I was invited to a few admit events at four different schools. All expenses will be paid by the school for every event I have been invited to. I don’t have any particular ranking for these schools. One of them was my top choice, however, I don’t want to rule out the other options and act too soon. I also haven’t received all my financial aid packages yet. This will be my first time staying overnight at any college that is not near where I live. Without these travel grants, I would not have the opportunity or funds to go visit these schools and it’s very important for me to have this chance. I would really like to get a feel for each school before making my decision. My problem though, is that apparently my school only allows two or three days for college visits. I would be missing about nine days if I go to each admit event. I’m very nervous about this considering that exemptions for final exams are based on not only grades but absences and of course I would have too many to be exempt by then. This makes me anxious because I do not feel prepared for some of these exams and do not want to have this stress at the end of the year. Are the absences worth it? I want to believe so because this is four years of my life versus two weeks of a school that I will be done with about a month and a half from now. But honestly, as you can tell from this post I’m very anxious and would like to get advice/help on how to get the rest of my absences waived. I plan on meeting with my college counselor later this week and see if she can vouch for me.
Talk to your teachers and guidance counselor at school - they may be willing to be more flexible in the policy and waive the absences if you’re seriously considering each school. With that said, if academically you don’t think you’ll be prepared for exams then maybe just pick the top choices or the schools you know the least about. If there’s a good reason to miss class then this is it.
If they still say no: Most admit events are on weekends too so is it not possible to go to just the weekend days (i.e. go to half of an admit event) if you can’t go to the whole thing? That way you wouldn’t have to miss much school. Colleges are usually somewhat flexible although ideally you’d be able to go to the whole thing. You can also ask about coming for an alternative weekend though you will miss the experience of meeting other prospective freshmen.
I would try to narrow it down to 2-3 schools…is there a chance to do admitted students days after you get the financial aid info? Can you contact the schools and see if they can give you financial aid info before you attend?
Definitely talk to your GC and teachers about it. Often if you are doing well in classes they give you more slack.
Wait for the FA offers. See if that makes some schools not viable and not worth the trip.
I agree, eliminate any schools that are not financially viable and eliminate any schools that are lower on your list as compared to your other admits and go to the other visits. Work in advance with your guidance counselor and teachers to create a plan for you to make up missed work.
You don’t have to do overnights at every school. You could go for day visits instead to cut down on time away from school. Sometimes an overnight visit does not give you a true picture of the school as it is highly dependent on the person hosting you