<p>I'm interested in Olin, but what happens if I am unable to attend CW? I'm signed up for HMMT on the 24th and NSB on the 3rd. What should I do?</p>
<p>As the saying goes. . . "make it work." </p>
<p>If you make it through the application process to CW, CW is not an optional part of the process.</p>
<p>Do parents have to come? My parents are sorta busy.... I looked at the schedule and there's a column for "Parents," but I'm not sure if that's optional or not</p>
<p>Your parents totally do not have to come. Olin is looking at <em>you</em>, not your parents. A lot of parents like to attend, so there is stuff for them to do, but if your parents don't come, you'll be fine. The "orphans" are cared for, I think to the point of helping you get to Olin from the airport. I'm not entirely sure of that, since I drove by myself.</p>
<p>I would personally advocate being an orphan, in fact. While I live quite close to the school (close enough to be helping admissions wade through your mail tomorrow!), I chose to stay at the Babson Executive Conference Center by myself for two nights. I met a lot of my future classmates there, and those interactions were a big reason why I picked Olin over some other big name schools.</p>
<p>Is there any way I could do everything I need to do on that Friday?</p>
<p>Unless they've changed the CW schedule from last year, no. Last year Friday was mostly talks about Olin and things like the mini-expo. It was more of a "get to know your fellow candidates" day; plus Friday's activities don't begin until the middle of the afternoon, after classes are out.</p>
<p>Saturday had the main events. All of the interviews took place then, in addition to the Design/Build challenge. The challenge isn't evaluated, but it's a lot of fun.</p>
<p>Couldn't I just interview on Friday then?</p>
<p>^^^ Don't you want your eggs hatched before counting...</p>
<p>Besides, you need a group interview, so no, you have to attend both days. If you really want to go to Olin, your next four years are way more important than any competitions or events that could occur that weekend. If you have a real obligation, you can request to be placed on one CW OR the other, but not neither. That's called withdrawing.</p>
<p>What's a group interview?</p>
<p>mathwiz,</p>
<p>There is a brief overview of Candidates' Weekend on our website at:
<a href="http://www.olin.edu/admission/admission_process.asp%5B/url%5D">http://www.olin.edu/admission/admission_process.asp</a></p>
<p>There is also a link to last year's schedule; that may give you a better sense of all that goes on during the weekend (which is a lot). Keep in mind, that CW is not just an interview - it is an entire weekend extravaganza that helps you learn more about the Olin community and your potential peers, in addition to allowing us to get to know you a bit better.</p>
<p>Saturday, as other's have said, is a critical day. You will have a non-graded design build project in the morning and two interviews in the afternoon, one half-hour individual and one ~1 hour group interview. Unfortunately you will simply have to choose between your committments if you get invited to the weekend. In the history of Olin I only know of one student who got in but did not go to candidate's weekend; however, that was in the first year and things were different then.</p>
<p>The group interview is a time where you will interact with the same 4-5 other candidate's you worked with on the design/build the day before. It allows the interviewers to get an understanding of how you might function in a team while at Olin. It is just as important as your individual interview as far as helping the interviewers determine if you would be a good fit/happy at Olin. (I have interviewed many times). But the group interview is not something you can or need to prepare for, so try not to stress out about it. Like all Olin interviews, the key is just being yourself.</p>
<p>Hope this helps.</p>