My younger son, who was not at all sure he wanted to go to U of Chicago insisted on waiting till spring so that he could see it looking as pretty as it possibly could. (Part of this was to negate the effect of the calendar they sent us us - each picture browner and drearier than the one before it!) </p>
<p>My older son saw CMU on a very typical rainy weekend - and Harvard during a gorgeous one.</p>
<p>(We get the whole gamut of weather here - so my kids aren’t that put off by cold. Older son said he didn’t want to go south because he hates hot weather.)</p>
<p>I’ve been known to ask questions at tours, but only after none of the students did. And I don’t think I ask ones that make everyone roll their eyes - you know the shocked questions about co-ed floors, or whether there’s any drinking on campus.</p>
<p>Aren’t those questions amazing, mathmom? Or the questions that make it clear the student or parent doesnt know a thing about the school. My favorite was a student who asked about the ROTC program at Brown :eek: Um… no ROTC at Brown.</p>
<p>off topic - but I recall when we first took S to school freshman year and they had one of those parent meetings. There was a parent that was just beyond freaked that her child would a) be exposed to anyone’s underage drinking (my H leaned over to ask if she had been living in a cave since birth) and b) that her D would be exposed to some mutant strain of emboli and no one would call her due to privacy laws. After explaining most professionally how the emergency care of a student is handled, the best part of his answer came last: “So, if your child is actually dying, I’m “almost” certain someone would call you.”</p>
<p>Not sure that parent had much of a sense of humor, but the rest of us thought it was hysterical. Then they kicked us all off campus and sent us on our way!</p>
<p>Funny story: During a recent campus tour, the guide showed us her dorm room, which she let us know was in one of the less-favored dorms. The mother/daughter combo (at the front of the group, natch) were obviously horrified that 2 girls actually lived there. So, later, at the end of the tour our guide says, “Okay, which one of you is <em>Suzy</em>?” The girl from the front of the tour raises her hand, and the tour guide says, “Great! I’m your overnight host.”</p>
<p>Exactly. The author’s admitted failure was to focus only on schools of the kid’s interest, instead of visiting several disparate types and sizes of schools – those in cornfields, or the wilds of New Hampshire, and colleges in the big cities.</p>
<p>I agree with those whom are annoyed by the inane “parent questions” that we all have to suffer through on these tours! After one particularly ridiculous Q and A session at GWU, Step-D gave me one of the greatest compliments ( ok one of the ~only~ compliments) she’s ever uttered. We were at lunch and she was recounting some of the dumb questions from parents. She looked at me with appreciation and said “Well, you’re crazy but you’re not stupid!” LOL!!! A great moment - especially since she said that with TOTAL sincerity. ;)</p>
<p>Familyof3boys - great story. I would have loved to see the look on her face! They probably declined and the mother/daughter duo booked a suite at the local hotel!</p>
<p>And yes - e-coli. I got a new lap top an for some reason it now has given me spell check in CC. Appreciated sometimes, but other times it just changes the word and unless I proof read it changes what MIGHT have been just a typo of transversed letters into another word entirely!!</p>
<p>A friend of mine is on one of these adventures right now. Her 9th grade son was to be shipped off to Grandma’s but then her sister fell ill and he’s being dragged along. The good news is they are also visiting her two children currently at Williams and taking in a lax game or two over the double Saturday’s. They are visiting where S attends and I’ve made arrangements that the unhappy youngest can hang out in S’s suite to play XBox while sister and parents tour the school. It’s actually kind of a bonus for their D as well since they never put these upperclass houses/dorms on the tours. S has the single in a big suite of 6 other girls (3 doubles) this semester. He was kind of dubious about it at first, but he likes that they keep the place fairly tidy. Plus, he grew up with two sisters; there is little that freaks him and says they always have something “magical” to treat a zit and are more than willing to offer fashion advice. :)</p>
<p>Favorite dumb parent question from an info session. Representative from ivy school says "cost of attendance is $48,000 ", or whatever it was at that time (about five years ago). Parent in first row says “For all four years?”</p>
<p>I thought you meant ebola. HA!
PS I didn’t know that ModaS is a single guy with 6 women. I would have thought we’d hear stories on the P’13 thread!
PPS I never minded the silly questions. There is so much about college admissions that still amazes me.</p>
<p>I hate it when parents ask questions that are answered clearly and prominently on the college web site. This is a pet peeve mainly for “parent info sessions” which are already tedious for anyone who’s done any research at all…</p>
<p>Must defend those of us who try to get at the front by the guide – I spent a lot of money to do these college visits, and I want to hear what’s being said. I try not to ask any questions. :)</p>
<p>No kidding! I thought the same thing. They probably ccme up with some kind of “emergency” so she did not have to stay in that (dreadful!) room. HaHa :)</p>
<p>Meanwhile, at this same school, we were waiting for my son’s overnight host to show up, when this kid walks in, says to my son, “Are you here for the overnight?” He introduces himself to us and then off they go… </p>
<p>Later, when the host is introducing my son to his roommate, he says “This is Ben.” My son says, “Hi Ben, Nice to meet you.” The roommate says, “No, you’re Ben.” “I’m pretty sure I’m not.” my son tells him. Apparently, he picked up the wrong prospective student. A good thing, too. As the host and my son met up with the other two later that night. Ben hadn’t even spoken one word yet. :)</p>
<p>My son went on an overnight to a school where, thankfully, he had spent the day meeting various different people. The kid he was set up with to spend the night spent the entire early evening playing video games (on headphones) and then at around 9, when S thought they might be going out to meet up with some of the other kids, he said he had to skype his girlfriend. S is fairly sociable and generally well liked, so this seemed very odd to me (vs if S had been a “ben” ) He did apply but this kid was doing the school no favors!!</p>
<p>I am really beginning to hate overnights. Of the last 3 overnights S has taken, 2 have involved being around drunken hosts. At one school he also had a kid roll a joint in a common area. DS tried to laugh it off at one school, but the party mood was so overwhelming at another school he emailed the school the next day turning down admission. </p>
<p>I know there was alcohol at the 3rd visit, but his host stayed sober. Of course, when it is the first-choice school, those shenanigans often get overlooked.</p>
<p>That reminds me: Two years ago, a (rather sheltered) friend of my son had his overnight visit at Reed on April 19th. Well, at 4:20am on 4/20 the party began!
He ended up going elsewhere…</p>
<p>Son did an overnight at a top tier school that charged each student $50.00 for the sleepover visit. It was a school he was interested in so we just paid it and went with it, although, it somehow felt wrong, like the school was hurting for $$. Thank goodness he ended up not liking this school after the visit. </p>
<p>As far as parents asking ridiculous questions at info sessions, my husband and I would always get a chuckle at the very child specific questions that took forever to ask. Questions like, “my daughter,who will be on the soccer team and starting a company, would also like to double major in chemical engineering and electrical engineering with a minor in musical theater.Is this possible?”
We get it- you want everyone to know how remarkable your kid is- UGH!</p>
) He did apply but this kid was doing the school no favors!!</p>