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nickb285 wrote:I'm a fan of visiting campuses but I don't know that I'd do it pre-application. It's entirely possible that one or more of the schools you apply to will be overly stingy with scholarships or you'll have a weird cycle and visiting will be a waste of time and money. There's also the risk that you'll allow your feelings about a particular campus to influence your decision to an undue degree, making you more likely to accept an offer that's not as good as you deserve.

In the end, I wound up visiting four schools where I had good offers and where I thought I could see myself living, after eliminating all the offers that didn't fit that criteria. I also visited GULC after I got off the waitlist, but that was partly because it was so late in the cycle and unexpected that I wanted a few extra days to decide, and partly because DC is a decent tourist destination even without the school aspect. I'm glad I made those visits, but trying to do every school I was interested in would have cost an unnecessary amount of time and money.

As for meeting with the admissions officer, it doesn't hurt and it might be a chance to ask some questions, but nothing will be expected of you and it's not going to make a difference unless a) you're so borderline that they are literally deciding between you and another person for the last waitlist spot, in which case you're going to be offered a Western regional at sticker and shouldn't take it anyway, or b) you act like a completely irredeemable shithead. If you have the numbers for admission and basic social skills, it won't matter.