<p>How important is it to attend these at mid-sized school (5,000 students)? Are you really missing important info if you do not attend? There are some conflicting dates, it is running into other family obligations, costs money for multiple hotel stays, younger son gets dragged along, and driving all of these miles gets tiring.</p>
<p>We recently went to one at a small college. It was a fabulous program for parents. My son did not get much out of it. I noticed that out of about 200-250 invited, only about 45 families attended.</p>
<p>Trying to remember- we might have went to to three.( two of the schools she was accepted to I never visited at all)
For D it did give helpful info- I don't think attending that many is necessary however- but if possible I would attend the top two choices if trouble deciding ( the third was mostly to attend with a friend and because we didn't visit previously)
The weekend at the medium university- involved treking around the campus- a buffet and opportunities to talk to profs in their classrooms and ask questions- It definitely knocked it out of the ball park as to being on the list, but it was helpful to meet the other parents and students- we enjoyed it- but at that point she already knew what school she was attending, it was mainly to keep her friend company.
The public LAC- was very helpful- it was a more indepth tour than we had, before, they had a panel of profs to answer questions and even a parent group discussion ( they have a parent newsletter as well).
We had toured few schools before D applied, and as she is first generation college, didn't have a lot of experience with colleges or what to look for, so these extra tours did help.
If your S already feels to have a good sense of the school, I don't think it is necessary. The information gained was really for making the final decision, not anything they need to start school</p>
<p>EK thanks. We will try to make a couple more, but really it will boil down to money too. I am waiting for all of the merit/financial aid packages. I feel guilty not going to all of them, but it is ridiculous. We also cannot be in 2 places at the same time, and enough is enough.</p>
<p>I was wondering about same thing. We figured out long time ago that going to official open houses usually not a good idea since it is pretty much same story all over again- tour, panel of happy students, panel of faculty and bunch of stories how great they are.
Anyway, my D has been doing lots of ovenight visits on her own and I was thinking if she should do last overnight during her admitted student da in April. How those admitted student days in April different from regular open houses?</p>
<p>well in the admitted student days you are meeting what may be the students that you will be attending class with.
The admitted student days at the school she decided to attend had small groups of students going to activities together- not much for the parents to do but eat fruit and drink coffee- but my daughter seemed very charged up after the program. It seemed much more real to her I think to meet other students that planned to attend that she might be in class with.
( it also helped that this was held in the spring- while prospie days were a dismal week in November- it was nice to see the campus with the trees in bloom and the sun shining :) )
Admitted student days are a whole nother level of focus- instead of getting general information and feel of school, students and parents are more likely to have really specific questions asked and answered.</p>
<p>My take on it is, like EK said, they are valuable, if kid is undecided. They are sales jobs, primarily, imo. So if you don't need the sales job and aren't undecided, I wouldn't worry about missing them.</p>
<p>Another value, and why I insisted my S go to the one at his chosen school - it's a chance to confirm the choice and - for kids who might not be quick-starters socially - a chance to make a head start on some connections. DS attended virtually none of the scheduled sessions, but "found his people" and knew he had chosen the right place. He has become very close friends with his host. YMMV. I think this would also hold value for kids (or parents) who have anxieties re the separation, the distance... a nice trial run.</p>
<p>My S can go into a crowd knowing nobody and have friends in a couple of hours. He is very easy going regarding meeting people, and has no fears in this area. </p>
<p>jmmom, he agrees with you (sales job) and has expressed that they are rehersed events (in case his mother was not aware :)). We will go to some, but cannot do all. He may end up at a school where he did not do this day (possible), and I am trying to feel less guilty about not going. We need the merit and financial packages to really decide. We only have the whole package to one school so far (frustrating, b/c I am an early bird type).</p>
<p>that would be frustrating- the private school sent the aid notice and acceptance letter all in one package
Public schools however, don't often know what their budget will be till legislature adjourns and while we got merit notifications right away- we didn't find out about other aid until much later.
