<p>It matters to Columbia, it has a survey on the supplement.</p>
<p>another galaxy: Nothing really standout special just well rounded humble kid, great stats (val/Calc BC in 9th grade), good recs and they liked her essay. She was not a student leader but was a classically trained ballerina and volunteered a lot.</p>
<p>I would rec that if you don’t visit you really spend time on the web sites so you can answer the questions about why you would choose that college or program. You really need to be able to answer specifics on why you would be a good match. I.e. you value Yales (& Rices) Res College system, or you like how X school allows undergrad research in your field of interest, etc.</p>
<p>mommidwest, the most elite colleges are enrolling a class as much as admitting a student. If you’re a Yale or a Princeton, and you want that oboe player from Northern Idaho, chances are he or she won’t visit until the offer of acceptance has been made. If you live in New Jersey and you want to go to Lehigh, you’d better visit before they evaluate your application.
Our daughter wanted desperately to attend Rhodes (TN), but didn’t see the point of a visit because her stats were higher than most of their freshmen and she didn’t require any financial aid. She thought she’d visit in April of her senior year. Result - WAITLISTED. We contacted her adcom, she visited in April, with the intention of getting off the waitlist but Rhodes did not go its waitlist this year.</p>
<p>More thoughts–</p>
<p>Small colleges will want to know if you will fit in–hard to say if you haven’t visited.</p>
<p>Schools with single-digit acceptance rates can expect cash-strapped families to pay for visits when there’s such a slight chance of getting in. </p>
<p>It’s so hard to generalize.</p>
<p>As I recall, U. of Rochester is pretty emphatic about the value they attach to visiting and interviewing–and our experience confirmed that, as they were the only one of our son’s reaches that admitted him.</p>
<p>Yes, it definitely improves your chances. I just got back from a college road trip, and an admissions counselor (cant remember where) said that if you interview that means they’ll spend up to 30 minutes more talking about you come admissions. so i’d imagine that at many schools, not only is an interview highly recommended but a visit is nearly expected to show your interest in the school.</p>
<p>I think the answer is: It really depends upon the school. We just received a letter from Sienna-stating, that 83% of those students who visited and interviewed during the summer got accepted, compared to a much smaller percentage of those who chose not to visit in the summer.
Well, we can’t afford Sienna anyway, nor can we afford to visit at this time, so oh well. But perhaps this is part of the plan: to make sure that those who apply to Sienna can actually pay for the school. (not a “need met” school I do not think). I felt the letter was very discriminatory toward financially strapped folks, and their attitude rather irked me.</p>
<p>Brown does not. Dartmouth does.</p>
<p>From what I’ve heard, if you get wait listed, it becomes a bigger factor. My friend who just graduated 2nd in our class was wait listed at Cornell, visited, and then was accepted for that same year.</p>
<p>Also from my perspective, visiting a campus is more for the student than anyone else. It is all about where you feel comfortable, and can see yourself going for 4 years.</p>
<p>anyone know about
-Penn state
-Boston U.
-college of W&M
-George Washington
-Old dominion</p>
<p>Penn doesn’t. </p>
<p>Penn State probably doesn’t either ^^, it’s way too big for that to matter, and typically from what I’ve seen, public unis don’t care.</p>
<p>GWU does. A lot.</p>
<p>Alot of schools want you to register for tours and such for a couple of reasons.
- to not have over booked tours that lower the quality of the tour for everyone.
- to be able to send you information on admissions and to be able to stay updated on where you decide to go.
It also goes into the research that admissions puts together on how many started out in the admissions pipeline all the way thru to deciding on the school and enrolling.
I also echo the comments above, a campus visit is a must have. It really does help to decide if you can truly “see yourself” there for the next few years. I have seen students whose last choice safety school became a first choice after getting to visit. Bonus if you can get an insider or current student to show you around personally in addition to the canned admissions tour. That way you get a well rounded view.</p>
<p>I think it is hard to write a “Why this school” essay having never been on campus. If you can visit, it helps you feel the culture if the school.</p>