Late August may not be ideal, but at least it would give a sense of what the school would be like at least from the physical layout. It's hard to judge just from photos.

Don't worry. I think most people are in the same boat as you. You can only fit in so many schools over spring break and the rest of the school year tends to be very busy. Plus you don't want every free moment with your family to be about visiting colleges. You need to have some fun family time. I think if there is a school your child is very interested in or you need to explore a different area of the country it might be worth going in the summer but it will not be the same as a busy campus with lots of students. I have been thinking about my dc's junior year and I know we will only be able to visit 5 schools over spring break. In the summer I want to save my money for a family vacation!

In our experience, there is really no importance to "track interest", or at least not much, our kids got into plenty of good/reach schools without a visit. If the college sends a rep to your kid's school, it is important to show up and sign in at that session, or any other local event, and sign up on line as interested in admissions events in your area. We found summer visits next to useless, so would focus on narrowing down (urban vs rural, north vs south vs west, small vs big, etc) this spring, and get input from advisor at school first (useless and upsetting to visit schools turns out have NO chance of getting into, or vice versa shooting too low). In the fall if possible go to what are very top likely choices and if possible stay with a student from prior years at your kids high school to get an actual feel for the school (visits during day with parents don't do much to get real knowledge about the place). This is most important if thinking about a place with binding ED, go stay FIRST before make ED commitment. If not ED, not as important and can visit places admitted to in the spring.

DC is a junior. We visited in state schools this fall and will be hitting OOS schools in one part of the country on a road trip over spring break. Worried that if DC wants to look in other parts of the country there will not be a lot of time fall of senior year. (DC is not very focused yet, so we are still in the mode of looking at different types of schools to see what feels like the best fit). Is it at all worthwhile to visit schools we haven't seen over the summer, or should DC just rely on the websites and visit if accepted? What about in late August, when some kids will be there even if classes have not started? Is that too crazy a time on campus for a productive visit? Also, Do most schools "track interest"? Most that we have visited so far say they do not, but one small school said they did. Thanks!