<p>Within the context of school selection, you probably know your kid better than he or she does. All schools have everything you need to know on their websites in selecting schools to apply to. No sense in taking the time and expense to visit schools that rejected you.</p>
<p>1) Select not one, but two state “safeties”. If you only get in to your safeties, visit and choose the one that fits best.</p>
<p>2) Select two “reach” schools. Acceptances to these schools are usually well before April. If you get into both schools, visit and choose the best fit. </p>
<p>3)Select six “dream schools”. These are usually HYPSM or LACs. If you get into one or more, visit and choose the best fit. Also, if you received substantial financial aid, the school will usually pay for it!</p>
<p>This is what has worked for my DD. Her only problem now is that she’s already been accepted by six schools covering all three categories!</p>
<p>I agree that you may not need to visit every college before applying, but I think visits may be important in helping your kid decide what kind of colleges should be on the list. My daughter, for example, is considering whether to include LACs or not–so we’re going to visit a couple.</p>
<p>Hunt, I agree completely. Through her high school, DD had already been to several colleges for various events over the years (public and private), and that did influence her selections.</p>
<p>I would also add that my son had decided to apply to 12 schools, and he began to run out of steam after 9 or 10 of the applications. The schools that got short shrift were the ones he never visited. So a visit might also help spur your kid to prepare a strong application.</p>
<p>Hunt for most kids I agree with you. I took my oldest on a spring break tour junior year. He had said before hand all he cared about was the quality of computer science and overall academics. After visiting three CA schools (Caltech, Stanford, Berkeley) he pronounced them all fine. Those were the last visits we made until accepted students days. Where the visits did help in figuring out the real depth of computer science departments and their overall vibe. Surprise, surprise he chose the place where the computer scientists had created their own school within the university.</p>
<p>For my younger son, visits really helped him write essays targeted to the schools.</p>
<p>I love the idea of finding safeties my d can love as early as possible. Not sure how to compile the safeties list without SAT scores/junior year GPA, though. My d is a sophomore and I’m not sure where she’s going to fall on the applicant spectrum. I’m pretty sure our two state schools (Rutgers/College of NJ) are safeties for her, maybe I should start there. </p>
<p>We’ve been to a couple of places so far. Passed through Pittsburgh last summer and stopped at Carnegie Mellon, which I thought she would love–she hated it. Then dragged her kicking and screaming to the NYU tour because I was meeting a friend for lunch in the Village; after insisting she wanted a real campus and didn’t want to be in the middle of the city, she adored it and it’s now her #1 choice. We’re visiting my brother in Columbus OH next month, and will see Kenyon while we’re there.</p>