<p>I got a likely letter from Duke in February and I must admit that I was really smitten with the school. I still am, honestly. But, after being accepted elsewhere, I must admit that I really feel like I need to visit another school (Yale) whose accepted students days are on exactly the same days. Although Duke is a fantastic school, I fear that I’d be missing out on a massive opportunity by not visiting Yale.</p>
<p>But, the problem lies in the fact that an admissions counselor and I have been emailing back and forth for about a month to set up my overnight visit to Duke. I’ve been emailed by 3 students (including the one who will be housing me) and they’ve all been extremely friendly. The admissions committee is even paying for my airfare (although the check hasn’t been written yet), and for that I’m really very grateful. </p>
<p>I have 2 problems here.</p>
<p>1) Should I still go to visit Duke? To be honest, I’ve visited Yale before and I wasn’t overwhelmed by it. Yet, it was during the summer and I wasn’t in the greatest mood so maybe I hadn’t given it the best chance. At the same time, I haven’t visited Duke but my contact with Duke has been so friendly and warm and happy that I honestly don’t know anymore. I’m interested in environmental studies, and I know that Duke has one of the greatest environmental programs in the country, whereas Yale’s is good but less so.</p>
<p>2) If I do decide to visit Yale instead…how should I go about telling the adcom? Everyone has been so nice to me that I feel absolutely awful even thinking about doing this. And honestly, although Yale is Yale, I don’t know if I’ll end up being happy not visiting Duke and not giving Duke a chance.</p>
<p>You haven’t visited Duke and you already visited Yale (granted it was in the summer, but it’s still a visit). Go visit Duke before making your decision.</p>
<p>I’m still trying to figure this out but my parents are definitely favoring Yale over Duke. I understand why but I don’t think they understand that, as of now, I don’t see myself liking Yale as much. They’re like “that’s what Bulldog Days is for!” but I feel like I haven’t even give the #9 school in the country a fair shake.</p>
<p>Is there any reason why you can’t visit Yale on anohter day? The large admitted student days are fun, but they don’t really give you a good sense of what the school is really like. If you are worried about how you woudl get along with the people at Yale, why not try to do an overnight ASAP, so that you can see if you really fit? </p>
<p>You have excellent choices. Congratulations!</p>
<p>MizBee has recommended exactly what my niece did several years ago. She had one weekend already fully committed, when she received an invitation to the admitted students weekend at the only college on her list that she’d never seen before. She picked up the phone, and scheduled a visit the weekend before that event. She did miss out on a couple of special events planned just for the admitted students, but she felt that her visit was more useful. She got to meet with professors in her potential department, sat in on some classes, spent time in the dorms, and came away feeling that she’d the campus in its “normal” state.</p>
<p>Since you really don’t like Yale much right now, seeing it at a “normal” time, rather than full of parties and special activities is probably what you want to do. That way you will have a better sense of whether you would fit in.</p>