Thanks! She ended up not applying in the end.
With D24, we visited 4 schools just once between start of junior year and start of senior year. 2 of them were visited twice: once during spring break of junior year and then a 2nd time in Jan & Feb due to music scholarship auditions. And the last college was only visited once AFTER she got admitted (visit also was for a music scholarship audition).
When it came time to make a decision, I asked D24 if she wanted to visit any of the 1st 4 again (the 4 that were only visited during junior year). She said no. By that point, sheād already ruled out 3 of those 4 in her head, but hadnāt told us yet. And for the 4th school of those 4, she didnāt want to visit again because she felt she could remember pretty easily what the on campus experience was like when we did visit.
For the college we visited AFTER the acceptance letter, I made her go online and do the collegeās virtual/online tour. And I made her watch the collegeās housing tour videos on their Youtube channel. Also made her look at Google maps so she could look up ahead of time what restaurants & such were within walking distance of campus. So by the time we DID visit, she had a rough idea of what the place would look like.
In D26ās case, 1 school we definitely arenāt visiting again because the college isnāt affordable. Another college, I think, is going to get a ānoā from The Child because of how disorganized their admissions office seemed to be during the application process (plus itās on the upper realm of affordable, like it would be a stretch for us, but based on the videos weāve seen online, Iām not sure that D26 would fit in well with the students there). So there are no plans to visit there.
U of A is in the #1 spot still. 2 days ago, I asked The Child if she wanted to go to an admitted student day there and her reaction was, āEh, I donāt know. Weāll see.ā This means ānot necessary, Iāve already made up my mind that I want to go there.ā
**UT-San Antonio - **
Also probably not going to visit in person. We didnāt visit in person prior to the application either. But reason for not visiting in person is The Child has kind of already decided that U of A has everything that UT-San Antonio has. Plus, attending UT-San Antonio will involve way more travel costs per academic year than attending U of A (where we can basically drive there to pick her up on breaks + my sister lives in that metro area and she can always pick up The Child in a pinch if needed).
Iāll be honest with yāall thoughā¦Iāve really loved the process of going on college tours. Itās exciting because you get to see what the different opportunities are there. Itās fun because I just love hearing my kidsā thoughts & feedback after the tour is done, listening to them talk about what they liked, what they didnāt like, etcā¦guiding them through the process of making a big decision about where theyāre going to live for the next 4-yr chapter of their lives.
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The ones admitted to already have dates on the portal, and one other we found from googling onto the school website. (We had estimated this last one initially based on prior years andā¦this year it is later than before so that does happenā¦) One of the ones we are still waiting for does not appear to have announced anything yet but if itās the same as last year it will not conflict with others.
But also, some schools have big admitted student days events but also have a number of other admitted student tours, so if necessary we can choose one of the less rah-rah ones to attend.
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D26 has narrowed her list to 3 schools (accepted to all) and already visited each of them. But it is important to her to go to admitted students day because she wants to see the type of kids that may also be attending. They are all within driving distance and two of them are on the same weekend. Those two are really the top contenders if Iām honest so Iām not sure we we will revisit the third.
Now her father has only seen one and of course thatās the school that he is the most in favor of so I think itās important for him to visit the other. Yes- D26 will make up her own mind, but itās important to her that her father approves.
The only thing that concerns me is that the days are the last weekend in March and I was hoping she would have decided by then. But I donāt want her to rush into a decision either.
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We are headed to RIT next weekend for their ED accepted Hockey night!!
They are also having a resource fair that day and housing tours- so kind of cool to get to see things in person again.
But get this- I am having anxiety over this- whyā¦?
I keep worrying that she will have buyerās remorse after seeing the school again!!! 
Absolutely nothing has indicated that this will happen, so I have no idea where my anxiety is coming from. 
I will get over it- I am sure it is just redirected anxiety/worry about my ābabyā leaving home soon. It is funny how things like that can happen.
I wish I had some great advice!! But the just getting the hotels book (ensure they are able to be canceled- most are) should be a big help.
Good luck (to you and others in similar positions)
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Thank you all for all the responses. I did a few hours, had some dinner and saw so many helpful replies. You all are really great!
