<p>Are posters talking about very different things?</p>
<p>I understood applicannot to say she had been invited before applying. Visiting might have influenced her decision to apply or not. There was nothing unethical about her deciding to go and have a look/see.
It’s different if a student has been admitted, has already decided not to attend, but takes up the offer of being flown for admitted students anyway. Even so, there is still the possibility that the student will have a change of hearts. That’s a calculation that colleges make when offering to pay for visits.</p>