Advice about college visits

Ericsmom
Wed, 09 Aug 2006 00:12:22 +0000

NotMamaRose -

Everyone takes a different approach, and surely both decisions have advantages. Waiting to visit until an acceptance surely saves money on travel costs.

We approached it the other way and went to visit many schools with a variety of programs (straight theatre and BFA, BA, and BM programs). We also visited the potential safeties for my son. From these visits we narrowed down the schools to which my son wanted to apply and audition (he auditioned for 9 and applied to 2 more non-audition programs). Hating to admit the number, and some were done where a bunch of schools were visited in one trip, we visited 24 colleges from summer after 9th grade through 11th grade. Then, we went back to many of them for auditions. I think that having the 2 times on campus really helped my son know what he wanted to choose after his acceptances came in. We also believe, though we have no proof, that visiting campus ahead of time shows the department that one has a truly strong interest in their school. Surely that would weigh in one’s favor if all other audition factors were equal. I think it probably helped at the audition to have met the faculty ahead of time, at least with helping the student feel a little more at ease.

Just my two cents worth. Most people would say we were crazy, but it was a great time! Lastly, audition trips are, in general, stressful times - no way around it. One has a more clear head when visiting without the stress of an audition.