Fall 2026 Visit Dates Skip to main content

Fall 2026 College Visit Dates and Deadlines

Open houses, fly-in deadlines, and the money attached to setting foot on a campus.

Information only. Not an endorsement of any college. No school on this page pays me, sponsors me, or has any idea I’m writing about them. Every date links to the school’s own registration page.

Tamara Baptiste

The College Application Specialist. Two Cornell Engineering degrees, a Certificate with Distinction in College Counseling from UCLA, and a PMP. Over $25 million in merit aid secured for families since 2015. Ten years guiding families through college admissions, and twenty-five in technical industries before that.

The calendar

Every published fall date

Dates move without notice. Click through before you plan around anything here. Where a school didn’t publish a cost, this page says nothing rather than guessing.

TouredI’ve walked this campus myself. Watch the campus tour library.

Want to know when this page changes?

Schools add dates, move deadlines and close fee waivers without announcing it. When I update these resource pages, I’ll send you a short note saying what changed. Nothing else.

Everyone gets the same pages and the same update. I ask for the grade so I know which dates the people actually reading this need me to keep current.

September

Date	School	Event	Register
Sept 8	Louisville	Virtual visit: Psychology	Register
Sept 9	Louisville	Virtual visit: Public Health · Equine Business	Register
Sept 11	NC State	Spend a Day at State, Agriculture & Life Sciences Juniors welcome	Register
Sept 4	Richmond	Preview Richmond, day-long open house This week	Register
Sept 12–13	Villanova	Fall Preview Days, by college	Register
Sept 18	Oglethorpe	Petrel Preview Day, Atlanta	Register
Sept 19	Georgia State	Panther Preview	Register
Sept 25	Denison	Fall Open House	Register
Sept 26	Virginia Tech	Fall Open House, Burruss Hall, 8am–8pm Sessions filling	Register
Sept 26	Florida A&M	Preview Day, Tallahassee	Register
Sept 26	Florida Atlantic	Explore Florida Atlantic, Boca Raton	Register
Sept 26	Guilford	Fall Open House	Register
Sept 26	Virginia State	Fall Open House	Register
Sept 30	Hampton	Last day the $60 application fee is waived Deadline	Details
Sept 28	Mount Holyoke	Open House Reg. closes Sept 21	Register

October

Date	School	Event	Register
Oct 1	Mississippi State	General Scholarship Application opens Admitted students only	Details
Oct 1–3	Michigan Ross	All Access Weekend. Airfare, hotel, meals for student plus two guardians Juniors eligible	Details
Oct 3	Howard	Bison Preview	Register
Oct 3	UCF	Knight for a Day	Register
Oct 9–29	Purdue	Introducing Purdue. Five dates across October	Register
Oct 10	Loyola Maryland	Fall Open House Sophomores up	Register
Oct 12	Mississippi State	Fall Preview Day*	Register
Oct 12	George Mason	Fall Visit Day	Register
Oct 16	Oglethorpe	Petrel Preview Day	Register
Oct 17	Agnes Scott	Great Scott Open House $2,000/yr visit award	Register
Oct 17	Richmond	Preview Richmond, day-long open house	Opens in Sept
Oct 17	Appalachian State	Fall Open House, Boone	Register
Oct 17	Simmons	Open House, Boston	Register
Oct 17	Florida Gulf Coast	Eagle EXPO	Register
Oct 19	Mississippi State	Scholar Recognition Day Invitation only	Details
Oct 19–25	North Carolina	College Application Week. Elon, Queens, Winston-Salem State participating	Details
Oct 23	Morehouse	Discover Morehouse Juniors welcome	Register
Oct 23–24	Elon	ElonYOU overnight Seniors only	Details
Oct 24	NC State	University Open House, Raleigh	Register
Oct 24	Elon	Fall Open House	Register
Oct 24	UT Knoxville	Big Orange Preview	Register
Oct 24	UT Dallas	Scholars’ Day Fee waiver for attending	Register
Oct 24	UT Arlington	Maverick Experience	Register
Oct 24	UT San Antonio	Roadrunner Preview	Register
Oct 24	North Florida	Explore UNF	Register
Oct 24	UC Berkeley	College Information Day & Berkeley Showcase	Register
Oct 26	Denison	Fall Open House	Register
Oct 31	Florida Atlantic	Explore Florida Atlantic	Register

Saturday, October 24 is the most contested day of the fall. More schools on this page hold a signature visit event that day than on any other date. Your family gets one of them.

November & December

Date	School	Event	Register
Nov 7	Hampton	Fall Open House	Register
Nov 7	Loyola Maryland	Fall Open House Sophomores up	Register
Nov 7	Queens Charlotte	Discover Queens	Register
Nov 7	UCF	Knight for a Day	Register
Nov 7	Loyola New Orleans	Fall Open House	Opens soon
Nov 9	Mississippi State	Fall Preview Day*	Register
Nov 13	Oglethorpe	Petrel Preview Day	Register
Nov 14	Agnes Scott	Virtual Great Scott Open House	Register
Nov 14	Loyola New Orleans	Fall Open House	Opens soon
Nov 14	Simmons	Open House, Boston	Register
Nov 14	UT Dallas	Scholars’ Day Fee waiver for attending	Register
Nov 14	West Florida	Explore UWF!, Pensacola	Register
Nov 16	Spelman	Junior Preview Day registration opens Juniors only	Details
Nov 16–20	UC Riverside	Discover UCR, virtual	Register
Nov 23	Mississippi State	Fall Preview Day*	Register
Dec 1	Mississippi State	Scholarship application priority date Deadline	Details
Dec 1	Johnson & Wales	Visit by this date for the $5,000 grant Deadline	Details
Dec 9	Agnes Scott	Scottie Spark: A STEM Showcase	Details

* Mississippi State charges $10 for Preview Day. It is the only event on this page with a published price. Everything else is either free or lists no fee, and a school that lists no fee can still surprise you, so check when you register.

