What can be gained through college visits?

Parents Forum
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<p>Visiting any college you seriously consider atttending is essential. If the first time you visit is the day you show up to move in, could turn out to be a disaster. You need to get a general sense of the school, the atmostphere of the students who go there, whether the location appeals to you. You can’t get that by reading a brochure or looking at online websites.</p>

<p>College is about far more then going to classes, and the students you will interact with for the next 4 years and how comfortable you are in those surroundings makes a BIG difference.</p>

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<p>Our first college visit was spring break of my son’s sophomore year. I was advised by a friend to start early, so we did. I learned a lot about my son’s interests which has proved valuable in future college choices. We visited a large state school and smaller private school, both about 2 hours away. He was excited by the “Wow” factor of the state school’s size and buildings, but did not seem interested in talking to the music faculty member about performing opportunities. When they showed him the concert hall, he was most interested in the sound booth. At the smaller school, he sat in on a music class and then met with the professor. As he entered the professor’s office, there was a mixing board sitting out and they spent most of their time looking at pictures of microphones. At that point I realized we’d be focusing on technology rather than performance as a major!</p>

<p>Neither of those schools are still in contention, but they did give us a baseline for size, campus life, etc. When we visited another large state school that does offer a recording industry major, we were able to compare the campus and culture with the first school we visited. S also participates in enrichment programs at our local U and summer programs at another area U, so we have not made formal campus visits there but they’re definitely on the safety list. And if he gets into a summer scholars program, he’ll be at a LAC for three weeks. We’re not heading anywhere near the top tier, but I want him to be informed about different types of schools that offer the program he wants.</p>

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<p>I believe you have to be a little skeptical when you visit a school campus, especially when being given a tour. For my school in particular (I go to school in Boston), I know for a fact many of the tour guides lie about various stuff, I couldn’t tell you what, but my friend works in Admissions and tells me about it. Obviously, the goal of the school is to get people to like the school and well sometimes they lie… My friend actually told me recently that someone got fired last week because of an incident where he told the truth, my campus’ security is pretty tight, when you walk in you’re suppose to have your lanyard with your ID on at all times on campus (two building school), although most kids take it off after they past the entrance and anyway, a recent incident occurred where someone not part of the school came in and stole laptops or items from students and the student told this to a family he was giving a tour to and they withdrew their deposit and apparently complained to the school about the poor quality of the security, the guy giving the tour later got fired for telling them this. Anyway, so I would just say if you do go on tours don’t take everything they say to heart and probably do your own research beforehand.</p>

<p>I do have to say that visiting the campus does help with your decision a little, I know if I visited here earlier, I probably would have hesitated to come here, my school is a super small campus, we don’t even have our own dining commons (use another school’s) nor our own gym (use another school’s), also if you visit you might notice that there is never anywhere to study because the school is so packed yet they do not make more study space available. I did hear though that at my school, they give tours when kids are in class supposedly that’s only what I have heard, if they gave them before classes started, oh my, you’d see a completely different world, the hallway is packed to the max, takes maybe a minute or two just to get through 10 feet and the library is hectic, you’d see students wandering looking for an available computer, with students trying to print out slides and documents from three different printers with a bunch of people in line waiting for their papers. </p>

<p>I don’t know how tours at other schools are, but I do know if I went to a tour at this school some of it would be insightful, but in other respects, researching would have been a lot more helpful.</p>

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<p>We visited schools when we we were on trips or visiting friends. We usually did one a day and not more than two. Our daughter found that the LACs are similar, outside of the setting. Senior year, she went back to two to spend time with the swim team and another for a scholarship she was a finalist in. She ended up applying to 12 schools…six she had seen. She will go back to the final three or so this month. Some schools want to see your interest (ie. a visit), while others do not care. I would not kill yourselves with visits, until the end. Then it is important to see who you will be with and what the classes are like etc…</p>

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<p>

I totally agree, but remain unconvinced that a campus visit will allow a student to accurately evaluate all of that.</p>

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<p>How important are college visits? Here is our families story. My daughter has been doing research non-stop for over a year. She has even called colleges, had literature sent to the house, talked to people on blogs. The beginning of this year she tells me here is a list of schools I want to go to; however, I am almost positive I will apply ED to Bryn Mawr.</p>

<p>So, we travel to a few campus in Florida to see how this all works, then up to Pennsylvania. She absolutely loves it, makes friends with a few students, exchanges emails, buys shirts and a bumper sticker for her car. For a week she does not stop talking about it. Okay, since you are sure, let’s continue going to a few more schools, closer to home though, and we will schedule you for some interviews. Get an idea of what they might ask, think about how you will respond, and don’t worry about messing up! Practice and get comfortable then we will head up to Bryn Mawr for an interview there. </p>

<p>Don’t you know it, we go to Agnes Scott a few days ago, she loves it. Now she is undecided, and she did not bother saying anything to me while the tour was happening. After it was concluded, we make our way back to the admission’s office and they come out for her interview. When I saw her face, and her glimpse to me as if to say, not now, I don’t want to mess this up, I knew she wanted to consider Agnes Scott further. </p>

