Would bringing my 4th grade brother with me be alright? My dad will be away and my mom has to look after by two brothers (8th and 4th). My 8th grade brother wouldn’t mind going but usually families don’t have their younger children in tow during visits.
Has anyone else had this problem?
If you are going for a general information session and tour it is fine. He won’t be the only sibling tagging along. If both of your brothers come it would be OK too. If you will be shadowing a student or something then maybe it is not as good of an idea.
People understand that sometimes it’s necessary to bring younger siblings. I’d make sure he had a book or electronic device to keep him busy during the presentations. The poor kid is going to be very bored.
You posted earlier about attending a class on your visit. If the brother is not well behaved that would be a problem. the kid will be bored.
I still don’t get why parents feel a need to tag along on college tours. We almost fainted when on my son’s first college tour his father had to stay with him because the other 100 kids had one or both parents along. And we are pretty darn helicopter.
4th grade shouldn’t be an issue as long as your mom can properly bribe your brother into behaving.
I do think you need to make sure your parents give the correct number of people attending including the children. The worst thing that can happen is expecting 30 students and 30 parents, and instead you get 30 students and 60 parents and 60 siblings…
There is no reason not to call and ask the college tour coordinator about it. Some colleges even have a separate parent/family tour, and the student separates from them.
You could try to find a place for your two brothers to sit outside the classroom while you attend class. Many buildings have an area with chairs where people can sit. You should tell them to be quiet though cause others may be studying.
Thank you for all your responses. The problem is my younger brother has a short attention span so he will not last during the info sessions. Do some visitors have younger siblings with them? I don’t want my brother to be the only one there if that makes sense.
You should not count on any other siblings being there. If your brother can’t sit quietly through the information session then bringing him could be a problem.
Your older brother seems old enough to keep your brother company while you sit in on class. But that’s what mom can do, since you will not want her in class with you. I’m sure she can keep them occupied. We saw younger kids at many of our tours. Most parents gave them a video game or phone to play with during the info sessions. None of them were THAT bored. If your younger brother can’t keep from being disruptive, you might consider having to go on the tour alone.
@rhandco , parents go on tours because parents are paying for their kids’ educations. We could not go on every tour with our D, but we were welcomed at those we did attend, and we sometimes had questions our D would not have even known to ask, usually financial ones.
I don’t think you should attend class. Leaving your 8th grader to watch his brother on campus is a bad plan, and you just really can’t take him into the classroom. I wouldn’t do it.
Is your Mom taking you? If so, they can go on the tour, but she would be better off finding something else to do with them during the info session and most definitely during the class. My friend took her 2nd grader along and would hang out in the cafe and feed him lunch while her D was auditing a class or interviewing.
When we visited colleges, my son was about 10, in fifth grade. When D attended classes, she was the only one who went to class. The rest of us (son, DH and I) found other things to do on campus, including getting lunch. So you can go to class, but the other three should find a quiet place, have a snack, bring a card game or two, go for a walk, take pictures. The worst was sitting through the info session; I recommend a video game or book, something to keep him occupied if he gets bored.
Younger kids get bored out of their minds at these things. The younger (tween) sib in our family is super calm and tolerant and well behaved and generally interested in the world, but BEGGED us not to drag her along on any more college visits.