# How many colleges did you visit before deciding on one? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 14, 2018, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-colleges-did-you-visit-before-deciding-on-one/819589 "2018-08-14T13:05:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2018, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-colleges-did-you-visit-before-deciding-on-one/819589/41 "2018-08-14T20:58:30Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > I’m curious. What did they point out to you? The tour guide is almost always a student. I remember my dad would ask very pointed questions that I wouldn’t have thought to ask. I’d ask “where’s such and such building” and get the answer. My dad would try to get in the mind of a student. “Why did YOU choose this school and which others did you consider? What’s your LEAST favorite thing about this school? How much time do you spend on homework? What do you do in your free time? Where do you usually eat? How popular is Greek life?” And I’m sure there was a lot more that I don’t remember because it was a hundred years ago. But high school kids might not know what to ask because, duh, they’ve never been to college. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2018, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-colleges-did-you-visit-before-deciding-on-one/819589/42 "2018-08-14T21:02:03Z")
> [@Dendarii\_Dame](#): > > The third was the school I actually wanted to attend, and that’s where I ended up going. The tour guide almost fell into a fountain, then almost fell downstairs, and finally did collide with a buffet table in the cafeteria, knocking it a few feet over. (She kept talking to us while walking backwards.) > [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > The walking backwards thing is common during college tours. (Except at Wesleyan, where the tour guide says they don’t do so, because they look forward.) As a tour guide for my university for 5 years, I always joked to my tours that I could literally do the entire campus backwards if I wanted to because I knew it that well after so many years. To answer the OP’s question: Only one, and that’s because it was the school in the state known for being the best at what I wanted to major in. Strangely enough, I applied and was accepted before stepping foot on the campus. Once I did I knew it was a place I’d love…and it definitely was. Liked it so much I got another degree from them 😛 ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2018, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-colleges-did-you-visit-before-deciding-on-one/819589/43 "2018-08-14T21:45:01Z")
3 but two were a waste of time as my parents had basically decided where I was going to go. It worked out fine. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2018, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-colleges-did-you-visit-before-deciding-on-one/819589/44 "2018-08-14T22:46:26Z")
During the time I was deciding where to apply and where to attend, I visited zero campuses. I was already quite familiar with The University of New Hampshire because my father was an alumnus and my aunt worked there. That’s the one I ended up attending. In hindsight, UNH was too big and impersonal to suit me. I wish I had visited the Dickinson campus because I think it might have been a better fit. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2018, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-colleges-did-you-visit-before-deciding-on-one/819589/45 "2018-08-14T23:24:13Z")
Back when I was a senior in high school, I only applied for one college, and I got in with a merit scholarship. I did not visit the school in advance (couldn’t afford it, too far away). The circumstances were pretty unusual: my high school had the gift of one tuition scholarship per year to this college, and I was one of only two people interested in going there that year. I did have a fallback, a state school had an accelerated program that I probably could have gotten into, although it would have been pushing it to have waited that long. This was in 1967. I think college entrance requirements for someone with high SAT scores and good grades was a lot easier then. I didn’t have to have extra-curricular activities and all that. Sadly, I did not do as well as I had hoped, and had to drop out of that college after 2 years. Never did graduate from anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-colleges-did-you-visit-before-deciding-on-one/819589/46 "2018-08-15T00:16:05Z")
Two undergrad. Did my grad work at the same university I did my undergrad. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-colleges-did-you-visit-before-deciding-on-one/819589/47 "2018-08-15T01:53:24Z")
Visited one university on a weekend school tour. Went to it for a year. Visited my brother at the uni he attended and transferred there, but it was to visit my brother, not a “meet the university” thing Didn’t visit the other five unis I attended until the day I stepped on campus. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-colleges-did-you-visit-before-deciding-on-one/819589/48 "2018-08-15T02:16:16Z")
