How do you afford all those college visits?

paying3tuitions
Fri, 30 Nov 2007 00:39:09 +0000

THe problem has become that with some schools you pretty much must visit to get in



I think the poster got carried away here, within a very interesting posting. While it is true there are some schools that make notes of “expressed student interest” and drop them into the candidate’s file, this can also be accomplished by emailing questions to the admissions officer or contacting an alumni representative (by email or in person) who lives closer by.

One reason I’d recommend really looking at the schools with Multicultural Visit Days is they are recognizing that the visit can be a financial burden on some. It was also noteworthy to me that, in the one I looked up (Oberlin) the eligibility merely said a person of color…and was silent on the financial need dimension. So, a person should not assume that, by taking their opportunity to visit this way, they make any statement of finances whatsoever!

Purpose of my posting is just to politely mention that the OP shouldn’t imagine “not getting in because we didn’t visit.” That’s a very discouraging message and likely untrue. I sometimes write impassioned posts and recognize it was probably said with a different idea in mind. Did not want to discourage this OP in any way, thinking about her kid’s chances.

Now, there ARE some colleges that say on their websites, “Visits strongly encouraged…” but that could be because their location causes some students to eliminate them from consideration, while a visit tends to enthuse candidates greatly. They are recruiting, after all, and some places really “visit” well and cause more kids to want to apply. That’s different than thinking “I can’t get accepted there if I don’t visit them, too.”

Do others have experience to say a non-visit kills an application? I hope not!