Limited Impact of Campus Visits

A survey by Niche finds the value of in-person or virtual visits in the college admissions process is limited.

• Only one experience during a campus visit was important to the majority of every type of student and parent: they wanted to talk to current students. Two experiences were important to less than a quarter of every group: talking to staff and having one-to-one meetings to ask and answer questions.
• Only 23 percent of high school or transfer students said that a good or bad experience during a virtual event can significantly sway their feelings about an institution. Nontraditional students were significantly higher, at 45 percent.
• Travel activities, high school visits and college fairs were cited as less influential and weren’t used as often to discover and learn about new colleges. They were more often used to get more personalized information about a college students are already interested in.
• Of students who met with colleges during a small group meeting, 39 percent said that it could significantly affect their interest. That was more effective than a presentation—30 percent reported that it would significantly change their interest—or a lunch visit, where 22 percent said that it would significantly change their interest.

More information about the survey may be found here.