Why visit colleges before getting accepted?

[Anonymous]

I understand the need for high school students to get a personal feel for what a 40,000 person campus feels like compared to a 3,000 person SLAC. And seeing what things feel like at a very selective school compared to a school where it's easy to get in makes sense. But for anybody living in the DMV, this can be done by taking the metro or with a short drive to Baltimore or Richmond. You could even visit lots of small private SLACs and state schools in rural places by driving just 2-3 hours from DC.

But what is the goal of touring schools all over the country as a high school student before you've applied or been accepted? If you happen to be going to Chicago for a family event, sure, visit University of Chicago and Loyola while you're there. But why take time away from school and spend money on an airplane flight for the sole purpose of visiting a school in another part of the country? At my child's school, trips to see colleges get an excused absence. Are the people doing this those have never been to Texas and are worried that it's too full of MAGA people to put it on their list of places to apply, so they want to make sure it's acceptable? Or maybe they want to visit Boston in the dead of winter to see if their kid could stomach that environment?

I could see why someone would fly to view UCLA and NYU if they get into both and have the great fortune of needing to choose, and they live in Ohio and have never been to either LA or NYC. But why spend so much time and money when you haven't even been admitted? Just spend the $50 to apply, and if you get in then you can take a trip if you're worried there's something about the school that you can't see from watching videos and asking current students.

I didn't visit any schools as a high school student and I loved where I ended up, on the other side of the country from where I grew up. I applied to schools all over the place that met very clear criteria. The fact that one school might have had nicer landscaping than another, or that its dorms were nicer had nothing to do with whether I wanted to go there. There's a thread in this forum about ridiculous things that turned off kids when they visited various campuses, none of which should enter into such a major decision about which school to attend. Why indulge that tendency among some high school kids? Almost every school I've seen offers prospective students a chance to chat with current students about campus life, and they have really well produced videos of the campus. is this just sort of upper middle class rite of passage? It feels like when brides take their mom and best friends shopping for a gown and make an afternoon of the whole exercise, another thing I didn't do.

[Anonymous]

OP, that's a real "you do you" post.

FWIW, our DCs' school really, really encourages ED apps. For either of my DC to pick an ED, they wanted to see schools. Both our DCs EDed schools that they visited in person. Both DCs EAed schools that they did not visit in person, but EDs - as per their preference - were only going for schools visited in person.

If one is applying EA/RD only, I can see your approach, but may not make sense for kids considering ED.

[Anonymous]

OP, I'm with you 1000 percent. For most kids and normal parents, it's really not necessary.

[Anonymous]

We don't have the time or vacation hours to take a bunch of trips spring of DD's senior year. We'll do a Boston/New England Swing and visits to Virginia and NC schools when DD has nearby tournaments.

[Anonymous]

We are doing the way you are suggesting.

[Anonymous]

I thought it was really helpful for my DC. Helped them really get a feel for the schools. We targeted schools they were serious about (didn’t do long shots like Ivy, although DC perhaps could have gotten in). We stressed schools that look at demonstrated interest or he interviews on campus. We even visited 3 schools near each other that were top contenders twice.

I found the visits got my DC excited about college and seeing what it was about since most of the focus has been on grades, course selection, tests, etc. Wanted DC to see what it was all for.

I recognize not everyone does that. You have to do what works for your student.

[Anonymous]

I agree OP. We'll visit VA campuses and that should give my kid a good sense of Campus life.

I roll my eyes when I hear people talking about taking trips to a bunch of Universities. LOL.

[Anonymous]

OP, this is 100% my take and this is what my kidsdid, but neither of them applied ED. Since ED requires an early commitment, I think it makes sense to visit the ED school (and maybe a runner up or two in case that visit completely changes your mind) before hitting apply, if that's not too much of a hardship.

[Anonymous]

Sometimes schools that look good on paper don't feel like a fit in person. Both my DCs dropped a number of schools from their lists after visiting. DC1 applied to 6 and had visited all 6. DC2 applied to 11 and visited 9 of the 11 although oddly ended up going to a school we did not visit.

But both approaches can work, you may just need to have a longer list of sight unseen schools so that the kid has good choices if they decide that one of the schools they were accepted at isn't a fit after all. That's also kid dependent. In my case DC1 was very particular and had strong views. DC2 was pretty flexible and felt they would be comfortable at a range of schools.

[Anonymous]

My kid had one ED to spend on his dream school. He's committed to attend if he is accepted. I don't want him wasting that ED application on a school that is a bad fit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I thought it was really helpful for my DC. Helped them really get a feel for the schools. We targeted schools they were serious about (didn’t do long shots like Ivy, although DC perhaps could have gotten in). We stressed schools that look at demonstrated interest or he interviews on campus. We even visited 3 schools near each other that were top contenders twice.

I found the visits got my DC excited about college and seeing what it was about since most of the focus has been on grades, course selection, tests, etc. Wanted DC to see what it was all for.

I recognize not everyone does that. You have to do what works for your student.

+1 For many reasons even before she visited the campus my DD had one school at the top, by far, of her list that she was most excited about. The school valued demonstrated interest. We visited, my DD became even more certain that the school was what she wanted and she applied ED. Got accepted this past Dec

With many schools, applications have increased so greatly that showing interest is just smart to do. There are various ways to show interest but visiting the campus and taking a tour is an obvious one.

[Anonymous]

Because on paper, many schools sound similar. And you can't get a feel for the surrounding area/town without visiting.

My kid started looking at schools as a high school sophomore. It was fun, and helped her make a really strong list of schools at each level of selectivity that she could see herself attending.

She went back once accepted to really compare where she would fit in. For example, she was able (pre-COVID) to do dorm overnights. That gave her a much more authentic experience than she could get from the school's web page or marketing brochure/official tour.

I realize this approach takes more time and money than many families have, but it was not a hardship for us. In fact, we both really enjoyed those short trips together. We came away with shared memories and clear opinions about schools that we had only heard of before.

Good luck to you all as you go through this process.

[Anonymous]

We did an 8 day tour last summer for my rising senior, hitting about 12 schools. Was very useful and productive and really helped DC to get a feel for what they were looking for. Some schools were removed from list after having toured.

[Anonymous]

I know that visiting colleges is both time consuming and expensive. And exhausting. So exhausting at times. Believe me I know. But it is also a really special time with your child. That is at least what I found and I wasn't expecting it to be. I am so thankful that I had that time with my kid.

[Anonymous]

My parents took me to visit over half a dozen schools. It was good we went - I learned one school had a huge rat problem. I learned another school had a huge date rape problem. After three days visiting schools in Florida I learned my hair was not capable of looking good in extreme humidity. None of these issues were found doing research from home.