DD is currently on a gap year working and traveling around the world while also applying to schools. There are a number of LACs that DD is applying to that we have not previously visited because it was not feasible or she only just decided to apply there. Now we need to decide whether to visit now or wait to see where she is accepted and what offers of merit aid she receives before deciding where to visit.
If we visit schools in late Jan and early Feb, could these visits help in demonstrating interest and still influence admissions and offers? All of these schools had/have Jan 1 or 15 deadlines. If we wait to visit, she will still take all the other recommended steps to demonstrate interest.
I am hesitant to fly around the country visiting schools that won’t be options based on admissions or money. On the other hand, we previously (when she applied last year) had experiences of visiting (or not visiting) colleges directly affect merit aid. Perhaps I am answering my own question 
but would really like others’ perspectives.
I think this really depends on the institution in question. So if you are willing to share the list of questioned institutions, perhaps other parents can weigh in.
Certainly:
Agnes Scott
Austin College
Clark
College of Wooster
Eckerd College
Lafayette
Lawrence
Mount Holyoke
Oberlin
Santa Clara
Willamette (was accepted last year and given merit aid but did not visit)
Xavier
First, check if expression of interest is considered on their CDS. Second, it may not help if the application has been reviewed by that time. Third, there are other ways to express interest if that helps. I would not plan for a campus visit solely/mainly for that purpose.
SCU emphasized to us that they consider demonstrated interested and there is a supplement question on visiting, from what I understand. But, if your dd has already applied, it’s hard to imagine it’s worth a trip for purposes of demonstrated interest unless it’s very close. (SCU is not a LAC but a small/medium-sized Jesuit university, >5k students.)
We decided to only visit safety and match schools before acceptance, but if time and money were not issues, it would have been nice to have visited them all before applying. Not only is DD worrying about whether she will get into her reaches, but she is wondering where she wants to go if accepted.
Thank you as this is helpful. I think we will visit a couple of schools before she leaves for the next part of her gap year and then plan to visit more in March when she returns.
My niece received the best aid offer from a college she had never visited. So she hopped on a plane with my sister, and went to check it out. My niece’s comment at the end of the visit was, “I think I will be very happy here.” Indeed she was.
Your ability to visit after acceptances will be limited due to time and logistics. Essentially you will have about 6 weeks from hearing from some of those schools until a decision has to be made. In reality, that often means students have to dump schools they are accepted to off their list sight unseen. Sometimes they might actually be the best school for the kid, too. You might have more ability than most to visit in that window since your kid is on a gap year, though. But it is expensive in short notice to fly all over.
I agree with the strategy to visit safeties and matches, and hold off on the reaches. It is harder to find safeties and matches that a student actually likes once they visit. Plus the odds are higher that they will be accepted there anyway.
They certainly are all over geographically!
Oh, and visiting should not impact merit aid.
@intparent, it definitely makes it harder that they are all over the country.
I do wonder about how schools utilize merit aid in relation to how likely they think a student will attend.
We had two previous experiences regarding merit aid related to visiting. These were both admitted student visits. At one school, the admissions counselor said the reason they had not offered her any merit aid was because they didn’t think she was serious about coming there, even though she had interviewed with an alum. I wonder if an earlier visit would have convinced them.
At the other school, they had already offered her a substantial amount of merit aid before our visit. During the visit, she met with a professor and we heard later that she really impressed him. We received word from the director of admissions the night after our visit that she was being offered an additional scholarship.
If it were not for these two experiences I would not hesitate to wait until March when all the options are clearer.
Merit is to try to draw the students they most want. They know some of the students they offer merit to won’t come anyway. It isn’t really tied to having visited.
Students can certainly show interest without visiting, which can help with admissions if the school considers interest. Get on mailing lists, regularly check the portal after applying, go to any events in your area.