Visit admitted school or not-yet-admitted school?

[orangeglacier]

So I was admitted to one place and they want me to come visit on a specific weekend, as does another school that hasn't yet admitted me.  I'm probably more interested in the latter school, but is it better to visit a place that I definitely have gotten into as opposed to may or may not get into?

[TakeruK]

I think a safe thing to do that would not offend anyone is to ask the school that invited you second if it is possible to reschedule. If not, then ask the first school if they could reschedule.

 

In the rare situation that both schools are unwilling to reschedule, I would probably visit the school that I already got into because it would help me make my final decision. If I visited a maybe-admitted school, that visit might not amount to anything if I don't end up getting admitted. Of course, this is going with the assumption that the visit isn't an interview and that the visit itself isn't part of the admission decision. I think in the process of asking for rescheduling, you will probably get a sense of how important the visit is to admission. If it is part of the admission decision, then I think it will be a hard choice to make.

 

However, I really doubt you will have to only visit one of them. Ask to reschedule and see!

[microarray]

+1 to what Takerku said. You should definitely try to visit both schools. You can't really tell what the school is really like until you visit, and you'll get one on one time to ask grad students whatever you think is important to help you make the final decision.

Edited February 4, 2014 by microarray