<p>I would like to know what parents will do during the times we sit in class, attend extracurricular fairs, or eat lunches with current students. I know that there are some events for parents and that parents are free to explore the city on their own free time, but parents usually don't attend Yale classes with their child or other events during the Bulldog Days, right?</p>
<p>No, I don’t think parents are really the point of this, and I doubt the kids would want us tagging along. I dropped my daughter off and my husband picked her up two days later (we have the advantage of being only 2 hours away). If I had needed to stick around for travel reasons, I would have just amused myself in New Haven (the museums, shops, wandering around campus).</p>
<p>Our whole family attended Bulldog Days last year, and there were plenty of parents in attendance. There was overlap in the many scheduled activities for the parents and students, at least during the day, although I think we saw my daughter at only one activity, and only from afar at that. The overlap for parents and students occurred in things like information sessions, demonstration classes, campus tours, academic and extracurricular fairs, and two large assemblies (one day and one evening) intended for everyone. </p>
<p>Where there was especially high divergence in our schedules was in the evening. On all but one day, we (parents and younger sibling) left the campus before evening, but the students had many activities to attend in the evening and well into the night. I believe these were really intended just for students.</p>
<p>We stayed off campus, while the pre-frosh are housed on campus with a host. We made no attempt at all to contact our daughter during that time, so our presence there was irrelevant to her.</p>
<p>Parents can get a lot out of Bulldog Days, and I highly recommend that they attend.</p>
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I am of the opposite opinion. The event is for the prospective students and I think this is an ideal time for parents to step back and let their child have the freedom and maturity to make the decisions regarding attending. Although my son did not attend BDD he did attend another school’s event and flew there on his own. I think insisting on attending sends a message to your son/daughter that they are not capable or you do not trust them to make the decision on their own. Just my $.02 cents worth. ;)</p>
<p>Agree with Kdog,
My son will attend BDD alone and his mom is little worried because he flies alone for the first time.
My son tole his mom, if he is afraid of going by himself, then he possibly does not deserve the college.</p>
<p>It’s not either/or. Yale welcomes parents and gives them the full “win over” treatment just like the admitees. Parents accompanying students aren’t intrusive nor is it a sign that they 1) lack confidence in the kid or 2) are having trouble stepping back.</p>
<p>There are plenty of kids with and plenty w/o parents. Neither is in indication of apron strings or helicopter parents or independent/mature students. It’s just a well-run, info program meant to win over everyone – not a meant to be an indictment of the families involved.</p>
<p>^Spot on as usual.</p>
<p>I attended BDD with D1 as we flew in and were driving a rental car between 4 schools. I stayed at a hotel while she stayed on campus. I took a tour, sat in on a class, went to the Beinecke, Peabody and Art museums on my own, and of course hit Ikea since we didn’t have one where we live yet.</p>
<p>I had pretty much the same BDD experience as entomom. In my case, the main reason for me tagging along was that I had not seen Yale’s campus in over 20 years (DH and S had done the northeast college tour) and I wanted to get the chance to see it for myself. S and I parted ways at Phelps Gate and although I saw him from afar once or twice, we didn’t re-connect until it was time to leave. There were some programs aimed at parents, a few of which I attended; I met a relative who lives nearby for lunch; I did a campus tour; and I basically just wandered around in the gorgeous spring weather and wished that I was the one going there! :)</p>
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<p>I wish we had the same experience, the year we were there is was raining like crazy and the streets were rivers :)!</p>
<p>I stand corrected - I had a better BDD experience than entomom ;)</p>
<p>I did not attend BDD with my kid given DS experience flying alone and of course there being no need for me to be won over by the event. OTOH, the program that is open to adults is amazing with many gifted lecturers, a showcase of a capella talent, etc. and I think it would be fun to go as a parent. As CCParent states, the evening program does not exclude parents but certainly seems more geared to kids. Compared to move in days where it is clear they want the parents gone on Saturday afternoon, BDD is welcoming to parents who choose to attend.</p>
<p>Hey, Kdog, given that I had already sent my daughter by herself on an overseas flight to Oxford for her interviews, had let her cross the country by herself to go to different summer camps in years gone past, and had let her travel for years to metropolitan areas without adult supervision, I don’t think she had the feeling at all that we were attending Bulldog Days to micromanage her decision.</p>
<p>Maybe the trip to BDD is among the first independent trips for some students, but that is not the case for all.</p>
<p>The stated BDD activities made it clear that there were activities for both parents and students, and my husband and I attended because we were providing transportation anyway and thought it would be fun to stay ourselves and attend the various tours and sessions and get a better sense of the school. (And we did find it to be time well spent.)</p>
<p>As long as parents don’t spoil the time for their children by insisting upon doing activities together, I see no problem with parental attendance. There were certainly many parents in attendance at the one big evening event, and when the students were dismissed from the theater that night, there was a talk and reception for the parents, which was fairly well attended.</p>
<p>We didn’t insist at all that my daughter attend BDD, but she wanted to. When I recommended that parents attend BDD, I didn’t mean that they should do so even if it meant forcing their child to attend. You seem to have inferred this from my post.</p>
<p>We attended the Bulldog days as did our son. Over the entire duration, we got one text message from him: OK. That was the extent of our contact.</p>
<p>We attended because we had typical parental concerns. We found the sessions informative. They helped wash away our reservations. So I’d say if your daughter/son is considering alternative schools, it is useful to attend.</p>
<p>And just to note my response was really in answer to the OP</p>
<p>"but parents usually don’t attend Yale classes with their child or other events during the Bulldog Days, right? "</p>
<p>And I think the answer from all of us, those who stayed and those who didn’t, is “no”</p>
<p>On that same trip where I dropped her off at Yale, I “stayed” at Brown, in much the same way all of you “stayed”. I attended some of the parent stuff until I got bored, then I spent personal time with another parent who was a friend from grad school.</p>
<p>The weather this year is projected to be perfect for Bulldog Days - sunny and 50-75 degrees. I wonder whether weather during this weekend has a tangible effect on yield rates. I wouldn’t be surprised if, on average, it were a percent or two higher on years when it was sunny than on those with torrential rain.</p>