<pre><code>I just found out that I will have less time than expected for college visits this summer. My main goal in visiting colleges this summer is to demonstrate interest.
My goal in applying to colleges is not just to be admitted, but to be offered substantial merit scholarships. I don't qualify for financial aid because on paper it looks like my family has plenty of funds, but the actual situation is more complicated. Therefore, I'll be relying on merit scholarships to afford school. I think I can be competitive for these scholarships based on grades, SAT scores, etc but anything that gives me a leg up, such as demonstrating interest, is obviously important.
So, with that being said, here are my options for college visits:
Carleton, Macalester, Grinnell
These are my top 3 schools (well there are some in California but I live on the East Coast so those visits aren't really going to happen anytime soon). If I choose to visit them, I probably won't have time to look at anywhere else this summer.
So my other option is:
Kenyon + other LACs in Ohio, Haverford, Dickinson. Maybe UMich and Michigan State.
All of the colleges on this list are good and I'll probably like them once I visit them. Most enthusiastic about Kenyon, but definitely more eager about the top 3 listed above.
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<p>Other factors - I might be able to visit at a time besides this summer:
I won't be applying to Carleton, Macalester, and Grinnell until January (RD deadline). There might be a way to visit them before then if I don't get a chance this summer. They are pretty inaccessible to me, though. </p>
<p>I live in Virginia, about 5 hours away from Pennyslvania, so it's possible (but unlikely) that I could make a trip to Haverford + Dickinson sometime after this summer.</p>
<p>So...what would you guys do if you were me? Visit your top three only or give some other "lesser" but probably good schools a chance in the interest of hitting as many places as possible?</p>
<p>If your main goal is to demonstrate interest, check the common data sets for the colleges to see which ones care about demonstrated interest. Some don’t, in which case you can skip them.</p>
<p>So if a school says on its CDS (dunno if that’s the right abbreviation) that it doesn’t care about demonstrated interest for admissions, does that mean demonstrated interest will also probably not matter in terms of who gets scholarships? Remember, that’s one of my problems - I don’t just have to get admitted; I also have to get a scholarship.</p>
<p>Yes, if a school only considers demonstrated interest a couple emails to admissions asking questions with answers not easily found online is more then enough. If they care a lot about demonstrated interest you should visit.</p>
<p>I’d say that if a school is not tracking demonstrated interest in general, they’re not going to be doing it just for scholarships. Besides, the point of merit scholarships is to attract students who might otherwise go elsewhere, so it kind of defeats the purpose to only give them to students who have “demonstrated interest.”</p>
<p>That said, there are still plenty of reasons to visit schools that don’t consider interest. For example, if the application includes an essay about why a school is a good fit for you, you could discuss how much you liked the campus, were impressed by the facilities, etc.</p>
<p>Do your homework about what funds are generally available on a merit basis at these schools before you spend time and money visiting. As an example, based on what you’ve posted, you should not be considering Carleton at all because they do not offer any substantial merit scholarships.</p>
<p>Are you well above the 75% at these schools? Maybe you are, but if not–and even if you are, to be safer–you should include other schools in your search for merit aid. </p>
<p>Does Haverford give merit aid? Does U Mich for out of state students? My first reaction is to say no.</p>
<p>Several weeks ago I posted a similar thread in the Parents Forum posing the question of WHEN to visit if you can only afford/have time to visit once – before applying (to weed out schools you wouldn’t go to after seeing them in person), after applying but before admissions (to show demonstrated interest), or after admissions (when you’re down to your “real” choices). The replies were all over the map. But the question came up about merit scholarships, since my DD is in the same boat as OP – no need-based aid coming our way but can’t afford to pay full sticker price. This may run contrary to the conventional wisdom, but some posters believed that showing TOO much interest could reduce your chances for merit scholarships because the school thinks they already have you hooked. No need to lure you in by throwing $ at you. Some posters said their kids got the best merit offers from schools they DIDN’T visit. Just throwing that out there…</p>
<p>As stated above, Carleton and Haverford offer little to no merit aid. You need to look harder at that before wasting any visit time on schools. And even those that offer a “lot” of merit aid (like Macalester) will still probably cost at least $35K/year even once the merit aid is taken off the cost. You may need to look at less expensive colleges that also offer merit (Gustavus, Truman State, etc.). Lawrence does pretty well, too.</p>
<p>But you should also look at state universities and any states where you have reciprocity.</p>
<p>Based on what you’ve written, I think you need to focus more on schools where you have a reasonable shot at merit money (which unfortunately may eliminate your top choices).</p>
<p>The information is out there, but you’ll need to reserch.</p>