If you don’t want to attend (like my son and others who have posted on here), then don’t visit. You get sucked in. It’s a pristine and beautiful campus. He went at the request of friends - it was game over - applied that night. Purdue engineering was out the door
There are branded and independent hotels nearby if varying costs. I like staying downtown. There’s an AC Marriott, Indigo and more.
Lots of great places to eat but Taco Mama seems to be a student favorite.
Ridgecrest - The Honors dorms - are nice - what sold my son - you get your own room and shared bath.
It’s a huge campus - hence a bus tour - but I don’t think my son actually used 80% of the campus. It’s very manageable.
Ask aboit overcrowding in dorms - I think there’s been some off campus placements in recent years.
Bottom line - if you check it out (usually for the money), you’re going. So don’t visit if you really want to end up somewhere else.
My son, without us, did the tour and then we went to orientation which was in summer. I think called Bama Bound. So I don’t know if they even had an admitted student day- ask admissions. It says check in the future on the website.
But you can do any of the daily tours anytime - and if you want to meet with a professor or student in a specific department, I’m sure admissions can set that up for you or instruct you on their process. My son just did the normal tour.
This is what we did below. But it’s long after you commit.
Admitted student days, in general, are nice but not necessary. If you want to go see a place, go when you can, as soon as school is in session. Eat in the dining hall. Chat a few kids up on campus. Get your questions answered - at the minimum.
We visited in April. We had a great itinerary through our regional recruiter and admissions (based on my son’s PSAT score). Weather was incredible, campus really looked amazing. We stayed at the Hampton Inn (typical, 5 mins away), a more downtown hotel would have been nice. We ate at Chuck’s (great, filled with students who could handle a hefty check for their date), dining hall, and Cane’s on campus.
The suite dorms were some of the nicest I’ve ever seen. REALLY impressive the quality of the provided living room furniture, full-sized fridge, etc. We ran into a student (very friendly) who gave us an informal tour of Ridgecrest South (pretty nice for a student dorm). On the other hand, double room was only above average.
The tour was great – their campus ambassadors are incredibly polished and great representatives (compared to the average campus). Student athletic recreation facilities are great. Lots of cool history. We also did an engineering-specific tour which did some great tours of design team spaces and a few labs, but would have liked to see more engineering facilities. (Great tour guide, only two families). Engineering buildings are BEAUTIFUL. Campus is BEAUTIFUL though they love monumental columns on exteriors.
In engineering, they are very straightforward about student placement and success. Great numbers, engineering-specific career services. Ran into a smaller department chair on the sidewalk, ended up getting a VERY persuasive tour. If you don’t mind staying in Southeast US, hard to beat for price. For those interested in taking advantage of opportunities (research, advanced study), they are definitely there to be seized.
Our takeaway was “why aren’t more of his strong academic classmates going here or at least seriously considering?”. (Our school’s guidance counselor did a double take it was on his short list – only 10 students applied in last five years, with quite low scores). Though many people we met on campus knew Boston-area students there. Facilities were far and away better than most T50 in New England. Campus life and weather is perfect if you want the SEC experience (everyone we spoke to went to a bunch of football games, also baseball, gymnastics, …). I think this is a must-visit for people looking at large OOS state universities and non-T25 privates. My son will not be applying to his state university (RI) when he can go here for much cheaper. Even full price OOS is nearly the same as in-state URI.