Does visiting Cornell help (even a little bit)?

I know that Ivies don’t track student visits, but does visiting the school really not matter at all?

@clamchowder6, it absolutely matters. Conveyed interest is a huge part of the process today since it is now so easy to apply to multiple schools through the common ap. You register for a visit, the school will send you a confirmation, you check in when you arrive. Assume all schools track visits.

To some colleges - not Cornell.

All valid for colleges that consider “interest” in the decision process. Cornell, however, is not one of them.

If the college publishes a Common Data Set, look at section C7 for how it considers level of interest. Cornell’s CDS say “not considered.”
http://irp.dpb.cornell.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/CDS_2017-2018-v5.pdf

Now, for the OP, while visiting won’t help with admissions in this case, it may give you a better understanding of the atmosphere of the college which could be expressed in the essays. Good luck.

Most top tier schools do not care about student’s interest as much. By visiting the school you may be able to write a better “why Cornell” essay. On the other hand, you should show more love to your match schools because they may feel they are your backup. To protect their yield, they may WL or reject you if you do not some how show them your love.

Top schools don’t need to worry about demonstrated interest such as tours. The schools that do worry about that are schools concerned that they are being used as backups in case a high-performing student doesn’t get into a top school. Top schools are going to turn away more highly qualified students than they admit, while lower-tier schools are taking a risk if they accept tons of top students who don’t end up enrolling because they were accepted at top schools.

This comes directly from the Duke web site explaining the tour process:

I’m sure many other top schools feel the same way - Duke’s is the one of the few where I’ve seen it clearly stated in the pre-application process. Assuming all schools track visits doesn’t make sense when you can easily Google to find out whether the school does track.

I certainly recommend visiting any schools you are serious about for your own benefit, but don’t do it just to show interest. There are plenty of students who can’t manage to visit campuses but find other ways to show interest, but again it only matters if the school tracks it as part of the process.

My admitted daughter was told her demonstrated interest was a factor in her admittance. She visited the University, came back to visit the school within Cornell, and came back a 3rd time on a local alumni trip. Don’t visit at your own risk.

@kidodie,
I think your daughter’s case could be an exception, rather than the rule. I asked a Cornell rep directly about a demonstrated interest. She told us (parents who were there listening) that it did not count at all.

I know students who enrolled in Cornell’s summer programs hoping those would help. Not really. I am with @lookingforward that visiting Cornell “may give you a better understanding of the atmosphere of the college which could be expressed in the essays.” Or you may hate a long walk from dorms to quads, the gorgeous, etc. Seeing it in person (if you could) would be helpful.

One more thing, during a college tour, sometimes, some students may say something like “Don’t apply here” to visitors. Take it with a grain of salt. I asked my D and her friends why some students said that to visitors, They said the students may have a bad day or just do so for the heck of it.

Depends. If you live 30 mins from campus and you haven’t visited, it might raise some red flags as to why. But, if you live in California, they definitely don’t expect you to visit. Visiting is not only helpful for admission officers, but is also helpful for you. But, don’t feel pressured to visit if your financial/locational background does not permit you to.

It was ski who said that. But I say the important part of “demonstrating interest” to any top college isn’t just booking the trip. It’s in how you show in your app/supp that you were/are interested enough to learn more about the college, why this college, and your match.
Show, not just tell.

And I think that would go for Duke, too.

Visiting will help you articulate the “why Cornell” essay. That does matter.

Agree, it will help with any school-specific essays as you will have a better sense of the school, how it can fit your needs, and what you can offer.

The top tier colleges like Cornell get students from all over the US and all over the world. I don’t think they want to penalize applicants who are far away and don’t have the time or the means to visit the school. An easy way to do this is to take demonstrated interest out of the equation for admissions decisions.

Personally I do believe it helps a little bit, Cornell is out of the way in up state NY, its a good idea to visit and see if you really do like it there. They did track my DD visit FWIW.

ED is the ultimate demonstration of interest.

Agree with the above. But I believe ED should be used only if: 1) a person is positive that Cornell (or whatever the ED school might be) is his/her #1 choice and 2) the family has no need/desire to compare financial offers between colleges.

OP it is interesting that Cornell says demonstration of interest is not required for the university as a whole. But if you look closely at the following link. They “recommend” information session for some colleges (CAS, Business, CoE in particular). HumEc says they strongly recommend information sessions. If you are not too far away I would visit the campus and attend the information session.

https://admissions.cornell.edu/sites/admissions.cornell.edu/files/2017-18%20Freshman%20Req%20Chart.pdf.

@skieurope - my apology for mentioning the wrong name when quoting you.

@clamchowder6 - from your handle name, are you from New England? If so, hope you could visit. Ithaca is also a lovely city with several state parks, water falls and Lake Cayuga. Visiting Cornell and exploring those natural beauties is worth a trip.

I believe that visiting is important. I do not think that one can rely on the CDS. I respectfully disagree with @skieurope that one can tell by looking at the CDS. There is no oversight committee on how a college fills that form out. They might check not considered, but given other things about how you register and check in, I would bet Cornell could check if they needed or wanted to (and maybe that is why some above said that “interest” mattered. If Cornell is not tracking interest, then why do they check you in for all of the information sessions? Some schools do and others do not. I am not saying that you have to go visit Cornell to even be considered, but if it is high on your list and you can visit, I believe you should. As it turns out my child went one day and did a few of the information sessions and tour. I believe that from the information he got from Dyson and Engineering, he now wants to do CAS. It was very useful and let us explore the campus on a normal day with students all around. He will have good material and experiences to write in his essay!

@rphcfb Haha no, I’m actually from California :)) I just love eating clam chowder. I actually did visit Cornell over spring break and it was beautiful; I’m applying ED but just wanted to know if my visit would help me in the application process.

@rphcfb No apology needed. :slight_smile:

@clamchowder6 ,
As you may already know, if Cornell is a fit for you academically and financially, ED to Cornell is a good move.

Keep in mind, the place is very cold half of your academic year. My D was born and bred in New England, her first winter there was not pretty. Seemed like she and many of her friends complained about how cold, snowy, dreary, depressing it was from Thanksgiving to spring break ( early April). Don’t take it lightly as a Californian :slight_smile: