<p>Is it necessary to visit a college before applying ED? There is this school that I would really like to attend...I love the curriculum and I'm really excited about my potential major, which is somewhat unique to this unversity. The problem is that it is on the opposite coast and therefore I haven't been able to visit. I love the pictures of the campus (lol), and I really believe that I would be able to find my niche at any school (people are essentially the same), so I'm not too concerned about the "feel" of the school. Is this naive of me to think this way?</p>
<p>why would you need to visit?</p>
<p>do you really think that by going to a school for a day, two tops you’ll learn everything you need?</p>
<p>Honestly, I’d strongly recommend visiting. You can tell a lot about a school from walking around and talking to current students that you can’t see from reading admissions pamphlets. I’d make visiting a high priority, unless you can’t financially afford it. If that’s the case, try to do as much research into the school’s atmosphere as you can (not just academics, but the “feel” of the school). Try contacting current students if you have any questions.</p>
<p>I would also suggest that you try to visit. You may not learn everything you need to know, but you can tell a lot about a school from a visit. At the very least, you will feel more secure about applying ED after having visited.</p>
<p>Applying ED anywhere is a major decision. Become as familiar as possible with the school.</p>
<p>As long as you’re sure you can afford it and you don’t need to compare aid packages.</p>
<p>A school may be very different in person than it seems to be on web pages. Find a way to visit before you apply ED or you may forever regret applying ED without a visit. </p>
<p>I know plenty of people – including my sons and me – who loved schools before they visited them.</p>
<p>You don’t need to visit. From your posts it looks like you want Brown. Everybody whose favorite channel isn’t Fox News tends to love it at Brown.</p>
<p>Just because lots of people love Brown doesn’t mean it’s the school for you. Better to visit now than to be sorry later.</p>
<p>Northstarmom, I know you’re very experienced in the college admissions game.</p>
<p>Do you think that visiting the school is THAT important?</p>
<p>I mean you probably can’t visit for much longer than 2 days, and during those two days it’s very easy to get a “wrong” feel or wrong sense of the school, isn’t it? Obviously no one’s going to like absolutely every part of a school (or hate), so what if they by chance happened to see the lesser qualities of the school during their stay?</p>
<p>I really don’t think you can get a good picture of a whole school in a few days.</p>
<p>“Do you think that visiting the school is THAT important?”</p>
<p>Yes, I know several people – including me – who loved colleges on paper and on their web pages, but who hated them when we visited them. Example: I absolutely hated Syracuse when I visited it. For some reason, the town literally made me feel sick. When I was in high school, I had planned to have it as my safety, but when I visited it, I hated the place so much that I refused to get out of the car.</p>
<p>A friend’s daughter reacted the same way to Washington and Lee. On paper, it was the perfect fit for her daughter, and her daughter had found the college on the Internet, and had done lots of research about it. However, the daughter hated the college on sight.</p>
<p>I happen to think Brown U is a wonderful place. I almost chose it over Harvard. However, wonderful as Brown is, I don’t think that anyone should apply ED to it or any place else unless they’ve visited it.</p>
<p>The problem with ED is that if you’re accepted, you’re locked in. That’s very different than applying RD to a place without seeing it.</p>
<p>Also, if it’s too hard to travel from one coast to visit Brown before applying, imagine how hard it would be to travel to Brown over school vacations and if there’s a family emergency.</p>
<p>Personally, I’m not a little girl. I don’t expect any aspect of my life to be “perfect” or “made just for me.” And towns don’t make me sick(unless they’re former soviet towns where nuclear disasters took place). This is how a lot of males feel.</p>
<p>I mean in your opinion, do you think it’s possible or likely that you get the wrong impression of a school during your short short stay, NSM?</p>
<p>Thanks for the feedback. You guys all make valid points and I’ll have to do some serious thinking before I decide whether or not I apply ED.</p>
<p>And btw, I like Fox News…I might not agree with everything (or anything for that matter) said on the channel, but the anchors and hosts are much more interesting than those of other networks.</p>
<p>“I mean in your opinion, do you think it’s possible or likely that you get the wrong impression of a school during your short short stay, NSM?”</p>
<p>Yes, but it’s easier IMO to get the wrong opinion of a school from just looking at the web pages.</p>
<p>Now, back when I applied to grad school the first time, two of the places that I applied to were ones that I had never seen before. This was back before the Internet, so the only info I could find out was through their brochures. I ended up selecting Stanford, when I had never been west of Detroit. When I flew out there to attend grad school, that was my first time going to Calif. </p>
<p>I got a full ride fellowship for my one year there, and I had always wanted to live in Calif. It ended up that I did like Stanford, but there were some surprises that may have made me not want to go there if I had been planning to go there for undergrad, for instance. </p>
<p>One example: People at Stanford were very laid back compared to the NE, where I was from. For instance, I couldn’t study in the library because students literally were throwing frisbees inside the library and wandering through the library while dressed in costumes. I was a much more serious person back then than I am now, and that wouldn’t have been the kind of atmosphere I would have wanted to spend 4 years in.</p>
<p>Another example: When looking at its web site, U Wisconsin sounded like a place that younger S would love. He spent 7 weeks there in a summer program, and didn’t like it. One thing that surprised me that he didn’t like was how it looked. Normally, he wasn’t attracted or repelled by how colleges looked, but for some reason, he didn’t like U. Wis. at first sight.</p>
<p>I agree, the reason why it’s worth it to visit before applying ED is that if you’re accepted, you’re locked in. Period. So imo, it’s worth it to spend a couple hundred bucks on a plane flight to visit it, so that you don’t take the risk of being stuck somewhere you hate for the next 4 years.
And yes, Brown is awesome though 
But you should still visit to see if it’s the right place for you.</p>
<p>I wanted to apply to georgetown as my first choice…but when I visited I found out planes go over the damn school every 10 secs…visiting helps trust me!</p>