> [@senoy](#): > > WVU alumnus, here. If I had to go to Pitt, I would be in a state of despair as well. Feast upon excrement, my friend. 😛 I would have tried for WVU but I wasn’t qualified. I married outside my family. 😃 Actually WVU would have been better but I hadn’t applied or been accepted there and with the money on the table it was NOW NOW NOW. At the time I was there Pitt was a mess and I don’t know that it ever got much better. The program I was accepted into had lost its accreditation the year before I started but no-one got around to telling me or my advisor until after my second year. :smack: And then a lot of the credits I had wouldn’t transfer. :smack: :smack: And I had met my wife and we had already been together two years. :smack: :smack: :smack: So I may be one of the few alum with more against Da U than Penn State students. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![JWT\_Kottekoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@JWT\_Kottekoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JWT_Kottekoe)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-colleges-did-you-visit-before-deciding-on-one/819589/49 "2018-08-15T02:19:40Z")
Applied to one, visited none, no regrets, 50 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-colleges-did-you-visit-before-deciding-on-one/819589/50 "2018-08-15T02:25:58Z")
Didn’t visit until I had been fully accepted. Visited two GMAC auto assembly plants during application process. It was a coop college. Step one was being accepted to the college. Step two was applying for sponsorship at a plant. It was interesting. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-colleges-did-you-visit-before-deciding-on-one/819589/51 "2018-08-15T03:06:18Z")
I applied to about 5 or 6 schools, but I believe I only set foot on one campus–the one I ended up attending. And I actually didn’t do an official visit with tours and stuff. I had just been there before because it was right around the corner from where I grew up. ---
**Author:** ![RetroVertigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@RetroVertigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RetroVertigo)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-colleges-did-you-visit-before-deciding-on-one/819589/52 "2018-08-15T03:57:56Z")
I visited three schools my senior year Purdue TCU My state university Purdue was really nice and if I had chosen the ChemE path would have gone. TCU was too hot and the wrong religion, but the girls were pretty. I had almost a full ride to the State U, and decided I wanted to go for BioChem. I went with the State U because I had friends already there, and I wanted the parties, sports, and being only a couple hours from home was nice. MIZ ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-colleges-did-you-visit-before-deciding-on-one/819589/53 "2018-08-15T04:52:32Z")
None. I applied to the one I wanted to go to and got in. I never really thought I wouldn’t be accepted. (NYU) ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-colleges-did-you-visit-before-deciding-on-one/819589/54 "2018-08-15T06:46:03Z")
Two, after I had been admitted. In my high school 50 years ago we were only allowed 3 applications plus one to City College My older daughter went to 2 after she had been admitted, not counting Berkeley which she attended half time her senior year of high school. My younger daughter went to a bunch before she applied. My understanding is that the top colleges these days like you to visit before applying, since that shows you are serious. Any know about this? ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-colleges-did-you-visit-before-deciding-on-one/819589/55 "2018-08-15T07:53:56Z")
none, I left school at 16, got a job and did a degree some years later at which point I knew exactly what I wanted to study and where. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2018, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-colleges-did-you-visit-before-deciding-on-one/819589/56 "2018-08-15T13:38:10Z")
Didn’t visit any the first time. Did visit the college I eventually transferred to before transferring, though. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2018, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-colleges-did-you-visit-before-deciding-on-one/819589/57 "2018-08-16T22:26:49Z")
I only seriously visited one as a perspective student (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), though I’d been on the campus of several others. Same with grad school (University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign). I think they were kind of taken aback when I told them that they were the only program I’d applied to. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-colleges-did-you-visit-before-deciding-on-one/819589/58 "2018-08-17T00:20:56Z")
Two. Also the number of colleges I applied to and the number I was accepted by. I was a fairly confident kid. ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-colleges-did-you-visit-before-deciding-on-one/819589/59 "2018-08-17T00:35:50Z")
Maybe six, 40 years ago. I looked at small liberal arts colleges in the Midwest. I rode buses all over Wisconsin, Iowa and Illinois over Christmas break. Only applied to one, and was accepted. Edit: We lived in New Jersey at the time, and I was traveling alone. A nice adventure. ---
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2018, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-colleges-did-you-visit-before-deciding-on-one/819589/60 "2018-08-17T05:39:03Z")
Nine or ten, a little over ten years ago. My parents were big into college visits. I applied to seven after eliminating a couple due to mature reasons such as there being too many preppy people wearing North Face, and was accepted at three. The one I ended up going to was the only one I hadn’t visited prior to applying (I was a legacy). If I had it to do over again, I wouldn’t bother visiting anything ahead of time and would only visit those I was accepted to. That’s what I did for grad school and it felt like a better use of time and money. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-colleges-did-you-visit-before-deciding-on-one/819589.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-colleges-did-you-visit-before-deciding-on-one/819589.md?page=4)