We have had two kids go through the college application process and while I do understand that for many students it's important to see the campus, it's also true that those first impressions can be misleading. Based on my sample size of two, this was our experience:

1) Older child visited 9 schools-- some big, some small, some mid-sized; some in small towns, some in suburbs, and some in big cities. DC then decided to apply to School X, a mid-sized school in a big city, which he liked very much, but which DH and I thought would not be the best match for him. DC applied and was accepted to School X Early Action. At winter break, DC told us that he wanted to transfer. He visited a couple of other schools and then applied to and was accepted as a transfer to School Y, a mid-sized school in a big city, that he had never visited. He he had a great experience there and is now in grad school. (BTW, I had been extremely worried about his decision to transfer sight unseen to School Y.)

2) Younger child decided she wanted a small D3 school and only wanted to visit schools in this category, though she wasn't excited about the rural location of many/most schools in this category. DC visited 7 small D3 schools -- some in small towns, some in suburbs -- and declared each of them "nice" or "fine". DC visited 1 more small D3 school (School Z) in a rural area and texted: "this one". DC applied to and was accepted Early Decision to School Z and is now a very happy sophomore.

I'm still not sure what conclusion to draw from this experience -- although I will say that our younger child tends to be less analytical and more inclined to trust her instincts. so maybe that kind of person benefits more from visits?

Anonymous wrote:
Only in the USA - spoiled kids looking for "vibes" when they should be focusing on specific criteria like class sizes, teacher availability, reputation of academic department, and, most of all, finances.

Nonsense. I'm from the UK and toured / interviewed at the Universities before making a final choice. And it did play into my choosing. One place had a lot of miserable looking students wandering on their own, the other had a greater community feel to it and happy looking students. Done. Thank you very much.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dd had been on a few virtual tours. These do not compare to the real thing. We walked on a campus, on our own, in the fall. We saw maybe five college kids walking alone with masks on. Our walk on campus told us nothing.

How are other people making these decisions about where to go to college?

You can go walk around any campus you want.
I agree with poster tho - I never saw my campus in person until move in day. Loved every minute of college.

Not true, at least if you're still looking. I assume admitted students will be allowed to at least stroll through campus.

Our current senior has visited some of the schools he applied to, but the traditional junior year spring break blitz we had planned got canceled. He applied to some of the colleges anyway, rejected others, and added some he hadn't visited but decided, for whatever reason, he was interested in. If he gets in to the ones he's never been to, we'll at least drive to them so he can see them in person (and in one case see how very isolated it is)

I would not make this assumption for spring. Some schools may allow visitors but others clearly are not. I know my dd's school (urban) is doing all admitted students events virtually. Is it possible to do a drive around and look at some of the architecture? Sure, but please respect schools that are asking visitors not to come.