Also, I’ve not seen anything similarly mentioned on CC, but as we went through our revisits I stayed in touch off-forum with a couple CC pals with whom we had some revisits in common. It certainly made my experience much richer and more fun.
I would also mention to your kids, when considering a school at a revisit, to think about the next 4 years not just their first year. What might feel very comfortable and cozy at 14 could be very stifling at 18. I think it can be normal for students to feel a little intimidating about the challenge of some schools at first whether it is rigor, size, an overwhelming breadth of offerings, etc. but they might appreciate those very things down the road. Of course, this will vary student to student.
We told our daughter at the onset that we reserved veto power over a school after the initial visits, and as we had essentially pre-approved the schools where our dd ultimately applied, we left the final decision mostly up to her. She did not choose my first choice but the school she did choose is a good fit for her. Had she agreed to my choice, a school that intimidated her a bit but would have stretched her more, and then hated it, that would have been a big hurdle to over come.
Have anyone read the student handbooks yet about the school’s rules and regulations?
Scintillating reading, they are not.
My kiddo read one that was over 170 pages - much of it out loud to us- and asked “ who writes like this?”
Our answer? “Lawyers!”
"Scintillating reading, they are not. "
Unless you are trying to see exactly what activity may be allowed.
Received letter reminding students to keep grades up, good attendance, keep no discipline problems or admissions may be rescinded. Our kiddos must all maintain good work. These schools want us to submit the final transcripts in June. Everything is all good so far…
@mama paradox are your twins going to two different schools or the same school? And yes, we’ve read the handbook for the school our kid is going to. My kid skipped the boring parts and went right to dress code and permissible décor for the dorm room
I am fortunate that both will be going to the same school. I am frugal. Many of their clothes will be from the Thrift Shop. Parents can save a lot on certain clothes that may look brand new or are actually new.
If that’s the case, I can sum up the 170 pages for you from the student point of view: if it’s something that a teenager wants to do/wear, it’s not allowed.
Honestly, I am still slowly letting go of the stress from taking the kids to various interviews and the whole process. Going back to normal routine is a breather. My friends kiddos are praying every night for movement off the waitlist. I am a very reserved person but it has been nice exchanging thoughts and ideas with CC .
My son applied to one school that is only 4 hours drive away from us (versus 1000 miles). It has a fairly high acceptance rate and medium average SSAT/ACT/etc. (The website looked good - not great, but fine). We went to family visit day there during the application process. We had a very frank conversation on the way home (car drives are great for these), where I told him that, based on our visit, even if that is the only BS he got accepted to, I was not OK sending him there. I then shared with him the things I had observed throughout the day that got me to the place where I would say no to a school. The culture of the BS was not in-line with our parenting culture at all. These kids are smart. When I explained my concerns, he understood where I was coming from. Since it was before M10, he was worried that he would only get accepted to this particular school, so then we had a whole other conversation (if you don’t get accepted it’s not the end of the world, you can make the best of where you are, etc.).
@KentuckyMomma I’m confused by your post. If you felt so strongly that you wouldn’t send your son there why did he apply?
He had already applied - we did the visit day after his application.
Our visit was in February.
We will have a revisit next week. The kids are definitely going to attend this school. The twins will attend classes with a current student . We are looking forward to next week for my kiddos to enjoy their future school.
I understand that more is revealed at each visit and sometimes, something you didn’t catch in the orchestrated 2 hour tour and interview becomes quite apparent in a subsequent visit. So yes, keep your eyes open at those revisits!
@“Mama Paradox” I’m assuming each twin will get paired with a current student so that each gets to experience their own day?
You are correct. We will take 3 days to enjoy Massachusetts also. Plan to open a bank account for them while in town.