We visited Muhlenberg and Ursinus…you are right that they are of the same ilk…you don’t really need to visit both 
but they are close by each other.
Make sure you run a Net Price Calculator on NYU…so expensive.
When S was applying to college, we lived in the middle of the country and were targeting schools that met full financial need, many of which were in the North East. Since we didn’t have lots of $$ to spend, the summer before his senior year my H, S, and two of his friends with similar stats/interests/financial need went on a multi-state road trip and they saw several schools. The boys came up with the list of schools, an itinerary, and registered ahead of time for interviews for those schools which required them, signed up for tours, etc. The two friends helped with gas money/expenses and they stayed in inexpensive hotels (one room with 2 beds for the 4 of them) – a little too inexpensive at times, but that’s another story.
My S had never been to Maine before, but fell in love with a school there, ended up applying ED, and was accepted. One of the other boys also ended up at a school he had visited on this trip.
I don’t know if S would have applied ED if he hadn’t visited first. When the spring acceptances come in, it can be a very busy time of year - S was in a spring sport and other spring activities with a demanding schedule and it would have been very difficult to visit then.
I’m very glad we visited schools ahead of time.
My D applied to nine colleges and the only reason we visited all except Amherst and Wellesley was because she either attended a summer program at the school (Yale), we were visiting Disney World (University of Florida), we were driving through to visit grandma (University of Georgia), we were on a short vacation to a location close to our home (Loyola University- Chicago and UChicago) or it was her #1 choice (George Washinton University).
She did attend a Wellesley Tea so that gave her a good sense of the school.
The visits helped her determine that she really wanted to be in D.C. which eliminated several schools. What we learned about the Ivies and Georgetown…near perfect scores rule the day.
Our D16 applied to 7 schools. We could not afford to visit them all ahead of time. Also, we were hunting for big merit awards.
We knocked off campus visits to 3 of the closest schools, by car. 2 other schools had Chicago area events, which she attended, but never made it to the actual campuses. 1 school she met with the Admissions Rep at her high school, but never made it to the actual campus. Last school, she did not meet with Admissions Rep at her high school or visit campus.
In the end, when we looked at the financial packages, the choice was clear, and we are glad we didn’t spend the extra money (plane tickets) to visit schools that were going to be too expensive anyways.
I’m on a college trip with my last child. Although it is a significant expense, I look at it as a rite of passage and a very important time in our journey. I am relishing every second of this one-on-one time as I know how fast the next year will go. This trip is more for me than my son. Whether he will gain entry to any schools we visit is irrelevant. He is hearing over and over that to really gain the most from a college experience, one must step outside one’s comfort zone. If the trip is at all affordable, I highly recommend it.
I would suggest that you go and see a school before you drop $200,000 on a college. also your child may go to the school and just hate it upon visiting the campus. that is a better lesson to learn as a prospective student than an enrolled one. would you buy a house without seeing it?
We visited a range of schools in California to confirm the type of college my son wanted to attend. He decided he was an LAC type of guy so we used that, along with his grades, scores, and interests to find colleges nationally that seemed to fit. He did ID a couple of Ivies but it took about 2 minutes of research to determine that a visit to either would have been silly. For the out of state LACs, all of them did indicate that “demonstrated interest” was a factor which he fulfilled by scheduling local interviews, getting on mailing lists, etc. He was invited to interview with a local alumni for one of the Ivies after he applied.
Based on results, that’s all you need to do. He was accepted to most places he applied and after he got the acceptances and aid awards we scheduled visits to his top picks. Saved a lot of money over visiting beforehand.