<p>My D and I do not typically attend info. sessions when visiting campuses, finding them generally to be a repetition of information we have already obtained from websites, guide books, etc. Are there notable acceptions? What colleges and universities have info. sessions that are really worth the time -- either because they are so entertaining, or because they provide insights not readily available elsewhere?</p>
<p>Among the thirty or so info sessions that I have attended, none of them really stood out as offering anything new or surprising. The Brown information session was the most entertaining, though.</p>
<p>Swarthmore was the best for us, hands down. There were no canned responses and the admissions officer was extremely personable and answered all questions honestly.</p>
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<p>Rice had a good info session-- including some very specific information about their merit aid. (HINT: make sure your application mentions RESEARCH in some way or another).</p>
<p>Northeastern was helpful, especially for understanding how their rotating co-op schedules work. Also in the summer they had special “Engineering Day” sessions.</p>
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<p>Yale had the best info session I attended. The admissions officer was terrific. I’ve also decided after attending countless tours that the students who give the best tours are often theater majors or minors.</p>
<p>I agree that Yale’s info session was informative and entertaining.</p>
<p>Williams’ was very candid, since the admissions officer had just finished going through it with her son. She asked where everyone else had been. It was funny.</p>
<p>Browns was boring and a waste of time. And the admissions officer looked bored (like we were wasting her time). The Physical Sciences tour was really, really great.</p>
<p>For some unknown reason, the slide show before the info session at Harvard got me.</p>
<p>MIT’s info session was very low-key and informative. Very friendly too. And fairly personal, given the number of people in the room. I think it helped that it was in one of the medium-large lecture halls.</p>
<p>Generally, the more interactive, the better gauge the person giving the info session had of the audience, and could focus on what the people in front of him or her cared about instead of going through a canned spiel. That made it good. At Yale it was obvious that the admissions officer had heard some of the same questions about the application a million times, so he answered the questions up front (though it didn’t stop someone from asking a question he had already anticipated).</p>
<p>I really liked the info session at Colgate I attended 4 years ago. Mostly, I was totally impressed by the speaker’s skills. She was thorough, yet fast-paced. The session was held in their main room and everyone introduced themselves. That alone was unique. It felt like a cozy gathering of about ~25 interested students, not students who were ready to go to sleep in a large auditorium, listening to a canned, generic talk.</p>
<p>Caltech shows a terrible movie they apologize about! Vassar had a student do half the talking which was nice. Carnegie Mellon had tours of the different schools for Admitted Students weekend. They were well worth attending. I can’t remember if there was an overall admissions intro. We hated the one we had at Tufts which was all about figuring out who you were and why you wanted to go to college and very little about Tufts. We hated it, but the ones who have had AdmissionsDan (who posts here) have all been very happy. The Brandeis presenter was so over the top cheery I had a hard time taking her seriously. American, GW and Georgetown I thought were all pretty solid. (Though son says there was too much history at Georgetown.) The info session at Bard was beyond bad - I liked the tour guide though.</p>
<p>I have to say that most of the info sessions we have attended are the same old same old. But we attend to show demonstrated interest at those schools that seem to want it.</p>
<p>All the info sessions we attended were fine, the presenters were personable… but they were repetitive and most of the information was either easily found on the colleges’ websites, or not all that essential to know.</p>
<p>Tufts was the most eventful when the admissions officer nearly passed out.</p>
<p>I went to a very fine info session at Pitzer, given by a student. He was articulate and did a terrific job of describing how Pitzer’s four principles/themes are manifested in the life of the college. It wasn’t just a canned talk - he also responded very well to questions. I had actually been to a different Pitzer info session a year before, led by an admission staff member, and it wasn’t nearly as good.</p>
<p>I would highly recommend attending the info sessions of the schools you are MOST interested in attending. Because of the info session, my s was able to site personal, first hand knowledge (not book or USNWR info) in his all important essays explaining why this U was the best choice for him. They want to hear it especially if you made the effort to learn it.</p>
<p>I"ve heard that Vandy does a great job. We loved Trinity (Texas) and Occidental’s was hands down the best according to my husband.</p>
<p>The “Info” at the sessions is easily obtainable from the web sites; what I found useful was getting a sense of the attitude of the school from the presenters. During our visits schools have come across as aloof, welcoming, perky, bored, clueless and arrogant. I sit in these sessions and think “What’s it going to be like for my son to deal with this type of administration for the next four years?”. I know it’s unfair to judge an entire college based on the info session just as it’s unfair to judge an entire student body based on a tour guide, but they are the public “face” that the schools choose to put in front of prospective buyers. </p>
<p>Most Welcoming: Case-Western
Friendliest, but disorganized: Southern Cal
Most Likely to be a bureaucratic Pain in the Rump: Northwestern
Most Arrogant: Claremont-McKenna - admissions officer actually said to crowd “What makes you think you’re good enough to come here?” - refreshing in its way.
Worst Info/Tour Event Ever: URochester</p>