Does anyone have experience with college open houses? Are they worth it? We’ve been lucky enough to have in person tours at many of the schools under consideration, but the campuses were quiet since it was summer, and for the most part they were pretty similar and we liked them all. I am wondering if we would get more out of an open house.
I know what they are, I am just wondering if in peoples experiences they thought it was worth attending and if they got more out of it vs a regular tour/info session.
I’ve not been ti open houses but we’ve been to the regular info session/ tour and the special days which are the info session/ tours + student panels, housing tours, activity fairs and more. Those have many hundreds or at PennState thousands of students.
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We did one open house at RPI when we toured. In addition to the info session and tour, D had an extended opportunity to talk with students and professors. She thought it was great.
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Although we are just starting the college process, I have been through a slightly different version when looking at boarding schools, so here’s my take.
I preferred open houses to individual tours. Usually, open houses had panels and info sessions that gave us a lot of good information in an easy to access format. Of course, you only saw what the administration wanted you to see as they were putting their best foot forward, but that was also a data point as to what the school valued. Open houses were a great starting point and helped us make decisions about what schools we wanted to explore more.
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I agree with the boarding school experience - actually I think a combo was ideal, but for college that will be too difficult. The tours are also polished by the administration, so probably no loss there.
College open houses often are really crowded – to the point that they ARE the vibe you experience. It’s true that they gather a lot of resources. Because colleges have so many families touring, I think that an info session and a tour can get you to the same place. My reference point, however, was LACS, so this could be different for much larger schools.
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LACs is pretty much the way the chips are falling and we are committed to the open house at this point. We were lucky enough to do many in person tours this summer and, while informative, campuses were pretty quiet. I believe we’ve nailed down what we are looking for academically. The next step is the social vibe/fit.
The good news is that you will be able to decide for yourselves whether you prefer touring alone during the school year or attending open houses to the extent you have an option.
Summer is tricky that way.
If you aren’t doing ED, the admitted student events are really useful, so if you’re feeling a little uneasy about vibe, you’ll have another bite at the apple.
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That is a great point! Of course the name of the game seems to be ED but we won’t go that way unless we walk out of these visits knowing for sure.
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