How important are campus visits?

midwesterner
Sat, 10 Nov 2007 10:15:27 +0000

It’s important to visit at least some of your potential schools well before acceptances come out. Once they are issued, you have one month (for the vast majority of schools) to decide where you want to go. That month, April, is also host to the final weeks of AP preparation, spring sports, concerts and many final, senior year happenings that you won’t want to miss. Having to schedule multiple visits with very little time is a sure invitation to major stress. You will also pay dearly for those last-minute airline tickets.

When you are compiling information about a school, make a note of their Accepted Student Days. You’ll find that most schools avoid the first and last weekends in April, making your scheduling that much more difficult.

One good thing about 2008 is that Easter is unusually early, March 23, while Passover and Orthodox Easter are the last weeks of April. You may have to work around these holidays. Even if they don’t affect you, you shouldn’t leave your decision to the final days of April. Make a decision, and give yourself a few days to live with it - kind of a “cooling off” period.