Must You Visit To Be Accepted?

Parents Forum
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<p>I was wondering just how important are campus visits and info sessions in order to be accepted to a major college? I know at Stanford they don't care if you visit or not. At our info session we were told by an admissions officer "The fact that you are applying to Stanford tells us you are interested in coming here". I'm not sure that is the case at these other schools. </p>

<p>The schools we have NOT visited that my son may be applying to are: </p>

<p>Cornell (only attended a local info session in our area)
Columbia (only attended a local info session in our area)
Princeton
Illinois
Purdue
U Texas
Washington (WA)
Cal Poly SLO</p>

<p>Would a personal visit enhance my son's chances for acceptance and/or is attending a local info session in our area good enough?</p>

2

<p>Many schools are looking for “demonstrated interest” in the students that apply.</p>

<p>One way to do this is with a campus visit. I don’t think anyone knows how much difference it can actually make.</p>

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<p>notrichenough, Wonder if they should change the term to “demonstrated disposable time and income”? There are time and financial constraints when son has selected schools from coast to coast.</p>

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<p>That’s why schools like Stanford say it makes no difference - they draw applications from the entire country and understand that it is not possible for many students to visit.</p>

<p>But at lots of other schools, it means something. Is it used for tie-breakers? Do they give it actual weight? Does it factor into merit aid/grants?</p>

<p>Good questions to research for any particular school if you can. Most schools in my experience don’t really spell it out in black and white, and I’m not sure I believe their answers anyway. </p>

<p>There are other ways to show “demonstrated interest”, such as a recurring email conversation with the area rep. Attending local info sessions may also do it.</p>

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<p>Thanks. Maybe I can borrow your user name “notrichenough”.</p>

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<p>For CalPoly SLO - no - visiting won’t help the chances of being offered admission. I doubt that the admissions department would even know whether you visited or not.</p>

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<p>Check those schools’ Common Data sets to see if demonstrated interest is taken into consideration.</p>

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<p>X-man, doesn’t “demonstrated interest” unofficially apply pretty much everywhere?</p>

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<p>Next tier down schools care if you visit - Wash U, Tufts… Pretty much any school with a bit of complex, afraid you are using them as a back up school. A school like Cornell is a back up school for higher tier ivied, but it is big enough and has enough specialized school that it is more important to demonstrate interest for those specialty schools (architecture, hotel…). That’s usually done through internships and portfolio rather than through visits. </p>

<p>I don’t think your kid needs to visit most of those schools on his list. They are either top tier schools or large state schools. I don’t know about Purdue though.</p>

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<p>oldfort, son applying to Engineering school at Cornell. Would this NOT apply as a specialty school?</p>

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<p>D got into both Purdue and Washington without a visit.</p>

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<p>Thanks mom. A woman who tells her age… I like that!</p>

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<p>Your son should be fine for Cornell Engineering without a visit.</p>

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<p>“Level of applicant’s interest”</p>

<p>Cornell - not considered
Princeton - considered
Illinois - considered
Purdue - considered
UTexas - considered
Washington - not considered
Cal Poly SLO - not considered</p>

<p>As with most of the Ivy League schools, I do not believe Columbia considers one’s “interest,” but they do not release a Common Data set.</p>

<p>But, of course, demonstrating interest is not required to be admitted. It’s a “tipping point” factor.</p>

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<p>Perhaps my example is purely anecdotal, but I was accepted into Princeton without a visit or much “demonstrated interest.”</p>

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<p>“Level of applicants interest” could also apply to any statements made on a supplemental essay as well couldn’t it? Do you think it definitely applies to visits? If it does, it is somewhat discriminatory…</p>

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<p>Level of applicant’s interest is up to interpretation. :slight_smile: Emails to admissions reps/alumni, visits (on campus or at college fair), etc.</p>

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<p>Schools also understand if you live far away then it is hard for you to visit. On the other hand, if you live in NYC and never visited Columbia, they would wonder.</p>

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<p>Thanks for your feedback. Always good information.</p>

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<p><em>Anecdotal Evidence Alert</em></p>

<p>I was accepted into Columbia as a John Jay Scholar (with a likely letter), though I never visited despite the fact that I live about 50 minutes away. :)</p>