( however it is just february- still early yet)</p>
<p>I think if your child is at all interested in attending, it's very important to attend the visits - it's a chance to see who their classmates might be and to talk to current students. If money is an issue, I agree you could just send the student (we did some visits together and others s. went alone). The cost of 4 years attendance is enormous compared to the cost of a re-visit. I'd want to do everything I could to make sure my kid made an informed choice (it's cheaper than transferring, dropping out, etc. not that those are necessarily going to happen). If your child no longer has an interest in a school, I don't think a revisit is worthwhile.</p>
<p>Hmmm, this is a phenomenon I'm unfamiliar with - admit days coming prior to knowing your financial aid package. By the time DS went on his trip, he had the acceptances and merit awards in hand. I recall a lot of Accepted Student days in April last year (when everyone has the full picture). I even recall Stanford's being almost at the Midnight Hour (very close to May 1 decision day).</p>
<p>Are you saying that a number of schools schedule these admit days only once and it is prior to April 1 (or prior to when they have provided you your full finaid package)? Yuk.</p>
<p>lefthandofdog, You know what I did-I made him revisit 2 schools that he was somewhat less interested in just to be sure. He was less interested for what IMO are silly reasons, but they were imprortant to him. His reasons had to do with campus size and physical layout of campus. After going and talking to students he was much more positive about attending one of them, and felt "okay" about attending the other school. He won't be going to the "okay" one, since he is much more excited about his other prospects. I am glad he went, b/c the other school rose on the list in terms of preference. It also had been a year and a half since he saw that campus (one of the first schools he visited), and I knew that they added buildings since he had last visited.</p>
<p>As far as transferring, you never know, but my S chose the schools he was applying to wisely. He would feel good about going to any of them. We put a couple of years into this process.</p>
<p>it seems like the public schools had several days available and i tmay have been after we knew about the aid package
If the days are in april for example- you may need to book hotels etc now- but you should know about aid by then.
I think Reed just had admitted student days once- but it is a very small school and since just a small percentage attends it wouldn't be effective to have more than one event
I am also remembering however- that some schools apparently require students to come before fall- to register ?
My niece for example from Tacoma is attending Indiana and although she didn't visit prior to admittance, she did have to come towards end of spring to register- which I thought must be a PITA- can't they do it online?
( it was orientation- but why hold it in summer- why not right before school starts?)</p>
<p>jmmom, We had 2 accepted students days this month (February). He attended both. One was with parents, and the other was without us (shadowing a student). They were on the same week-end, and quite a distance apart. It was tough going to both and only one was worthwhile. There was also the need to do something with our younger child for one visit (stayed with friends), and then we took him along to the other school. There are a number scheduled for April. I am hoping to have packages by then. The 2 we did this month were before packages. He has been offered merit aid, but not all schools he applied to have sent merit aid out yet. We have gotten only have one financial aid package so far. In fact, he is still waiting for a few decisions on April 1.</p>
<p>I saw 3 of my son's admitted student days were on the same day in April. That makes it hard, you have to pick the one you lean toward the most I suppose. I would hope by 4/22 though, he knew where he wanted to go!</p>
<p>We went because S was still undecided. It turned out to be positive in many ways. Sure it is a sales job but there other positives that follow. While attending the student sessions for the intended major, S meet other potential students and could measure if he was going to fit in. He met the teaching staff of the department and could measure if he could relate to their styles and personalities. Lastly, he had lunch with a group of kids and became friendly with one particular boy who later they requested to room together. His feeling was, well at least I have meet him, we have some things in common, and we are in the same major. That has worked out great for both of them. They scheduled their orientation for the same session and got to know one another even better before they had to live together. </p>
<p>Bottom line was he connected with students, staff, and the culture of the school at this visit and it sealed the deal.</p>
<p>I would recommend it even if your student was certain where they wanted to attend. Let them start meeting other potential students and staff.</p>
<p>Debruns, I hope so. He really has it down to a few. In fact he got a nice merit scholarship at one school, but ruled it out. It was never the highest on his list, and he was afraid of losing the scholarship due to gpa requirements. He felt he would rather attend one of his oos publics than that school, and I can see his point of view.</p>
<p>BTW, I have read some of your other posts. Looks like your son is close to a decision!! I am so happy for both of you!! He may be in my home state for 4 years.</p>
<p>in Seattle we have high school tour days- because students can ( theoretically) choose what high school to attend- but they are often scheduled on same days- however there is a choice so if you are looking at a lot of schools and are really organized you can figure it out I guess
but I did notice that some of the evening open houses are also on the same days
I don't disagree that orientation is important- but I was just thinking of my niece who didn't have money to look at schools before she was admitted, but then had to make a trip for orientation and then again in the fall when school started.
My D had a whole week of orientation activities and since she now works with the computers, I think much of her time is helping students to "follow directions" * if all else fails yaknow*, but she also really enjoyed O-week</p>