<p>The purpose of this thread is simple. I want to know why I should take the time/money in my heavy senior year schedule to visit or not visit colleges before making a final decision. I have not done a single college visit yet.</p>
<p>I mean, what important factors not available on the web make a visit so crucial?</p>
<p>I'm thinking about visiting Stanford and MIT. Yeahhh--- at the antipoles of the US, basically. :(</p>
<p>So specifics about those universities are even more welcome.</p>
<p>If you’ll have the privilege of comparing peer schools (HYPSM), secondary factors, such as campus aesthetics, architectural beauty, living space and facility quality, and proximity to a metropolitan area, can become make-or-break factors.</p>
<p>If monetary and temporal costs are issues for you, you can visit if, and after, you’ve been accepted.</p>
<p>But, you should not enroll at an institution without first having visited, if you can.</p>
<p>Are there anyone out there regretting they had not visited? why?</p>
<p>Are there anyone out there disappointed with spending too much time visiting? Why?</p>
<p>“If you’ll have the privilege of comparing peer schools (HYPSM)” In my case, I might have to compare 2 or 3 of them… So is it worth 3 visits? </p>
<p>Also where can I find cheap plane tickets?</p>
<p>Things I don’t care about include: architectural beauty, sports, social life, weather (well, I do care, but not too much)
Things I care about: academic quality, mentality of students, intellectual outlook of students, research opportunities, administrative flexibility, job opportunities after graduation, nerdiness of students</p>
<p>“Are there anyone out there disappointed with spending too much time visiting? Why?”</p>
<p>I regret using the limited time I had to visit certain schools over other ones. e.g. attending Fordham’s Presidential Open House over Princeton’s Diversity Open House. No comment.</p>
<p>“Also where can I find cheap plane tickets?”</p>
<p>If you are strapped for resources, and are a sufficiently compelling candidate, HYPSM might pay the whole cost of your travel expenses.</p>
<p>“In my case, I might have to compare 3 or more of them… So is it worth a visit?”</p>
<p>Yes, most definitely. That way, you’ll be able to compare 8,800 acres of sprawling green grass, open space, and palm trees to sterile Lego blocks… haha, jk. You’ll see for yourself, hopefully.</p>
<p>New England Winters can be harsh. A friend of mine recently told me that if he had known the Winters here were so bad, he would have gone to Stanford instead.</p>
<p>An actual visit allows you to interact with students and see for yourself their mentality, nerdiness, and intellectual outlook. You could also sit in on a class and and talk to people about academic quality to try to get the real story - of course every school’s website is going to say that they provide a quality education, and any secretary or professor you email/phone will tell you the same thing. Visiting allows you to see for yourself.</p>
<p>I’m very glad I went on college visits. There was one school in particular whose mailings seemed amazing, and the website even more so. It was my first-choice school for a while. Then I visited and immediately realized that it wasn’t a fit, for various reasons, even though everything I had read and seen in the mailings, website, and online reviews led me to believe that I would love it.</p>
<p>Campus visits are important to make your final choice because the atmosphere of even similar schools may differ. It’s not the buildings that make a school, its the students and traditions. </p>
<p>Even MORE important is choosing the right type of college, and I’d argue that visits are crucial for this. By this I mean large vs small, urban vs rural, one with a big sports atmosphere, etc. You don’t need to go to your intended schools to get this feel, you can get it by visiting ones nearer to you. But many people find their illusions of what it would be like to attend a particular type of school quickly stripped away when they’re actually at one of that type.</p>
<p>I’d suggest holding off visits to schools that are reaches (and those schools are reaches for anyone but Obama’s daughters when they’re old enough). Save your money until you’re accepted.</p>