How many colleges should one visit?

I visited 6. I think 5 is a good amount.

As many as you are seriously interested in. You might do some "practice" visits at colleges in your town that you're not necessarily interested in, just for comparison. When you visit a school, it's best if you go when classes are in session, so you can sit in on a class, visit the student center and chat with students, etc. Once you are offered admission, most school will have "admitted students weekend" when you can go to the school and stay overnight.

It seems to me I visited 8, and I ended up applying to 5. I wouldn't have visited that many if I hadn't gone down south to look at two schools in which I was seriously interested and if the relatives with whom I was staying hadn't insisted on my seeing some other southern schools. Otherwise, I visited the schools that attracted me most, and they were the ones I applied to. I did not have the experience of looking at a school that wasn't on my original list and deciding that it was unexpectedly wonderful. I'd say 5 or, maximum, 6 should be fine, but choose those schools on the basis of careful advance research. You don't want to waste a trip. On the other hand, it was sort of nice that I had relatives in the general area of some good schools, because it meant that looking at those schools didn't cost as much in terms of travel expenses as it otherwise would have, so if you do have family near a possibly interesting college or university, take advantage of the chance to see it. You never know.

Five sounds about right. Visiting too many can be a waste of time and money, but visiting too few can keep you from making an informed decision. If you're considering applying to a few different types of schools (e.g. some small liberal arts schools, some public research universities, some private research universities), just be sure that you visit at least one school of each type. When you go, make sure that you wander around on your own and ask questions rather than just going on the tour and talking to the people the admissions office puts in front of you. Consider the questions that matter to you in advance, make a list of them, and be sure to ask those questions of several people so that you can compare answers (e.g. questions about how much time people spend studying each week, size of classes, how often people party/drink, etc). If possible, sit in on a freshman level class or two. Above all, keep in mind that when you visit you are getting a sales pitch. The information you're given might be a bit skewed, so be sure to take the extra time to try and get a realistic picture of the school!

Visit wherever you can that you think you'd want to apply to. Check them out online first, see what interests you, then visit. There's no set number, some people don't visit any.

It's so funny how high schools make college shopping seem like such a big deal. ITS UNDERGRAD. Chances are if you're staying with an undergraduate degree your field of study doesn't really matter it's just the piece of paper to say "HAY I WANT TO COLLAGE". Unless you're going to ivy league it don't ****** matter.