Definitely don’t applyanywhere binding without a physical visit.
If that means everywhere is RD at this point, so be it.
You will be somewhere four years, day after day. You want to ensure the school, the city, the campus - that all are right for you.
As mentioned above, Princeton Review’s Best Colleges and Fiske Guide are 2 excellent ways to get a sense of a university’s vibe before visiting or deciding.
If you’re considering a gap year, perhaps be selective as to where you apply - you would not be able to apply again next year at the selective private universities. So, select your absolute favorites and 1-2 back ups but leave some off the list so that you can apply ED somewhere new next year if need be.
(Strictly speaking, nothing will stop you from re applying but adcoms don’t go “oops, we made a mistake last year” and if you were denied the year before odds are overwhelming that you will be again, exceptions being, a student who was considered international&is now a citizen or your parents made a million-worth donation…)
Students at residential colleges (which virtually all top schools are) spend 90% of their time on campus. Sometimes they’re not even allowed to have a car. Their lives revolve around classes, dorm, library, labs, lawns/arboretum/paths/lake/outdoors, gym/swimming pool/rec center, cafeteria(s), student union. Even those living in/near a city rarely go in actuality because residential colleges make sure there’s everything locally. (Also bc public transportation can be absoluteky dismal). College towns tend to be geared toward students and walkable so freshmen would walk off campus to a restaurant or a movie theater for a film their college doesn’t show (remember that unlike Europe all places that serve alcohol would be off limits such as nightclubs and bars). Once or twice a semester they may go to the city for a big exhibition, concert, or sports event - even if they imagined going every weekend.
My advice is to check out 1) what goes on over weekends on campus 2) what is walkable from campus 3) is there public transportation - light rail? Train? City buses?- from campus to the nearest city and how long does that take (ie., Marta in Atlanta, Septa around Philly, etc.)
If you would like an example of this on the east coast, Rutgers is strong in your areas of interest and offers an honors college. On the west coast, UCs such as UCSB and UCSC offer honors programs.
Fwiw, the honors colleges generally considered the best nationally (and it’s been quite consistent over the years) are USC-Columbia Honors, ASU Barrett, PSU Schreyer, UMichigan LSA honors, and UT Austin Plan II.
Definitely – I won’t apply ED anywhere without visiting.
That’s interesting about the GW meal plan. I’ll look at their Mount Vernon campus!
Vassar’s Art History program is renowned. Ticks most all of your boxes (but no merit aid).
I note I think a lot of Honors College application deadlines are coming up 12/1. That is certainly true at Delaware (which again is a very good fit for you academically):
While sadly it appears that it hasn’t been published since 2015, Yale Daily News’ “Insiders Guide to Colleges” gives fabulous insight into colleges from the students’ perspective. When I read about my undergrad, 30 or so years later, it still gave a very familiar perspective! Highly recommend it!
It was my favorite too! 
OP could try and find the last edition to have an idea of what’s traditional and what’s changed (
“how did Amherst change so fast” thread!)
@swiftfedora : seriously, lots of Dec1 deadlines at Honors Colleges where you can still apply with as many already passed (oct 15 and Nov1). Pretty much your last chance.
Lucky you for PSU the deadline for internationally educated applicants wasn’t Nov1, so if you get both the general app (easy) and Schreyer app (long, “academic” essays bc the essays are the main factor alongside 9-12 rigor, they take a long time…)
ASU Barrett should be next or first.
By the way, my understanding is Delaware Honors is one of those programs where the main advantages are priority registration, guaranteed nice dorms (with other particularly academic-minded students), a few core honors classes and then honors sections in some larger classes, and good advising. A lot of people also get good merit awards, but technically that is a separate thing.
But that collection of stuff can be pretty significant! Like, I have heard Delaware Honors kids tend to do really well in grad program placement, which makes sense since they have good advising and also can develop relationships with the professors of their choosing in their department.
Just something to keep in mind as you are thinking about long-term paths. Particularly if, as I believe is true, you will likely need to go to grad school for a career in art conservation. I strongly suspect if you are a standout/Honors student in the Delaware Art Conservation Department, those professors will help you get where you need to go next. And same if you end up outstanding in Chemistry, or indeed something else entirely.
