<p>There are schools like Oberlin that will pay expenses for Multi cultural open houses or other programs. Also if you qualify for waiver of admissions fee or SAT fee waivers, you can ask for help in visiting costs. The schools that tend to do that are LACs that count the visit very heavily for admissions consideration. For the larger schools, it is not necessary to visit until you are accepted and are considering the school. </p>
<p>We started looking at nearby colleges at first. From those visits, we got an idea of what he wanted and did not want. We then visited a few schools that could be done in a day. As we honed in on what kind of schools we wanted, we came up with a list. For some visits he went with other kids who were visiting which cut the cost a lot. Also if he knew someone at a school, he stayed with that student. So I did not go to some of the visits. </p>
<p>Now that he has applied, we visited and interviewed only 5 schools which are the ones where this is important for admissions consideration. The state schools, we did not bother,because they don’t care. He has looked at some of them earlier, but did not interview or go this year. When he has his acceptances, he will go to the school most heavily considered and spend a day shadowing a student taking courses that are like what he may be taking as a freshman there. Also most of his schools are nearby. We only have 3 schools that are any distance away, and one is a state school that we have not visited.</p>