<p>CalAlum - your comment made me smile. Actually, my husband and I have visited briefly once before with my son (took a tour, etc.) but based on the calendar of events, it never really “dawned on us” that parents even attended these weekends. When I casually brought it up to my husband, he said he didn’t think it made a whole lot of sense to him to travel over 6 hours just so we could check in with our son, and then go to a handful of campus tours, but not much else. So, no, we won’t be going this time around. (But now I am curious, maybe molliebatmit can reply, but about what % of parents actually DO attend these weekends?)</p>
<p>Insidelane, I read your post – no, Really read it - took it in. And I appreciate that you took the time/effort to post. I was about to have a “knee jerk reaction type reply” - then took a breath, was about to pm you a reply, and now have decided to just leave your message as is and let others who read form their own impression or opinions. </p>
<p>Nah, can’t stay completely quiet 
so I will just say this: Everyone’s kids are different, and everyone has different beliefs. I won’t comment on my son specifically, but in general, I know some absolutely brilliant kids (ones who may be our future hope for cancer cures or whathaveyou) but who don’t have a thimble full of common sense, and other kids who may just not be comfortable navigating a strange campus, or may not have a stellar sense of direction (but have other amazing skills). I think any of these types may still manage to be successful at MIT or another top college. But as I noted, college previews are a bit different. Even on virtually all student’s first day of college (move in day), they typically have someone (mom and/or dad?) drop them off, perhaps help with their luggage, etc. before taking off. At least, I hope most students do. (Or at least ones residing in the US). So, I don’t think my concerns are completely unfounded. I think I will just leave it at that.</p>
<p>takeitallin - VERY good advice - my son does have such a phone, and that never dawned on me. (Maybe it would have dawned on him though… - after all, I was not the one accepted by MIT :-))</p>
<p>HPuck35 (first sorry to everyone for my consecutive posts - just catching up) - but HPuck35, thank you for your uplifting comments.</p>
<p>
Their hosts will contact them during the week before CPW – the meeting where student hosts get the contact information for their prefroshes is usually the Sunday prior to CPW. </p>
<p>I don’t have a good sense of what percentage of parents attend. It’s not everybody, for sure, and there are definitely a lot more parents at orientation. There aren’t a huge number of parent events at CPW.</p>
<p>Frus13 - Sounds like you had most of your questions answered, but I did want to let you know if you didn’t that we have a FB group for the new parents which might also be a place to have your questions answered if you are on FB. Evidently I can’t post links here but you can just search for “MIT Parents of the Class of 2017” and request to join. </p>
<p>Also, I hate to disagree with Mollie but as a parent of a 2015 and a 2016 student at MIT who attended both CPW and Orientation for the last two years, I would say that more parents attend CPW. Orientation is just too spread out with arrival times - although it technically starts on Sunday, I thought I’d read that somewhere between 2/3 and 3/4 of students arrive earlier - either for sports, ROTC, or one of the zillions of FPOP’s (Freshman Pre Orientation Programs). It seemed like in many cases since the kids were coming out earlier the parents either elected to bring them out then (if they were driving) or just let them come out alone. I also think there were far more events for parents at CPW which is a full 3 days (activities all day on Thu, Fri, Sat for both parents and students) than Orientation which was really just a day and a half (started Sunday morning and was done with the luncheon on Monday). They had many of the same sessions but CPW had a lot of dorm-focused ones (brunches, tours, etc.) since the students would still be selecting dorms at that point. If you haven’t checked out the CPW schedule, I’d recommend you look at it and filter it by “Events Especially for Parents” to see the many things offered then. Plus I just think the mood at CPW is so much more exciting and fun - parents and kids are still basking in the acceptance and participating in so many fun things and enjoying learning about the campus/school/city. During Orientation the focus is on getting the students what they need to move in, worrying about placement tests and class scheduling, and saying goodbye (sob!). </p>
<p>Feel free to PM me if you can’t find the FB group or have any questions!</p>
<p>^Agree with Marciemi – Parent volunteers in MIT Parent Connect help to ensure that are interesting events for the parents. I had visited MIT earlier with my daughter, so I asked my husband to go with her to CPW. He and she never saw each other during CPW after the initial drop-off, because they had different goals. He had been leaning toward Yale and wasn’t sure MIT was worth the extra $5-6,000 tuition difference each year. But after listening to multiple sessions specifically for parents about research opportunities, paid internships, coursework, visiting some of the research labs and hearing a couple of lectures etc., he came back with a completely different mind set. After MIT, they BOTH agreed that Yale just seemed like a pale imitation and that MIT was the perfect fit and well worth the extra cost.</p>
<p>Frus13 - I agree with Marciemi that if your son might attend MIT, you and/or your husband should attend CPW and skip Orientation. Just about everything covered at CPW for Parents is the same at Orientation, but you and your son will get to explore the dorms which would be too late at Orientation.</p>
<p>Also quite a few current parents volunteer for CPW in the Coffee Area to answer questions for pre-frosh parents. My daughter is a senior and I have been to CPW every year since 2009 when she was a pre-frosh. I may continue going even after my daughter heads off to grad school because I love answering questions for parents (my husband and I are both alums so we can answer questions from both perspectives) and visiting with the other parent volunteers during the quieter times in the Coffee Area.</p>
<p>When I attended CPW as a pre-frosh parent I never saw my daughter because we had completely different schedules. While I am an alum, I needed to learn about what had changed in the 30 years since I had graduated. There is a full schedule and you will learn a lot about MIT - especially the things parents need to deal with, such as taking the extra health insurance or not – if you attend.</p>
<p>And then if your son does indeed decide to attend MIT, you should join the MIT Parents Facebook group ( <a href=“http://www.facebook.com/groups/MITparents/[/url]”>http://www.facebook.com/groups/MITparents/</a> )which will become open to 2017 parents sometime in May/June once the admins of the group are able to verify that you are the parent of an MIT student. There is tons of information on that site.</p>
<p>No need for anybody to worry about disagreeing with me ever – I was trying to do a wild guess in my head!</p>
<p>Wow, how I wish I could afford to fly out and attend CPW or any event on campus! I would love that. I’ve been once to MIT. I hope I see it again before my son graduates.</p>
<p>:D</p>
<p>This is too funny, the OP reminds me of my mom.</p>
<p>As far as the “hazing” practice at frats, I don’t even think it is legal. And there are random people who go checking for alcohol at frats during CPW, since all frats have to be alcohol free or they are severely punished.</p>
<p>About getting around on campus: there will be so many students around
aware of CPW, that he can easily just ask anyone and they’ll be glad to help around. Also his host usually finds a meeting place with him, and from then on, he is pretty much set.</p>
<p>About the food: The frat food is cooked by a cook, and yummier than food i got from the dining halls back in the days. But that’s my personal taste.</p>
<p>about being “off” campus: Most of the frats are at the same walking distance to the MIT main building than the farther dorms like random or next house. Also, if you are that concerned, he can stick around with his host to cross the bridge. Most likely, he will be with a group of other CPWers that I don’t think security should be a problem. It’s not like he is walking through a deserted city a 2 AM alone. Boston is such an active city, and there will be so many college students around during CPW it will definitely not be deserted untill the wee hour of the night.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Citation desperately needed.</p>
<p>Oops. I was talking about the ones directly on the bank of the charles. The ones that are far usually have a car that brings back and forth.
