Here are some of the schools he is considering applying to that I’m concerned we won’t be able to visit: Bates, Tufts, Connecticut College, Wesleyan, & Haverford. My biggest concern is Bates, as it is listed as Important for interest. He has two safeties, Skidmore (it is possible for us to visit here) and Ursinus, but he is on the fence for both as it is not clear how much merit aid he might receive and what would be the gap. He really liked the schools we have visited so far—Vassar, Hamilton, Colgate and Cornell. He is planning to visit Oberlin later this month and Vanderbilt, which he knows is a big reach.
Vanderbilt stated in their info session that they do not consider demonstrated interest until they take kids off the waitlist.
@Nextstep where do you live? I think it’s perfectly excusable to not visit Bates if you’re far away. Bates really is out of the way for almost everyone and I’m sure they take that into consideration. Just have to be super conscientious about the essay and show fit. You’re already visiting schools in the NE and I’m guessing you’re in NY state. Is it really impossible to get to some of these other schools…not only for demonstrated interest but to narrow down the list? Our family traveled from the midwest to Maine, Boston, Virginia, and North Carolina in addition to Minnesota, Iowa, and Ohio to see schools. It was very helpful to our S19. Also, you mention you want to see schools before spring but summer can be better than nothing. We visited Bowdoin during the summer before senior year and that’s where S19 ended up.
On a little bit different note, those four schools he’s visited and liked are quite different from each other vibe. Surprised he likes them all.
We are in upstate NY, which is why Skidmore we will visit. All the rest, including Bates, are a minimum 6 hour drive one way.
My son’s Father had a planned trip to TN already, which is the reason for the visits to Oberlin and Vanderbilt.
Yes, all of the 4 we visited had different vibes, but he really liked all of them and could see himself happy at any of them, for different reasons. Cornell is definitely a bigger campus, but DS really fell in love with the campus and area. He is trying to be very open minded as he knows most of the schools he is applying to are extremely competitive. I think that’s a large part of why he is scared to visit too many. He said he doesn’t want to fall in love with one and then not get accepted.
Ursinas has merit aid listed on their website based on SAT/GPA
Are any of the colleges he is interested in visiting your area anytime soon? Some may offer Skype interviews.
I’m glad when we read on their website that “Amherst does not use demonstrated interest in our admission decisions,” it proved to be true. My daughter did not visit prior to receiving an acceptance letter. She is now a very happy Sophomore there.
Your son sounds like a wonderful young man who will be happy wherever he ends up, which is a good barometer for future success. Congrats.
DS19 is at Carleton, which he never saw until admitted students day (and we still haven’t seen). They did not send a rep to his high school or anywhere close so he never spoke to anyone from the school before applying, but he did spend a lot of time throwing the frisbee they sent him…
Thank you! I certainly hope it’s a good sign. What a wonderful story about your DS as well, and congrats on his acceptance to Carleton! We are somewhat in a similar situation in that we live in a very rural area and not many of the more elite schools visit DS’s small, public high school.
S18 He was admitted with Presidential Scholarship to U of Richmond. It was the only school he did not visit prior to applying, and one of only two that offered him merit money. I believe their common data set says demonstrated interest is “considered”.
Looking at your list, my son was accepted at Connecticut College, with merit, without visiting. He was also accepted at Denison, where he is now a first-year, without visiting. He was able to do an interview with a Denison alumnus, and that was very helpful, both in giving him a chance to ask his questions and in helping him gather ideas for a “why Denison” essay. We did an initial round of visits the spring of his junior year, but then his list changed based on what he learned. We weren’t able to do any more visits until after the acceptances were out, but he did try to find ways to reach out to those schools he added, something to make it clear that his interest was genuine.
My high stats D was admitted to Grinnell, Carleton, and Mt. Holyoke without visiting. We are far from all three.
Grinnell offered 1/2 tuition plus merit and Mt. Holyoke offer 1/2 tuition. She met with admissions reps for all three, reaching out to the Mt. Holyoke rep who was coming to a nearby school but not hers. She also did a Skype interview with a student at Grinnell; I guess there wasn’t an alum nearby who was avail.
For Carleton she was the only student to show for the admissions rep visit (small HS) and they really hit it off. She emailed my D a couple of times during the app process.
My D also made sure to open all emails and poke around the websites from links in the emails.