I think visiting is a GREAT idea.
If you are looking for a city environment - from your original list, I would say that DePaul, Columbia (as you know) Pace, Marymount, BOCO, CCM, Point Park, Roosevelt, Savannah and Relativity are in truly Urban (as in downtown - though some cities are larger than others) settings. I would say Hofstra, Purchase, Hartt, Evansville, Drew and Montclair are more “suburban” with a campus feel (some are close to large cities, some are not) . And it seems to me that Calarts (i looked on a map, have never seen) Ithaca, and Otterbein are the most “Isolated” - though Otterbein is not far from Columbus, and the area around Ithaca has plenty to do.