<p>My offspring did overnights with kids who had graduated from the same high school. I know that’s not an option for everyone, but I think it’s a good way to do it.</p>
<p>I don’t think just sitting in on classes is enough. Most of the smart kids I know who were miserable in college were unhappy for social reasons. Sometimes, this was due to factors that just can’t be controlled, e.g., conflict with a roommate. Sometimes, though, the reasons why the fit isn’t right would have been obvious with a little more “tire kicking.”</p>
<p>My S has been on 4 overnights so far… and 2 more this week. He has really enjoyed all of them and feels they all were very revealing of the type of fit the school would be, both socially and academically. He is very confident, outgoing, up for anything type of guy though. He has become friends with all of his hosts and is still in contact with them. Like rayrick, his overnight that he went on last night was an unexpected fantastic experience and it might be “the one” too.</p>
<p>I don’t think he would have had the same experience if he had just spent the day on campus.
Because he is looking at small very rural LAC’s the biggest concern for him is the drinking that is rumored to be so pervasive at these types of schools. He has been pleasantly surprised that he has found a lot of kids doing a lot of fun things besides drinking at night.</p>
<p>We just revisited a school that is one of the top two of my d’s choices. She did not stay overnight, but we walked around the campus, talked to some people in the department she is majoring in. We also had coffee in a student lunch spot to see if she could “see” herslef with the kids. Now we are going to visit the other school in a week. I would say her "instinct " is important, but see how she feels after then next visit. It may make up her mind and alleviate the worry.</p>
<p>I am a fan of overnights, not a fan of Admitted Student Day overnights. Ds1 didn’t do a single one.</p>
<p>He did four overnights. Two were great experiences and ended up being the last two schools standing for him. One was good, but he didn’t really see his people. One was OK. He went in with it as his no. 1 school and left not quite feeling it as much, which was a relief as he was WL’d.</p>
<p>OP, sounds like your dd’s experience is the exact same reason I don’t like them – lots of poser kids who probably won’t even go to that school, in the throes of senioritis, acting like fools. And they’re almost always Th-Sat, when every school is at its partiest/least academic and probably gives the worst impression possible to a less experienced 17/18yo who still thinks that they’re going to college to get an education. ;)</p>
<p>Personally, I’d work really hard to get her to do that second school at an overnight not tied to an ASD and then re-visit the other one, again, during the week for an overnight without all the hype and expectations involved.</p>
<p>BTW, I’m excited to hear rayrick’s dd is having such a great time and might have found THE one! Ds visited that school the last week in April on a Tuesday and had the BEST experience. Nice kids doing normal things – baking, playing games, studying, going to rehearsals, tossing a frisbee. Is there drinking there? Of course. But during a weeknight you see what the baseline experience is like. My 2 cents.</p>
<p>Not an overnight visit, but I went with my niece to her “accepted students day” and it was very underwhelming. Which made her doubt her choice (she had applied EA and didn’t have any other choices). By August she was POSITIVE she was going to hate it and was researching schools to transfer to. But, once she got there, she ended up loving every minute and today is extremely happy.</p>
<p>If she felt uncomfortable there, and has other good choices, this is an EXCELLENT reason to reject a school, if she chooses. (and, yes, could she be mistaken? Why, of course!)</p>
<p>My d., after three visits and two overnights, rejected the #1 school (and #1 LAC) when women started drinking before dinner on a Thursday night, and didn’t stop. She found a choice which was better for her, better academically in areas she was most interested in, and better - for her - socially. But most importantly of all, SHE chose it.</p>
<p>OP, sorry about your daughters experience. I still feel like overnight visit is valuable. DD just got back from admitted student overnight and really felt like it was really helpful for her. Now granted, she did have a positive experience. But positive or negative, it seems like it helps to make the final decision a little easier to narrow down college choices. My DD is an only child and is not used to always being surrounded by noise and other people. She learned she will have to balance her time alone and together with dorm friends during this visit. It was something she had not thought of but now can realize she will have to face as a challenge. This may not be an issue for many students, for my DD it is and she will have to learn to deal with it. She had visited many colleges, this was her first overnight and it really broadened her perspective on choosing her college.</p>
<p>I’m a big believer in overnights too. My son suddenly had 10 schools to choose from and had tried hard not to pick a favorite until he knew his options. He narrowed the field to 6 and did overnights at all of them, as well as attending classes and hanging around on campus. Two of those 6 he had only experienced in the summer, so those re-visits felt especially important. He only did one “accepted students” visit and that was the school he eventually chose. If you have a list of schools that are all great academically, social fit is what’s left to discriminate and it doesn’t matter much if a visit is misleading in one way or another. </p>
<p>I must say, though, that the idea of putting 15 accepted students in a common room space sounds like not a great idea. For my son’s “accepted student” overnight he was assigned to a host student, just as he was on his other overnights.</p>
And they’re almost always Th-Sat, when every school is at its partiest/least academic and probably gives the worst impression possible to a less experienced 17/18yo who still thinks that they’re going to college to get an education. ;)</p>
Ds visited that school the last week in April on a Tuesday and had the BEST experience. Nice kids doing normal things – baking, playing games, studying, going to rehearsals, tossing a frisbee. Is there drinking there? Of course. But during a weeknight you see what the baseline experience is like. My 2 cents.</p>