If a school your student cares about isn’t here, it hadn’t published a fall date when I checked. Call the admissions office.

Where visiting pays

Money attached to showing up

Most schools give you nothing for visiting. These publish an amount or a waiver.

Cash toward tuition
Amount	School	Award	Conditions
$2,000 / yr	Agnes Scott	Campus Visit Award	Renewable four years. Stacks on merit.
$5,000	Johnson & Wales	Visit grant	Renewable. Visit by December 1, 2026.
$500	Guilford	First-year grant	Book a campus tour.

Application fee waived for visiting
School	Waiver	Qualifies
Loyola Maryland	Greyhound Fee Waiver	On-campus or online visit
Richmond	Fee waiver	Campus visit or virtual event
UT Dallas	Fee waiver	Attend Scholars’ Day

Free application windows
Dates	Where	Who
Through Sept 30	Hampton	Everyone. The $60 fee is waived August 1 through September 30, 2026.
Oct 12–18	Texas	Texas residents, through ApplyTexas
Oct 19–25	North Carolina	Elon, Queens Charlotte, Winston-Salem State participating. NC State and Appalachian State are not.

No application fee at all

Virginia State · Loyola New Orleans · Simmons · Johnson & Wales · UT El Paso · UT Rio Grande Valley · New College of Florida · Florida Poly

Hampton’s $60 fee returns October 1. Their Early Action deadline is November 15, 2026, so a senior applying then pays it. Applying by September 30 does not.

Demonstrated interest

Whether the visit counts for admission

From each school’s own Common Data Set, Section C7, or a direct statement on its admissions site.

Says your visit does not count

Princeton
Dartmouth
Cornell
Penn
Brown
UT Austin
University of Florida
UCF
West Florida
Florida A&M
Every University of California campus

Says it counts

Yale
Columbia
Michigan
Florida Atlantic
North Florida

Not confirmed from an accessible official source: Harvard, Purdue, Michigan State, Florida State, USF, FIU, New College.

The bigger money

The free-tuition line moved this year

A separate page tracks the income at which each college stops charging tuition, including the ones tied to living in the Carolinas or Virginia, and the ones that publish an average and let you assume it is a promise.

See where the income line falls

For junior families

Windows that accept juniors

Nearly every fully funded fly-in is open only to rising seniors, and this year’s deadlines have mostly passed. These open in winter and spring.

Opens	School	Program
Nov 16	Spelman	Junior Preview Day registration, for February dates
Mid-Jan	Villanova	Junior Preview Day registration
Spring	Bryn Mawr	Lantern Scholars fly-in, fully funded including travel
Rolling	Michigan Ross	All Access Weekend. Airfare and hotel for the student plus two guardians
Rolling	Charleston	Overnight programs, prioritizing first-generation students

Questions families ask

Common questions about fall visits

Does visiting a college affect admission?

At the most selective colleges, no. Princeton, Dartmouth, Cornell, Penn, Brown, UT Austin and every University of California campus state in writing that they do not consider demonstrated interest. A smaller group, including Yale, Columbia, Michigan, Florida Atlantic and North Florida, marks applicant interest as considered on its published Common Data Set.

Which colleges say campus visits don’t count?

Dartmouth puts it most plainly: “We don’t track visits, communications, college fairs, or web events to enhance or detract from anyone’s application.” Princeton, Cornell, Penn, Brown, UT Austin, the University of Florida, UCF, West Florida, Florida A&M and every UC campus publish the same position.

Do any colleges give scholarship money for visiting?

A few do. Agnes Scott adds $2,000 a year to a student’s merit award for attending a campus visit, renewable four years. Johnson & Wales gives $5,000, renewable, for a visit before December 1, 2026. Guilford gives $500 toward the first year for booking a campus tour.

Can a virtual visit get the application fee waived?

Yes, at some schools. Loyola University Maryland states that students who attend any on-campus or online visit receive a Greyhound Fee Waiver. The University of Richmond waives its fee for a campus visit or a virtual event. A family that cannot travel gets the same waiver.

When are the free application weeks in 2026?

Hampton waives its $60 application fee from August 1 through September 30, 2026. Texas runs a free application week October 12 through 18 for Texas residents through ApplyTexas. North Carolina runs College Application Week October 19 through 25, with Elon, Queens Charlotte and Winston-Salem State participating.

Are there open houses for juniors and sophomores?

Yes. Loyola Maryland’s fall open houses are open to sophomores and up. NC State, Morehouse and Michigan Ross accept juniors, and Michigan Ross funds airfare and hotel for the student plus two guardians. Spelman’s Junior Preview Day registration opens November 16.

Do I have to pay to attend a college open house?

Almost never. Mississippi State charges $10 for its Preview Day, and it is the only event on this page with a published price. Most schools list their events as free or publish no fee at all, so confirm the cost when you register.

What I actually do

Anybody can compile a list

I read what schools publish and tell families what it means for their student specifically, including when the answer is that a visit isn’t worth the drive.

Over $25 million in merit aid secured for families since 2015. A 100% college acceptance rate, and 98% graduated on time.

Book a free Discovery Session

Thirty minutes, complimentary. An intake form comes first, so the time goes to strategy instead of background.

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Enrollment for the Class of 2027 closes September 15. All other grade levels close October 15.