Are you taking your parents with you?

Prep School Admissions
1

<p>Just wondering, are they going to be dropping you off to your boarding school? Seeing you off at the airport? Going with you and staying a day or two to have you settled?</p>

<p>Or what are you hoping for?</p>

2

<p>First of all my parents are taking me with them. Secondly, why two days, I was hoping they would stay with me in the dorm for a couple of years until I grow up.</p>

3

<p>A lot depends on the parent’s schedule and the student’s maturity… I am sure most moms, if they are able, would like to go with their student! (Spoken as a mom.)</p>

<p>Also, some schools - like Loomis and McCallie, have parent ‘orientation’ while the students have a similar orientation. They seem to encourage parents to come and visit and understand the world their child will be entering. Other schools seem to be less focused on parents in the beginning and do more of that ‘understand our world’ at their first parents weekend. </p>

<p>The really helpful thing about having ‘mom’ or a substitute along is that she has the ability to take you to Target/BBB/Best Buy/Staples etc. for minor items that you might prefer not to ship or check as luggage. And there are always little things you forget or find you need once you realize what your dorm room is like… </p>

<p>Having said that - if you do come alone and find a trip to Target is necessary - there are plenty of other parents happy to take you along (but you will have to use your wallet instead of your mom’s :)). Also, the first few weekends most schools have organized trips to the major shopping centers just for this reason.</p>

<p>Either way it is going to be a really awesome and exciting experience moving in and meeting so many new people!!!</p>

4

<p>CaliPaki, many students arrive with one or both parents in tow. In general, they will be able to help you move into your room, and then there are often activities for both parents and child, to help ease the separation. </p>

<p>Most schools encourage older students to help carry boxes to your assigned room.</p>

5

<p>I went with both up to the school, and my mom stayed three days. Personally it was more my moms decision, not one I would repeat. It was hard for me personally to adjust with my mom hovering. Others may feel different.</p>

6

<p>It’s great to have Mom and/or Dad come to help set up the dorm room a little, attend any orientation sessions for them, etc. But they should leave by afternoon or early evening. Hanging around for 1, 2 or 3 days is overkill.</p>

7

<p>Nope, I’m probably not.
Kinda nervous because this will be the first time I’m traveling overseas alone, and my first visit to the US as well. :P</p>

8

<p>The useful part of having parents there is to help with some of the grunt work carrying boxes/luggage to the room and running errands to the local store if anything is forgotten. There were definitely some kids from abroad without parents in tow, but they got lots of help and lovin’ from other kids and faculty. </p>

<p>The School has parents out by the end of the day. The next day all the freshmen leave for a week on a low-impact camping trip to the southern Sierra Nevada, an incredibly beautiful experience that bonds the kids and sets the tone for the school year. That’s a long week for the parents of freshmen who are dying to know what’s going on!</p>