<p>@magneticpoet: in a word, no. I applied to several schools without having visited because they were so prestigious or sounded so interesting or seemed like such a good fit, only to visit when I was accepted and discover that had I visited in the first place, I would never have applied at all. You’ll save yourself a lot of time and trouble by visiting before you apply, and, as mamenyu pointed out, it’ll probably help you write a better essay if you end up applying to Oberlin.</p>