Admitted Students Days - the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

We went to 4 Admitted Student events with S2. 3 of them were back-to-back (Sat-Tue) and included schools in VA, PA, and ME. Even though we had been on earlier visits to each of these schools, the admitted student experience was good and allowed us to look at the schools with fresh eyes and a bit more investment.

We went on the tours, attended faculty panels, student life discussions, etc. Skipped almost all of the financial aid, team-building, and get-acquainted sessions in lieu of one-on-one meetings with profs in his major (scheduled in advance) or independent rambles across campus. The one event on a Sunday had very little faculty or student interaction outside of a big free-for all with 20+ tables in a big hall so we went back on a class day and had a much better experience.

My advice is to decide ahead of time for each visit: what information do you want to know, with whom would you like to meet, what facilities would you like to see, in what activities are you interested, etc and plan your time around those interests. We found profs and advisors very accessible at each school even when they were not part of the planned program.

Don’t feel like you must follow the entire published schedule but rather do things that will make the visit meaningful to you. There is much to be said for sitting under a tree on the campus lawn (or in the student center, etc) observing and talking with students. Or wandering through academic and activity buildings. I valued that time with my S2 and some of the most fun times we had was when we decided to go exploring on our own. (The 5-story atrium of Tormondsen Great Hall is a wonderful place to fly paper airplanes and we were obviously not the only ones to attempt it). :smile: