<p>Kelowna - think of this from the perspective of, say, the representative from the LAC in Ohio who is now visiting the suburban Kansas City area. You don’t seriously think that she could stay there all week and just cool her heels visiting School A in the evening on Monday, School B in the evening on Tuesday, etc.? And do nothing during the day?</p>
<p>Either she’s going to schedule several schools during the day and drive between appointments (School A at 9 am, School B at 11:30 am, School C at 2:30 pm, etc.) to get several schools done with in the course of the day – or she’s going to schedule 1 or 2 big sessions in the evening for all interested people in the metro area to attend. </p>
<p>It’s a little presumptuous to think that she should schedule individual schools in the evening, and waste the rest of her day sitting around doing nothing.</p>
<p>In our school it’s a group visit so it would be kind of weird to have maybe two kids and a parent or five kids and a parent. I would think having a parent there would change the atmosphere of the visit.</p>
<p>I must admit I did go to one of them, but just because:</p>
<p>1) I happened to be on campus when it was announced;
2) I heard that scores of kids were going to be there, so I knew I could just sit in the back and make no impression at all;
3) Ds was a sophomore so wasn’t even eligible to attend, and I knew that the rep could in no way make an association between me and ds. :)</p>
<p>Quite frankly, the initial read of the adcom is worthless. I have NEVER heard any of them tell a student, “Don’t bother applying.” They always speak highly of their school and of everyone’s chances. I still remember the mother who was convinced that her daughter was a shoe-in at Harvard, because at College Night she was told her DD was “just the type of person we want at H.” Her DD was a B student with few EC’s and nothing to make her stand out. Her mother went around telling everyone her D was going to go to H. The shock when she was rejected! These sessions are good, however, to get maybe a bit mor ethan you can on the website and a bit of a feel for the school. For the schools where it matters, this is also “showing interest.”</p>
<p>I had an adcon from Rice saying in response to a question I asked him about GPA “well maybe a couple of B’s, but not more” We scratched Rice off DD’s (NMF, TJHSST, but A/B grades) list.</p>
<p>Our kids at a selective prep school have to attend a subset of sessions throughout each semester in their last 3 years (and write briefly about what they liked and did not like of each they attended). </p>
<p>It has been valuable for them because they are not yet immersed in the search enough to go read websites, but they will listen and ask questions and make comparisons across the presentations. </p>
<p>It has really helped them get a sense of the features that schools promote and how they differ from each other. This is particular important as kids at this school routinely apply to colleges in three different countries, with three different systems. </p>
<p>They had some strong opinions about some things they heard and only then realized they cared about such features. </p>
<p>It has also opened their eyes to the fact that it’s all about marketing the school so they put a critical lens onto it (as they would any infomercial).</p>
<p>Interesting topic, Kelowna! I gather from the responses that HS GC’s run these visits differently. Clearly, it’s important for parents to learn how it works on their campus!</p>
<p>On our campus, the school day meetings between ad coms and seniors are important. Sure, a few turn out to be little more than marketing. But the vast majority involve either the assigned reader or an integral part of the admission team, and he/she can begin a valuable dialogue with the prospie who desires to initiate same. Our students go into the sessions prepared, armed with questions and often begin an email relationship with the reader as a result of the session conversation. Although these reps see many, many students over the course of a fall, they do keep notes, document applicant files and, in some instances, make the hoped-for connection between the kid they saw at lunch one day and the app they are reading a month or four later.</p>
<p>Additionally, some reps schedule on-campus interviews during their visit.</p>
<p>Obviously, parents are not invited to these sessions. Juniors are allowed, but they are asked to defer to seniors as far as time during the session; if time runs out, they are invited to email the rep.</p>
<p>[My kids (and I) have found the evening dog-and-pony shows to be just that. I think it’s great to hear the spiel one time–junior year is a good year for that.]</p>