<p>Son got an email inviting him to Destination Marquette. March 4-5 and March 25-26. Argh, can't make either! Did offer a shadow visit if can't make those days. Will keep that in mind.</p>
<p>How disappointing! Destination Marquette made MU “probably okay” for S and “woo hoo” for me!</p>
<p>I also received this. Were all admitted students invited, or how were people selected? I don’t know if I will go, I only applied because I received the fast application. But, I would like to know more about the school incase I end up getting a lot of financial aid or something.</p>
<p>How does this differ from Preview? Destination I suppose is for the undecided while Preview is for those who’ve committed? I wonder how content differs.</p>
<p>When is Preview? Is that after May 1st? Would really like to go up there before Decision Day. It’s my understanding that we won’t be penalized as far as housing and scheduling if we have to wait until May 1st to give our final answer. Am I correct on that? Looks like we’ll miss a cold weather visit, although I may try to swing a mid March visit, between the two Destination dates, if those weekends are free. Do you think it will still be cold then? Or do you think we should maybe wait until final financial aid offer is in, or will that be too late to get a cold weather visit in?</p>
<p>Destination and Preview are very different, as we went to both. </p>
<p>At DM, as soon as we arrived, my son was immediately swept away! His program and the parents were very different. He had an overnight with a student “host” and then attended a class with him the next day. Marquette hosted very nice parents’ break out sessions about a number of topics that afternoon, then had a cocktail reception. The next day, I hooked back up with my son for a campus tour.</p>
<p>After he had accepted the offer, we went back for Preview in June. I didn’t attend the parents’ events, because, if I recall, they were similar to DM. Son’s time was totally different, however. There was a large group of incoming freshman, and S made some connections that made him far less apprehensive when move-in day started. The next day, we attended some sessions about registration, majors, heard a sample course “lecture” on a chosen topic, and met as a group with a professor/counselor from his tentative major who helped sort through which classes S register for in the first semester.</p>
<p>And Montegut, the housing is totally on lottery, so there won’t be any penalty for housing or scheduling. As far as the weather, when we went to DM the last weekend in March, they had just gotten 6-8" of snow and it was 25-30…cold for us Californians!</p>
<p>Both were VERY helpful. Admissions could probably schedule a “host” student that would give a similar experience as S’s overnight at DM.</p>
<p>cpeltz – why did your son like Marquette? I applied, and I’ve been accepted. However, I’m not sure if I will be able to visit during any of those days, and Marquette has never been a prime interest. But, I’m interested in pre-med, and I heard their bio program is good, and they also offer a major in exercise science! (not as common) So, what I’m asking is, Why Marquette?</p>
<p>For S, MU wasn’t a school he was interested in, but his stepdad was an alumni so he applied. Got a very nice scholarship and enjoyed DM…it was his best option. Still, he was reluctant to broadcast his choice to his friends here in California. </p>
<p>Fast forward…he loves it, has a good group of friends, will be able to double major, no problem getting classes, and it will be LESS money than a UC here.</p>
<p>Okay, thank you!</p>
<p>I’m a Marquette alum, graduated in the 80’s. I always thought MU’s academics were nothing special; however, I spent 4 years surrounded by great people and made several life-long friends. IMO, what they teach you in the classroom is ultimately less important than your overall college experience, and I wouldn’t trade my social life at MU for anything. Milwaukee is a wonderful, quirky city with plenty to offer. BTW, several of my fellow alumni have gone on to be tops in their fields, from journalism to medicine, so you CAN have a very successful career after graduating from a “second tier” school. But finding that kind of intense connection with people is much harder to do after college, so be sure you end up at a school that affords you that opportunity and gives you a lifetime of good memories and friends.</p>
<p>cpeltz, can I press you for a little more detail on the Destination Marquette itinerary? First, I should say that we’ve already spent a day at MU this fall in which we got a general admissions presentation, walking tour/dorm tour as well as one-on-one for an hour with an associate dean in the college of choice. What I’d really look for DM to do is provide a more in-depth, close-up look for my son with his student ambassador. Apart from the overnight (good), would he really attend just one class (bad)? It appears that maybe the whole event is only 24 hrs? I’m OK doing it but am wondering how much of that time might be redundant with what we’ve already accomplished. Many thanks.</p>
<p>beastman I know you asked cpeltz but I would suggest a shadow visit (it looks like you did most of what is offered at DM). Shadow visit will provide your son with the MU college experience and he will attend classes with the host student. Keep in mind you need three weeks advance notice to arrange the visit. Go to MU site/prospective students/plan a visit (lower righ hand corner)/shadow visits (upper left hand). Hope this helps.</p>
<p>Thank you, newsdrms. You make an excellent suggestion and I phoned Admissions to get more detail. The student’s experience at DM is entirely with their student host (usually from prospective’s college of choice) beginning, as cpeltz indicated, upon arrival at about 5pm, followed by dinner and some sort of social/fun thing like bowling. Overnight in the dorm and then all classes the next day UNTIL prospective and parent have done and seen all they need to (mid afternoon). During gaps in their schedule they can and should peel off to speak to anyone they need to speak to address whatever’s on their minds.</p>
<p>Parents, meanwhile do as cpeltz indicated: dinner, reception, etc in the evening with time available to meet with advisors etc. Not sure what they do the next day but doesn’t sound structured. More time, I guess, to address face to face remaining questions they may have.</p>
<p>The intention, I was told, is really to give prospective student and parents full access to whomever they need to get “feel” for the MU experience prior to making decision. So my assessment is that it is complimentary to, and not redundant with, the general admissions day we did early this fall. Which means I’m probably investing a few hundred bucks and two days off for a holiday in MKE!</p>
<p>PS: availability exists for Mar 4/5 dates.</p>
<p>Just a quick note to say that the DM program my son did last Thurs/Fri was really beneficial and I highly recommend it to anyone who’s undecided. Although we’d already visited Marquette and spent a ton of time researching it, I can’t overstate the value (for him) of spending time with just students, without me, without adult advisors. As my wife observed, most info-gathering in this process is adult-to-student and this was strictly student-to-student. It really made him comfortable, not just with MU, but with the idea of going to college, period. When he got in the car the first thing he said was, “I’m really excited to go to college.”<br>
There is one more session of DM yet this month, I believe.</p>
<p>Beastman, we had the identical experience. S realized that there would be a lot of kids he could relate to which, for a kid in Los Angeles who attended a very quirky magnet HS, meant a lot.</p>