My bad.</p>
<p>According to Google Maps -
77 Mass Ave to Random Hall: 0.3mi
77 Mass Ave to Next House: 0.6mi
77 Mass Ave to the Boston end of Harvard bridge: 0.6mi</p>
<p>There are a couple of fraternities on dorm row, but majority of them are in Boston. The closest one in Boston appears to be SPE at 0.7mi, and the distances grow quite a bit. So, no, the ones directly on the banks of the Charles are still farther than Next House or Random.</p>
<p>The only one with a car that I know if is ZBT (and ET, which is a coed independent living group rather than a frat). Others will rent cars for the duration of rush, but do not have one during the year.</p>
<p>There are several fraternities that are on Beacon St in Boston, including the one I lived in. As long as it isn’t raining/snowing, the walk was rather pleasent. It would kind of put you in a good mindset being somewhat separated from the school.</p>
<p>Frus13 - My daughter is in her second year at MIT and I feel confident that your son will love CPW as did she. I can certainly understand your concern about your son navigating public transportation alone after dark. It will cost more, but just have your son call a taxi from the train station if you’re worried. I do agree that the T is easy but I also asked my daughter to first take the T with at least one other person before she starts doing it alone. She is now completely comfortable on the T and public busses but still uses a taxi in some circumstances.</p>
<p>I agree with other posters suggesting that you and/or your husband attend CPW but not because you’re worried about your son. He’ll be fine. But, CPW was a fun and enlightening experience for me as a parent too. CPW was indeed just as informative for parents (if not more) than Orientation was. I learned so much from all the sessions geared to parents. I felt so much better sending my daughter to a college across the country after I attended CPW. I met many other parents and I had a great time with new friends myself. I barely saw my daughter the entire weekend but that was OK. She was fine and having an absolute blast - even during the all night excursions that no-one openly discusses. (Don’t worry - harmless stuff.) Your son will find that not only are the current students welcoming and accommodating, but the other prefrosh were eager to introduce themselves to each other the minute we stepped foot on campus. I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly the prefrosh joined together and they attended activities as groups. During CPW the campus is a buzz of activity and there is always someone ready to offer assistance. </p>
<p>My daughter is also in a Sorority and there are often joint activities with Fraternities so she’s familiar with many of the chapters. She was the last person I ever expected to go greek but it is absolutely true that greek life at MIT is all about comraderie, support and service. Molliebatmit is not giving you a song and a dance - there is too much at stake for alcohol to be present at all during CPW at the Frat houses. </p>
<p>Now… my daughter had a completely opposite experience at a different college preview. The hosts take the prefrosh to the drunken parties to see if they can handle themselves. It wasn’t my daughter’s cup of tea…</p>
<p>bellevuemom and others who posted but whose names I haven’t mentioned, thank you for the truly wonderful advice!! </p>
<p>Btw, to the poster who wrote “I don’t even think (hazing) is legal” – uh, yeah, maybe not, but that hasn’t stop the practice in well over half a century, and likely it won’t stop anymore that 100% of bullying will ever stop. Of course, “awareness and taking proper actions/punishments” against all such instances (of bullying and hazing) should be taken. But to believe that hazing doesn’t occur – even on Ivy League campuses, would be naive at best, and dangerous at worst. (Of course, I actually doubt it occurs (hope it doesn’t) at CPW - more likely only during rush season).</p>
<p>Mom/Dad-Let him go. Give him emergency meal money and cab fare, just in case. If he doesn’t have one, lend him a cell phone. Stay in a positive mood. If you’re stressed out, he might become stressed out. GL</p>
<p>I can say pretty confidently that there won’t be hazing at CPW.</p>
<p>Frus13 -
I tried to send you a PM today but it won’t go through.</p>
<p>Have you figured out a comfort zone for getting your son to CPW? I sent you a reply private message last week but I’m not a frequent user of CC so I don’t know whether or not it got to you. I hope all is well. I feel confident that everything will be fine once he gets there. Is he staying on campus or at a Boston frat? </p>
<p>Please PM me with your email and I can answer your questions if you didn’t receive my original response.</p>