<p>I am recently admitted to Smith. I wonder if I can have a campus visit and sample some classes during my spring break which is the last week in April. I would love to come Discovery Weekend but I would need to miss two-days classes in my high school.</p>
<p>Although I’m sure that you could arrange a visit like that through admissions and Gold Key, I highly recommend that you miss those classes since Discovery Weekend/Prospective Student Days will give you a whole-package idea of what goes on at Smith. You will get a chance to meet other prospective students, see the research being performed by undergraduates, and have more than one or two undergraduates answering questions. </p>
<p>Deciding which college you will attend should be the most important thing on your agenda right now. Talk to your teachers. I’m sure they will let you make up any work that you miss. My daughter had the same angst about missing classes (after all, if you were admitted to Smith, you are a conscientious student), but her guidance counselor and her teachers told her to go. She attended three such prospective students weekends, and loved all of them. But afterward, she knew without a doubt that Smith was the right place for her.</p>
<p>I agree that going to Discovery Weekend/Open Campus will give you a more full experience. And the plus abotu Discovery Weekend is that Smith will pay for your transportation to campus. </p>
<p>BUT if you really can’t swing that, then it’s fine to go and visit during your spring break. Just make sure your spring break doesn’t conflict with Smith’s spring break, if they happen at the same time you won’t get much of a feel for the campus as most students will be gone.</p>
<p>when is spring break in Smith?</p>
<p>Actually it was a couple weeks ago. Not sure what S&P is referring to.</p>
<p>Sorry, I have no idea when the Smith Spring Break is, so I was just flagging that for her to consider when making her travel plans.</p>
<p>NP you’re out of the loop on the calendar stuff but you know about 200% more than me on everything else. :D</p>
<p>Even if you can go spring break more easily, REALLY try to come discovery weekend. There are a million things going on like Spring Acapella jam, Collaborations, and a bunch of other prospies will be there to hang out with. I really loved going and really highly suggest it</p>
<p>Miss the two days of high school. You’re virtually outta there already, and the visit is far more important.</p>
<p>Two years ago my daughter also had to miss a small number of school days to visit her prospective colleges and she, too, worried about the consequence and initially was unwilling to consider the option. If your teachers have been teaching high school seniors for a while, they understand this part of the college process that happens every April and I hope they would be flexible. My daughter is a Gold Key tour guide now and she’d agree with MWFN and S&P; while it’s nice to have some one-on-one time on a regular overnight and a tour with a guide, it’s worthwhile to visit the campus during Discovery Days/Prospective Student Days so that you really understand the opportunities Smith offers through conversations with many professors and students. And you meet other prospective students! I know of at least one friendship my daughter developed during her Smith admitted students weekend that she has maintained for the last two years. My daughter wound up attending three admitted students weekends and it really helped her college decision-making. That is your most important task at this point. Please talk to your teachers. And as S&P said, Smith will pay for your transportation for Discovery Days.</p>
<p>If you’re taking AP/IB exams in May at that point you’d probably just be studying in class. Can you afford to miss that? If you can just make up study time on your own, do it.</p>
<p>From reading the schedule, it seems like there will be a lot of the same kinds of tours that we went on during Preview Day last summer and on our first visit to Smith (except for being able to sit in on classes). I’m trying to convince D to go, but I don’t feel like we need to repeat all these tours. And she refuses to do an overnight. Does anyone know if we might get to see a bigger variety of dorms? Are there other things going on that are not listed on the schedule? I think sitting in on the classes is very valuable, and I want her to be able to do that, but I don’t want to spend time seeing the same things as last year. Also, I’d like to attend the Parent Hospitality on Thurs. but if she doesn’t do the overnight will there be someplace for her to hang out until it is over?</p>
<p>upstatemom:
I think the tours might be the same, but they are not required. There are events your daughter definitely hasn’t seen like Collaborations, Acapella Jam, etc.<br>
Also, why does she refuse to do an overnight? YOu can ask people to show you their house, but an overnight is super fun!</p>
<p>It would be hard to know without looking at the schedule, did you find it on the website or did they mail it to you? </p>
<p>As for dorm rooms, you get to see the dorm room of your tour guide, or occasionally if there are two tour guides they will take you to both of their dorm rooms. That’s unusual though, as it really cuts into the time left over to see other things. When I guided with another guide we just picked one person’s room to show.</p>
<p>Upstatemom, I’d be interested in understanding why your daughter’s reluctant to do an overnight. When my daughter attended the Smith admitted students weekend, she had a blast on the overnight. There were several prospies with their several hosts together and everyone on the whole hall came down to visit and chat, lots of questions and answers and jokes flowing, and the enthusiasm was wonderful. One student joked that there were so many of them together that they should have registered as a party! It was a great bonding time! I can understand your daughter’s nervousness, if that’s what it is; it is scary to “finally take the plunge” into the big world of college and get some sense of what it’s like by actually living there for an overnight, but she’d be in the same boat with lots of other prospies and there’s often comfort in numbers. I hope she changes her mind.</p>
<p>The overnight makes my D very nervous. She is afraid she will be the only new person in a house full of people who are all friends and that she will be left out or forgotten about. She says it will be awkward. She feels that when one really starts college, everyone is in the same boat; people haven’t formed attachments, friendships yet and so it will be less awkward. And it’s not like she’s had no experience staying in a dorm-she went to a college-based summer camp for about 5 years and had no problem!</p>
<p>I will be attending the Admitted Students Day this April if I do not get into Dartmouth or Princeton tomorrow. I still may attend if I do. I loved Smith so much and am really looking forward to spending the night with a current student and spending two days on campus. The last time I visited was in November of 2009 for just the afternoon.</p>
<p>upstatemom: The thing is, people who have volunteered to host a prospie overnight DO care about the prospie’s experience and about making sure that she gets an accurate perspective on Smith. It won’t be awkward, really. Besides, there are hundreds of prospies here for Open Campus; she definitely won’t be the only one.</p>
<p>teenage–this is exactly what I’ve been telling her! Hopefully she will be more open after all the decisions are in by the end of the week. Thanks!</p>
<p>Open Campus is HUGE. She won’t be ignored or forgotten about. The current students love to host prospective students, and they all want a chance to sell their college. My daughter was a little nervous, too, but she had a fantastic time. She didn’t hang out with her host as much as she did with other prospies. Later, when she was a Gold Key host herself, she went out of her way to make her guests feel at home, even when she couldn’t be with them herself. Of course, current students have classes, papers, tests, homework, etc. so they aren’t completely free.</p>