<p>Now she is back to researching and comparing the two schools, and this was after she was sure. College visits are an experience, something I think a family should do together, and for me, it has been a wonderful opportunity to see my daughter as a young woman, talking and asking questions of students, staff and professors. I have four children young than she, I will be taking them all on college tours. For me, this experience has been priceless and for her, she might have found a better fit than just reading something online.</p>

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<p>Spend some time at the career placement center (if any) and ask questions about which graduates get the most or best job offers.</p>

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<p>I didn’t think visiting college’s would be helpful at all but it really does help you get a feel for it. Make sure to visit when students are on campus.</p>

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<p>Random senior input: Before a campus visit, I spent 3 days researching the school on the internet. The morning of the visit I review the notes I made about the school. I write down thoughts and information in a notepad throughout the campus visit. When I return home, I meditate on the day, and I leave my research somewhere for future reference.</p>

<p>Honestly, this process was my base for my discussions with my parents about my opinions.</p>

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<p>Many schools, in an effort to protect their yield, use college visits as a sign of interest. Bottom line, showing up improves your chances of getting in. It won’t get you in, but it will push you off the fence.</p>

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<p>yes, colleges vary greatly in the emphasis they place on tracking student interest. Some colleges track whether you have visited (assuming you are within a reasonable distance away), met with an admissions rep if they visited your town or your school, and even whether you have registered and activated your login on their website to see an admissions decision. It seems these techniques are mainly used by private colleges and universities that end up widely being used as safeties for more selective universities.</p>

<p>At some of these colleges, you are more likely to be accepted if you have shown strong interest. In any case, it is better to be officially registered for a tour and to check in so they know you were there, as opposed to just visiting on your own. For these colleges, it also may be more useful to craft your essays to show some specific knowledge of the college and its programs.</p>

<p>Other colleges (particularly larger ones), make no effort to track interest by applicants. For example, if a college does not make you pre-register for a tour, that typically means they don’t pay attention to the level of interest of applicants.</p>

<p>On each college’s Common Data Set, colleges are asked to check off the importance or unimportance of applicants showing interest. Most colleges make this information publicly available, which can be found on a google search.</p>

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<p>I’ll chime in as a student. I didn’t visit any colleges before April 1 for monetary reasons and because I didn’t want to get too attached to any particular school and not get in. I think visiting is only a good idea when either 1) money is not a concern and you would view the tours as a fun vacation or 2) you’re undecided after April 1. After getting my acceptance letters, visiting was extremely helpful and I experienced that visceral feeling of “this is probably not where I belong” and “this is definitely where I could be happy” after 24 hours at two schools that otherwise seemed more similar on paper than not.</p>

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<p>Overall, I and my son found the college visits extremely useful. Not for the basic information, but for the intangibles, general feel of the campus. For example, we went to JHU and simply hated the campus. There was something visceral about it. It just felt really dead in the middle of the day. So, even though, academically, the school might have been a good fit, there was no way my son would like to spend 4 years there. Irrational? Definitely, yet an important part of your decision process. Hope it helps.</p>

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<p>I don’t think there is a substitute for visiting a school. However, for reach schools like Ivies it’s not a priority as “interest” does not weight high on the list of admission criteria. Interest can be a key factor for match schools as they want to avoid being someone’s safety. Also, if you’re applying ED you had better seent he school first as you’re committed.</p>

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<p>The bigger schools are mainly stats driven whereas the smaller and mid-sized schools are more holistic. As a result, if you meet the stats you are likely to get into the big schools. And because they are big, they typically offer something for everyone. If a big school is right for you, I think you can wait until the accepted days. Acceptances at the smaller and mid-size schools are less predictable and this is where interest may play into a decision. Because they are smaller, if you don’t fit you may be unhappy and end up transferring. We visited plenty of schools that sounded good, looked great during the virtual visit but felt very different in person.</p>

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<p>I only visited one University (over the summer) and I LOVED it… I then visited 1 more campus as I had an interview there. I liked it. Despite of that, I will be attending the school that I liked as it is a better fit program wise. Visiting the college to see if it is a fit for the child is vital but the problem is kids can fall in love with the campus that is not the best for them (for financial reasons, program-reasons, etc.). My close friend is in love with William and Mary but she is interested in engineering and they do not have that. Unfortunately she is so in love with the college that she is considering changing her career goals for it… Now i think that’s plain stupid… College is only 4 years… & but a career is for the rest of your life.</p>

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<p>MathMom “You might also want to look at the Fairtest.org site for a list of test optional schools.”</p>

<p>Yes, this is a good reference. But please keep in mind that although some schools that are “test optional” will not consider your application for Merit Scholarship money if you apply as a test optional candidate. Examples of this are: Gettysburg and Muhlenburg.</p>

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<p>“Caveat Emptor”… Like most things in Life, once all the touchy-feely assessments have been put aside, one has to ask: “Am I getting what I will be paying for?”</p>

<p>So would you buy a house without visiting it? College is a major investment and the cost of a physical visit is miniscule relative to the financial and emotional commitments you will be making over the coming years. </p>

<p>I suggest making a college visit unannounced on a cold, rainy day when everyone is grumpy. That way you see what the place’s real vibe is. If you still like it and there is real sense of community, then one more reason to put it on your preferred list.</p>