those times that you can pick up on things. All you have to do is find a few students like yourself to know that you’ll be comfortable there - plus do a lot of online research. </p>
<p>Each campus even during off times still gives off a certain vibe. When we did our tours, there was one building in particular on a campus that everyone in our family was drawn to. Being summer, it was pretty empty, but it was designed with winter in mind, and it’s the building that D would spend a lot of time in, if she went there and stayed in her major. Loved the feel of the test of campus, but there was something about that building. That school became her #1A choice, a more prestigious school was #1. If she could combine the best aspects of both, she would, but she had to make a choice for ED, so she went with #1. Deferred. So on to #1A and ED2, with the awesome building. Accepted. Still haven’t been there with students, we’ll do that next month, but she is very excited and I know it’s the right choice. (Unless we have somehow made a huge mistake…)</p>
<p>Kei: in August-October, apply to all the fly-ins you can. As a URM/first gen/high stats kid, you’ll get into a lot of them and it’ll allow you to visit small or non-urban campuses you may not know much about, get a “feel” for the school, etc.
This is from a nonprofit website mostly for first gen students, it lists the Fly Ins every year and this is for 2013 to give you an idea.
<a href=“Articles | Cappex”>Articles | Cappex;
<p>I think there are some folks who will “grow where planted”…eg can fit in just about everywhere. Who have been away from home lots, to camps etc., who are able to adapt regardless of whether it is what they expected. If you are one of those, perhaps not necessary. </p>