As a general comment related to evaluating suggestions that have been made, colleges that offer a separate department for art history tend to be stronger in this area than colleges at which art history and studio arts are offered through a single department. Nonetheless, Williams is an example of an exception to this.
They have two campuses but most classrooms are on the main campus. We went for a visit and my S24 did not like it at all - way too urban. We took the shuttle bus to the Foggy Bottom campus just to see it. It was pleasant enough, much more typical of a campus but it is very small.
We were living in Japan when my son started college in the US, so we also started with “schools in cities with direct international flights to Tokyo,” but that turned out to be too limiting. We then focused on schools located close to airports with good connections to hub cities, and that really opened up the field. In the end, he chose a school about a half an hour from Columbus, Ohio, which has a very user-friendly airport, and he was able to connect to Tokyo flights via Atlanta, Chicago, New York, LA, etc. Now, we’re in Southern France and he’s in graduate school in Glasgow. No direct flights, so he comes home to Nice via London or Paris after departing from Glasgow or Edinburgh. There’s not much difference between his previous US connections and his current connections in terms of time. If I were you, I would think about schools first and then try and map out the travel issues case by case. Almost every US university has a helpful page describing how to get there by air, train, etc., and we studied those.
If colleges in England are too restrictive, have you thought about any of the ones in Scotland? From what I understand, they allow more breadth of study than in England.
With respect to U.S. colleges, though, below are some colleges that you may want to look into. If a school isn’t in a major urban area, then it generally has particularly strengths in art history/conservation/museum studies.
Additionally, I’d strongly advise have at least one (and preferably more than one) school that is extremely likely to accept you, be affordable, and that you would be happy to attend.
Extremely Likely (80-99+%)
Likely (60-79%)
Toss-Up (40-59%)
Lower Probability (20-39%)
Low Probability (less than 20%)
Except that American University really does not like being used as a “safety” by applicants who are likely to get admitted to Georgetown or George Washington. “Overqualified” applicants to American need to show a very high level of interest beyond applying.
True. Same with GW.
The student will have to ensure they show interest at various schools.
I suspect they’ll get into a reach but given the nature at selective schools, it’s why they need others. And quickly.
The first Charleston deadline has already passed, as an example. So it’s a ‘safety’ which seems to meet all needs including a vibrant art scene but this student would need to be in Honors and maybe above to match their accomplishment. So there’s another deadline upcoming but for any schools of interest, you need to track dates and to start applying. Getting late.
And it’s not just applying. Some, like GW, AU and more willing you for not showing interest. They figure if you don’t do online sessions or open emails at a minimum, you’re unlikely to accept that’s more likely at private than public schools and not all track it but those two do.
I do agree with and noted the same in my first post that OP would be wise to expand beyond cities with non stop flights.
Emory has a good academic reputation, large enough to offer you a breadth of options – but not as scary selective as some of the T20s. It has a nice campus on the outskirts of the city of Atlanta / Decatur.
Atlanta itself is an attractive, very diverse city, with quite many colleges/universities, and while not a “metropolis” in the scale of NYC, London, etc. it has several areas with a “young vibe.” And of course, many direct flights to all major European (and UK) airports.
I think it’s worth a look for being an academic fit, but also satisfying other of your criteria.
Perhaps you haven’t been to Atlanta recently. Atlanta is a major city (population in the metro area is over 6 million) with many wonderful areas and neighborhoods, restaurants, theater, symphony, and a ton of things for college kids/young adults to do. There are many colleges in the metro Atlanta area. Most of the young crowd seem to enjoy Buckhead, Brookhaven, Decatur, and the little five points/Inman Park/Virginia Highland/ponce city market/old fourth ward area. Many other areas have also cropped up along the beltline, like glenwood park, and the west side is booming now too. I would call it a “metropolis”, though who cares what it is labelled, TBH. but the downtown area is the disappointment. They’ve struggled to get it to be what it could be. Midtown is great, but downtown, not so much.