I started āresearchingā (I.e. googling school name and admitted students day 
) this evening and was able to find the admitted student days for three of the five most likely candidates. D26 is already signed up for the one at the school sheās admitted to, and I have a hotel booked for that one! After reading all your posts, Iām going to book hotels for the other two as well even though she wonāt hear from them until mid to late March. Also realizing that since both those schools are in SoCal, I can likely book flights on Southwest with points and just get them back if things change.
I really want to figure out the dates of the other two potential admitted students days. There is no way we will go to five, but one of the schools is a top contender (though it is also her only reach) and cross country, so will be expensive to book last minute.
Iām jealous of those of you who will know all your schools by late Jan. or early February. Four of D26ās top 5 schools only offer ED or RD, so have to wait for all of those until March. Means a quick turnaround.
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We visited more than that, but a couple of her top schools were in the summer when students were not there, so I think we want to see those when the environment is more normal if she gets in and those stay at the top of her list.
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Errrrm WHAT
So I thought ok itās a reach, but maybe I should book a hotel for when I think it will be admitted student weekend jussssst in case. Well, itās something that weekend for sure.. the first hotel I tried (hyatt place, I always check Hyatt first) is $1077 a night. Yes you read that right. For a Hyatt Place!!! I thought maybe a glitch. The other budget hotels - Hampton inn etc - are running $700+ a night. A couple of hotels are sold out already. Gonna have to get creative if they get in there and we go.
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Itās maddening 
D26 current top school the hotels for football, parents, etc weekends are double or triple priced.
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Downside of college towns for sure.
We never did get to go back for admitted students day at the school my D22 ultimately chose ā because sheās a theatre kid, and she was stage managing a show that same weekend. Spring of senior year is often packed full for students, so Iām not sure when theyāre supposed to do all this, exactly.
We had toured the summer before, but we hadnāt seen it bustling with students because, well, summer. And it was tail end of Covid times so everything was still weird.
She just took a leap of faith, and thankfully it worked out!
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Yikes. See if you can find out whatās happening that weekend, and then Google tips on how to book lodging for that event!
Is there a concert or a convention going on? I had a business trip to San Diego the same week as Comic Con. It was crazy. Of course, I shouldve just went to Comic Con instead of doing my meeting.
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I canāt find anything other than a concert by someone I never heard of, but google AI says it is speculated to be admitted students day, soā¦ probably. Hotels are non refundable or pay now but refundable with a monthās cancellation! Crazy. They do seem to host shorter admitted student events as well so in the event they get in we may have to do one of those, or stay in the nearest big city and do a train ride in (wonāt be fun but I am just not spending ~$2k on two nights at a budget hotel, or slightly cheaper to stay in the part of town seems to have Loweās and Wendyās as its local attractions). I think the issue itās a college town so accommodation is a bit limited?
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$1077 a night! Thatās crazy! Weāre going to Pittsburgh for the draft and the hotels arenāt even that expensive! (Weāre staying at a place about 40 minutes away thatās surprisingly charging their normal rates.)
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For our ED admitted daughter they have not released admitted students days. Our spring break and other plans are dependent on this and itās quite irritating.
So donāt be surprised if other schools who have ED have not finalized those dates.
Clearly we are all planners here (for various reasons) and yes itās extremely frustrating .
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Has your D contacted admissions to ask if they have dates set up?
No. I may have her do this as the biggest issue is that cheer tryouts are typically the same weekend. Thatās the more important date for us. But other parents are asking. S24 is there and they are really good with communication so Iām certain once itās finalized we will know.
Thereās an admitted students zoom next week too and that may be a good time to ask.
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Ok - is anyone planning a senior spring break?
D26 āfriend groupā decided on Punta Cana. Found a resort at a great price we booked in July. Flights the. (From ATL) were $900. I assumed they would drop some, maybe to $700.
Since October I have been watching. They had only gone up - now $1300 each if we alter our days, $2300 to fly M-F . And the lowest I can find is $1100 on American flying through Miami v the direct Delta flight.
Frontier seems lower but after all the added fees itās not really.
What is going on? Serious price gouging! $2300 for a regular coach seat to Punta Cana???
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Fares can be crazy in season.
Our spring break is going to be hopefully bookended by college visits - it starts at Pitt, anyway; then New York for some family time/a show /passover, and then tbd the Friday/weekend. depending on where else they get in and what the timing of the various events is. If we end up with 3 to attend may try fit them all in that week if it works but if it ends up being 4 will split into 2 trips. (See previous flowchart comment lol)