We’re visiting a number of mid-tier small liberal arts colleges, where we’ll take a tour and info session, and then my son will have an interview at the admissions office. Do you feel that “showing interest” in that way really has a positive impact on admissions? Obviously not if the kid is totally not qualified but if someone if borderline? Or is it just as good to visit after the student’s been admitted, and then decide? We’re debating putting another college on the list to visit. Thanks for your input.
Look up each college’s common data set and see if “level of applicant’s interest” is considered in section C7.
Or look on the admissions tab of the college’s entry on http://www.collegedata.com .
“Level of applicant’s interest” probably matters most at colleges where the applicant appears “overqualified”.
Theoretically for colleges that care about demonstrated interest visiting is a good way to show it. But there are other ways. Our GC had a story about a student who was waitlisted at a college because they felt she wasn’t interested and it wasn’t that far away. (Since it’s a four hour train ride, I thought that was a pretty high expectation on their part.) Our GC wanted to be sure that if we did visit the college knew we had. (There are usually sign in sheets for tours if you haven’t had to set something up in advance.)
My younger son felt it was easier to write about colleges he had visited.
FWIW, my older son got rejected by all the colleges he had visited except one which had had visited as part of our 25th reunion only, and accepted by all the rest. Younger son had visited all but one of the colleges he applied to, and that one he had some family connections to that made it easier to write about. It also has a very strong brand.
ucbalumnus. I know this must be an idiotic question, but where do you find the “common data set.” For example, we’re interested in Wheaton College in Norton, MA. Do I look on their website for this? Or some other website. Thanks so much.
^ the easiest way is google rather than trying to find out where they’ve stuck it on the college website. I just googled “common data set wheaton college” and found it easily. “Level of Interest” is in section “C” (and is “considered”)
Google Common Data Set XXXX College. Some colleges don’t post theirs.
In addition, here is the entry for Wheaton (MA) on http://www.collegedata.com :
http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg02_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=221
Thanks so much. I’ve never seen this before. Very helpful.
D is a rising Jr. We have done several college visits this spring and I have insisted that D sign up for the admissions session and tour so she gets credit for visiting. Also, you may want your S to contact his admissions rep and ask him some questions about the school. And if the rep ever comes to his school, make sure he goes to see them.
The closer you live to the college, the more surprising it would be if you did not visit.
The further you live, I don’t think they expect you to get on a plane and visit.
Not everybody can afford that.
While the Common Data set may help, some common sense would help in cases where you cannot find data.
Small elite and expensive colleges love to see you visit.
Larger and especially public colleges are mostly going to go by grades/SAT scores and little else.
I would also say that since you have to make a decision in April, better to have visited the target schools
ahead of time. I would not bother visiting “safe” schools nor reach schools. Assume you will go to one
of your target schools, and use the visit process to decide/rank ahead of admission decision.
If you have a surprise (get into reach or do not get into any but safe) you can visit one more school in April.
A student who considers a visit important in determining if s/he likes the school may want to visit the safety candidates to be sure that s/he will actually like them as safeties.
Also, if the school looks like a “safety” based on admission stats, but considers “level of applicant’s interest”, visiting to show additional interest may be necessary to avoid an unexpected rejection or waitlist made for yield protection.
Generally Big state schools don’t track interest because that is too much effort…and Ivy’s dont’ either because of course you are interested
I think it helps, but not because it shows interest. There are plenty of ways to do that without visiting colleges that are far away. Particularly for LACs, where fit matters (in terms of admissions), I think it helps. We did visit quite a few LACs and most of them had a vibe that was unique… you can read about them online and get a good sense of what they are like, but a visit can often help kids determine if there is a “fit” or not. And that can help with them tune the essays on the application.
I’m not convinced that a visit is more meaningful that meeting your local rep and interviewing in your home town, but if you can visit I think it’s a good idea.
I also have a rising junior and we have visited schools this summer including meeting with admissions. Our purpose has been to help determine a few affordable safety schools that he would be happy to attend and cross off schools that don’t fit for whatever reason. We believe showing interest at the smaller schools can only help. For us, 4-5 schools was our limit in one trip. We will be planning another trip over spring break with higher match/low reach schools. And as we did with my D we will revisit top choices while school’s in session (or overnights) early senior year. Good luck and enjoy the time together!
[removed for assuming facts not in evidence]
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
@MiddleburyDad2 While true, that is a very specific exception which applies to few applicants. OP never mentioned that the applicant is a recruited athlete. Let’s not muddy the waters by assuming facts not in evidence.
I’m sure the impact differs at each school. In our experience, since S16 was primarily interested in schools on the opposite coast from us, we really wanted to get the “vibe” of the places. Some seemingly great fits turned out to not “feel right,” and it was good to eliminate them.
My big regret was not taking an actual tour at his safety school (it was tossed in at the last minute). We had just sprinted through the campus, so only had a very surface view of the school. They offered S a large merit scholarship, which we were completely surprised by, and we couldn’t make the trip back after he was accepted. There were some negative comments on CC about the college, and we couldn’t find enough trustworthy info on the school to counter it. He’s going somewhere else, and we’re all very pleased with his choice, but I’ll always wonder if the scholly school would have worked for him…