@Mom24boys I would have to say joining a group chat to get a sense is a bad idea. For the most part, the kids who speak in group chats do not represent the whole of a school. They are often to be frank kids who are somewhat strange and very boisterous. In every group chat I have joined the kids in it have made me reconsider attending that school. I have friends who were accepted ED and colleges and say the kids who speak in their accepted student group chats make them not want to attend the school they love so much. Really, the only thing I find group chats useful for is gaining information about the admission process because there will be kids who call the school and ask questions. So in my opinion I would advise against making decisions by group chats. Maybe still join them because the information can be nice, he could ask kids why they like the schools, but I wouldn’t make decisions off of them.
The first time I saw Cornell was when my parents drove me and dropped me off with a coffee mug and my suitcase. In the old days, we just looked at view books. I remember Stanford had a girl with a red skirt sitting under a tree. Yes, it would be great if a college could assist with travel for revisit days. A lot of colleges do for URMs and first gens and those who can’t afford travel. It’s worth asking.
Regarding the group chats - some schools/admissions offices will host a group chat for accepted students. It would consist of some admissions personnel, current students and perhaps faculty members, who answer questions in an online format. That could be helpful
@wisteria100 that would be helpful. I’ll tell my nephew that try to find out which schools have it
Just agreeing, that the groupme etc. groups and other social media connections set up by the students rather than the schools can provide a very narrow slice of the prospective student body. One of my kids acknowledged that the group chat was all about drinking and partying, and that it really turned him off – until he realized that the chat consisted of about 10 kids posting all the time, and that there were literally hundreds of other students he was more interested in getting to know.
On the other hand, the official school live chats were very useful and informative.