Due to the time and cost not all people do revisits. It is okay not to do revisits.
I cannot imagine doing more than three revisits. More than three would lead to confusion and just make decision difficult.
I wanted to do only one revisit but DS2 wanted to visit two. After arrangements were made a waitlist came through so we ended up doing three revisits. We would have made the same decision even without the revisits.
We tentatively planned to do 4 revisits, but then after we’d been to the first one, SoxGirl was able to eliminate another school from her list. So we ended up going to three revisit days, and on one of those, we didn’t stay for the entire day as it was apparent to her by lunchtime that it wasn’t a good fit for her.
What do you usually find on revisit days that you didn’t find on interview visits that help you illuminate the school?
There’s a whole different vibe on revisit days as the schools are courting YOU now, and all the pressure is off. There is a certain carnival atmosphere as they welcome you emphatically, hand out the swag, and show off in their finest. They leave no stone unturned to make sure you are seeing them at their best, and you don’t feel that any question or request is inappropriate. You walk around knowing that this is (or could be) “your” school. You really look, without intimidation. When our son attended Choate’s revisit day four years ago, headmaster Shanahan stopped him on the way out of the chapel after a speech that left few dry eyes and asked point blank, “Well, what’s it going to be, young man?” He answered right away, “I’m coming to Choate, sir.” “Good man, good man,” the headmaster responded with a huge smile. It was a done deal.
I remember one part of Shanahan’s speech that day that sealed it for us. He said (and I paraphrase), “To each of you students who has been fortunate enough to have the choice of an education like this one, don’t you DARE think of consuming a quarter of a million dollars of this world’s goods without giving back.” The point was that with such an education comes a great deal of responsibility and a need to understand just what a privilege it is.
You get way more sources of information on revisit day than you do at interviews. On an interview visit, you pretty much just get to talk to one or two students on the tour, and the admissions officer. At a revisit day, typically you’ll get to hear from the head of school, a faculty panel discussion, a student panel discussion, get to sit in on a few classes, and talk to some current parents. Plus, the parents and their child are split up for much of the program, so you’re almost doubling the amount of information when you then compare notes at the end of the day.
We found revisits very helpful and informative, and our relative preferences among schools changed after doing them.
With interviews, you are limited to a brief tour with one student, and an interview with one admin. All while there is the pressure of trying to gain admittance. You can develop some clear impressions of the school, but it is hard to untangle how much that impression was biased by the student guide you had, or the personality of your interviewer, or the fact that you happened to visit during exams or some community shaking event (we visited a school that was actively mourning the loss of a beloved faculty member).
On the visit back day, the pressure is gone, and there is much greater opportunity to interact with teachers, students and administrators, and you are on campus for a much longer time than interviews. It provides a very important way to double check any “red flags” or vague impressions that were generated earlier.
We found it incredibly valuable to split up the parents, with one attending the informational panels and one attending classes. I can’t emphasize this enough… We found a truly significant difference in quality of class discussion, student engagement, and teacher expectations from one school to another (just among the “top schools” frequently discussed on this forum) . And we were able to confirm our experience by comparing our child’s experience and a parent’s experience attending at least a couple classes each.
After attending visit back days, our rank order of school preference did change.
Knowing that, I would wait until all acceptances came in, and if you have the luxury to choose, attend as many visit backs as you think is reasonable (but be very careful about just crossing off a school without taking that closer look).
We visited five schools, which I do not recommend. >:P At three of the schools, it was actually our first visit because the trip we had scheduled for the tours/interview was cancelled due to inclement weather and we weren’t able to reschedule. DD was very relaxed, got the “lowdown” from current students about the culture, and had a lot of fun at Revisit Days. The school is trying to sell itself to you instead of the other way around! It is a great opportunity to really envision what your life as a student will be like, albeit with better meals than normal 
Groton offers two revisits: The evening of March 30/day of March 31 and the evening of April 4/ day of April 5.
Groton added. Does anyone know the revisit days for Exeter, Andover, Choate, and SPS?
Blair 4/1, 4/4
Cate 3/25, 4/8
Deerfield 4/1, 4/4, 4/7
EHS 3/20, 3/21, 4/3, 4/4
Groton 3/30-31, 4/4-5
Hill 4/1, 4/4
Hotchkiss 3/30, 4/2, 4/5
Lawrenceville 3/30, 4/1, 4/6
Loomis 4/1, 4/5, 4/7
Mercersburg 3/28, 4/4
Middlesex 4/2, 4/6
NMH 3/25, 3/29, 4/1, 4/4, 4/7
St. George’s (RI) 4/1, 4/2
Suffield 4/2, 4/4, 4/7
Tabor 4/4, 4/5, 4/7
Taft 3/31, 4/4, 4/5
Just an observation/point of clarification about the above listed Episcopal revisit dates. To the casual observer it might appear that there are four separate full revisit days. Based upon my experience last year, I am pretty certain that since 3/20 and 4/3 fall on a Sunday, these days are optional evening “Special Interest Sessions” that provide students the opportunity to learn about and experience some of EHS’s art and athletic options. 3/21 and 4/4 are the traditional Monday revisit days. EHS offers two, one-hour special interest sessions, casual or athletic dress. Parents can choose to leave or remain on campus. The special session was not offered when DS revisited but DD participated in Track & Field session last year. Last year the sessions ran from 5:15 - 6:15 and 6:30 - 7:30 pm.
