I will second points made by both @MTSongbirdMom and @EmsDad We made the mistake of making my son apply to a non-audition safety. If he had not gotten in anywhere else, I don’t think he would have gone. He applied just to appease me. So I agree - it’s not for everyone, but it’s a good idea if your kid can find one they would truly be happy to attend if all else failed. Additionally, as noted above, there are a lot of differences in the schools. My son applied to several schools based on reputation and cursory research that I don’t think he ever would have attended due to - the school not being in an area of the country he wanted to be in or size of the university, etc. I know we spent a bunch of money on applications and audition fees for schools that my son would never have attended when all was said and done. It pays to get them to really research and be introspective about what they want. (Good luck. I was clearly not successful here!) We did not visit campuses before applying due to cost of traveling all over the place, but I wish we had walked through some college campuses within driving distance during his Junior year just so he would have gotten a feel for what he liked and didn’t like.