<p>Right now i'm attending a college in my hometown in nowhere north dakota, and I want to transfer to either conn college or wesleyan. Sometime in February I am going fly East to visit the two colleges, take a tour, have an interview, and spend a night at wesleyan.</p>
<p>Since my parents are pretty much anti-education, ill have to buy my own ticket and go down there alone for a couple days.</p>
<p>Do you think by showing my passionate interest in these two schools by purchasing my own plane ticket and spending a few days in connecticut to see them might benefit my chance for admittance especially since interviews and campus visits are optional?</p>
<p>btw, I'm not visiting so it will look good; even if traveling to see these schools does not benefit me, I'm still doing it because I have a fervent desire for a solid education and want to see them firsthand.</p>
<p>not sure how you would work the, “bought my own ticket” part into a conversation, but, yea, flying all the way out from ND and scheduling an interview does make an impression. Just relax and have a good time.:)</p>
<p>I don’t think that visiting the campuses necessarily will have an effect, positive or negative, on the results of your application. It could, though. The real benefit to your visiting is to get a feel for each school and that undoubtedly will help you if/when you have offers of admission and are deciding between the two. One thing that I think will help you is the fact that you are from North Dakota.</p>
<p>I would caution you against putting too much stock in the visits singling you out for the admissions staff, though. Tried that strategy with my daughter who had a 3.9 GPA and stellar recommendations, etc. She loved one of the schools, yet they did not accept her in spite of a great interview, etc. Our guess is that it had to do with her needing financial aid and being a sophomore requiring the school to find housing for her.</p>
<p>If you can, visit before your application is due, so you can write about your absolutely fabulous visit on your application. As an added bonus, it’s a lot easier to write a sincere, non cliched why this school essay when you’ve actually visited.</p>
<p>It has been my experience that the college visit will not be weighed into the application process directly. If I were you I would spend as much time on each campus. Talk to students, talk to some representatives from the department that you are interested in. Figure out exactly why you want to go. Take a lot of good notes. And start writing down your thoughts for essay topics on plane ride home!</p>