@i70sband This is very helpful, thanks. I hope we will be lucky to have the revisit option.
St. Andrew’s (DE) added. Does anyone know the revisit days for Exeter, Andover, Choate, and SPS?
Blair 4/1, 4/4
Cate 3/25, 4/8
Deerfield 4/1, 4/4, 4/7
EHS 3/20, 3/21, 4/3, 4/4
Groton 3/30-31, 4/4-5
Hill 4/1, 4/4
Hotchkiss 3/30, 4/2, 4/5
Lawrenceville 3/30, 4/1, 4/6
Loomis 4/1, 4/5, 4/7
Mercersburg 3/28, 4/4
Middlesex 4/2, 4/6
NMH 3/25, 3/29, 4/1, 4/4, 4/7
St. Andrew’s (DE), 3/29, 4/5
St. George’s (RI) 4/1, 4/2
Suffield 4/2, 4/4, 4/7
Tabor 4/4, 4/5, 4/7
Taft 3/31, 4/4, 4/5
I’ve corrected the EHS dates per info provided by @i70sband (two dates with a night-before option):
Blair 4/1, 4/4
Cate 3/25, 4/8
Deerfield 4/1, 4/4, 4/7
EHS 3/20-21, 4/3-4
Groton 3/30-31, 4/4-5
Hill 4/1, 4/4
Hotchkiss 3/30, 4/2, 4/5
Lawrenceville 3/30, 4/1, 4/6
Loomis 4/1, 4/5, 4/7
Mercersburg 3/28, 4/4
Middlesex 4/2, 4/6
NMH 3/25, 3/29, 4/1, 4/4, 4/7
St. Andrew’s (DE) 3/29, 4/5
St. George’s (RI) 4/1, 4/2
Suffield 4/2, 4/4, 4/7
Tabor 4/4, 4/5, 4/7
Taft 3/31, 4/4, 4/5
Peddie added to the list. Thanks to @carpoolingma for the info.
Blair 4/1, 4/4
Cate 3/25, 4/8
Deerfield 4/1, 4/4, 4/7
EHS 3/20-21, 4/3-4
Groton 3/30-31, 4/4-5
Hill 4/1, 4/4
Hotchkiss 3/30, 4/2, 4/5
Lawrenceville 3/30, 4/1, 4/6
Loomis 4/1, 4/5, 4/7
Mercersburg 3/28, 4/4
Middlesex 4/2, 4/6
NMH 3/25, 3/29, 4/1, 4/4, 4/7
Peddie 3/30, 3/31, 4/5
St. Andrew’s (DE) 3/29, 4/5
St. George’s (RI) 4/1, 4/2
Suffield 4/2, 4/4, 4/7
Tabor 4/4, 4/5, 4/7
Taft 3/31, 4/4, 4/5
I added Governor’s and Lawrence.
Does anyone know about Brooks School revisit days? I can’t find it on their webpage.
Blair 4/1, 4/4
Cate 3/25, 4/8
Deerfield 4/1, 4/4, 4/7
EHS 3/20-21, 4/3-4
Governor’s Academy 3/31, 4/5, 4/7
Groton 3/30-31, 4/4-5
Hill 4/1, 4/4
Hotchkiss 3/30, 4/2, 4/5
Lawrence Academy 4/6, 4/7
Lawrenceville 3/30, 4/1, 4/6
Loomis 4/1, 4/5, 4/7
Mercersburg 3/28, 4/4
Middlesex 4/2, 4/6
NMH 3/25, 3/29, 4/1, 4/4, 4/7
Peddie 3/30, 3/31, 4/5
St. Andrew’s (DE) 3/29, 4/5
St. George’s (RI) 4/1, 4/2
Suffield 4/2, 4/4, 4/7
Tabor 4/4, 4/5, 4/7
Taft 3/31, 4/4, 4/5
I know that one of Choate’s revisit days is 3/29, and there are two more in April (4/1 or 4/4 or 4/7…?) from a current Choate student but I’m not entirely sure.
Daughter just told me experience Exeter - revisit days are April 4,5,7 & 8. She isn’t very detail orientated so might be a day off,
Andover 3/28, 3/29, 4/1, 4/4
Blair 4/1, 4/4
Cate 3/25, 4/8
Choate 3/29, 2 days in April (needs confirmation)
Deerfield 4/1, 4/4, 4/7
EHS 3/20-21, 4/3-4
Exeter 4/4, 4/5, 4/7, 4/8 (needs confirmation)
Governor’s Academy 3/31, 4/5, 4/7
Groton 3/30-31, 4/4-5
Hill 4/1, 4/4
Hotchkiss 3/30, 4/2, 4/5
Lawrence Academy 4/6, 4/7
Lawrenceville 3/30, 4/1, 4/6
Loomis 4/1, 4/5, 4/7
Mercersburg 3/28, 4/4
Middlesex 4/2, 4/6
NMH 3/25, 3/29, 4/1, 4/4, 4/7
Peddie 3/30, 3/31, 4/5
St. Andrew’s (DE) 3/29, 4/5
St. George’s (RI) 4/1, 4/2
Suffield 4/2, 4/4, 4/7
Tabor 4/4, 4/5, 4/7
Taft 3/31, 4/4, 4/5
When is Nobles?
Brooks Revisit days are April 5 and April 8