<p>Nope. Parent Weekend is less than a month into the school year, and the cost of two plane tickets, meals and place to stay is a bit much. S1 is on the quarter system, so we see him every three months anyway. DH goes out to Chicago for work fairly regularly, and they go out to dinner and visit. I just don’t picture S1 entertaining us if we were to visit.</p>
<p>We also have a senior at home, and the weekend of October 24th just ain’t a good time to leave town, in case y’all have erased NOVEMBER 1st from your memories!! S2 and I are attending the love fest at the flagship for potential honors applicants that Saturday, too. We also expect the lovely IB teachers will pile on assignments that are due by the end of the quarter…October 30th.</p>
<p>Interesting question. I HAD to go last year–my oldest, freshman year in college, I wasn’t able to move him in because of a work conflict. I was soooo curious to see how he was settling in.</p>
<p>Now comes sophomore year and I was encouraging DH to go out for a visit. He ended up with a conflict so I thought, “Heck. I could use a weekend away.” (School happens to be in a lovely little Midwestern town.) I wasn’t sure if he particularly wanted me out there, or if it would be my last parents weekend with him. I just got home Sunday night and am now determined to go every year, and always by myself. DS spent the day before telling all his friends how mom hugs are the best. For dinners there were multiple offers for group meals with other families, but both nights DS said he’d rather spend the time alone with me. It was a truly lovely, special weekend with my boy.</p>
<p>(P.S. I don’t do any of the scheduled events either, except go to a few home games that are fun to pop in and out of.)</p>
<p>Dummy that I am, I had the wrong weekend for my older one’s weekend - had looked it up a long time ago and for some reason had it in my head that there was a conflict. We don’t need any kind of reservations and for some reason I never got the mailing this year. Turns out they are not on the same weekend at all. So, I get to go to both - hooray!</p>
<p>Went last year when son was a freshman, a lot of his friends had gone home for the weekend. We had to drive six hours, and he was happy to see us. We just visited for Homecoming last weekend so we suggested meeting him at a larger college in the same state for a football game. He will come in Friday night and have dinner with us, stay in the hotel, go to a Michigan game and go home that night. He won’t miss his Saturday night fun, and we will get to see him. He is also living in a condo now with a group of guys as opposed to the dorm, I think that makes a difference also. I do think it is a freshman thing - but I did ask him what he wanted us to do and he thought this was a great idea.</p>
<p>Free access to the campus and activities is my biggest reason for going. I’ve taken tours and shared what I’ve learned with my Ds-things they didn’t know about the campus or history. Sitting in on classes thrills me no end, as I finally get to meet some of the professors I’ve heard about, and helps me understand their life so much better. Lazing in an academic library reading obscure periodicals is one of my silly pleasures, and parents weekend lets me wander in and make myself comfortable. I have rather insatiable curiousity, and it is also a venue for getting my questions answered while being less of a pest or feeling out of place. Hanging in their dorm room, seeing the flow of friends in and out is quite interesting as well. They like my visits, or at least tolerate them, as a stock up trip to Target and dinner someplace new is a rare treat.</p>
<p>Ha, ha. With the visits to decide which colleges should get apps, then visit to let the colleges know that student is interested, then the visit to decide which college to accept, then the accepted students visit when the decision is made, then the new student orientation, by the time I drop off my kid at college, the Parents Weekend invite goes into the trash. I need some breathing room! But then I have five, not one or two kids.</p>
<p>My daughter is really looking forward to seeing us, unfortunately it’s Halloween weekend! We’d go another weekend except she’s in a show that weekend only. My younger daughter doesn’t want to go because of Halloween so originally my husband was going to stay home on Friday night and come out on Saturday when my younger daughter would move to her friends house until Sunday. Now with the show it’s getting very complicated - someone has to be unhappy. What was the college thinking?! BTW, there are about 6 families in my town who are in the same boat - colleges with Halloween Parents Weekend. ARGHHH!!!</p>
<p>my s’s parents’ weekend is also Halloween, so younger s is staying home so he can enjoy halloween w his friends. soph s got himself back to school on his own, so as other poster said I want to see his new setup this year and just connect with him at his new home and there are couple planned events that are worthwhile. special dinner at nice restaurant is always a fun treat, as is being invited to a frat dinner. also his college is in such a beautiful area that this time of year it is a treat to visit all around. fortunately 1st yr d’s parents’ weekend was couple weeks ago so no conflict presented…had nice visit w d and got to see how much she feels at home there. comforting…</p>
<p>My D goes to BU, and we went to parents weekend last year, when she was a freshman.We should have gone some other time. Without a football team, or a typical campus (BU is located in the city), or a sorority house to visit, we ended up finding our own activities. It was a lovely weekend with our D, but the hotel would have been a lot cheaper when it wasn’t parents weekend!</p>
<p>One of us has gone each year, but it doesn’t look like we will this year. We like the lectures and Humanities open house at UChicago as much as visiting S1.</p>
<p>I’m going to parents’ weekend because my D happens to be free (no club tournament) then. She wants me to take her to Costco to stock up on supplies. I don’t go for move-in, so I haven’t seen her living space yet.</p>
<p>Hey cpt - as the youngest of 6, my parents never came to anything. I was disappointed they really didn’t seem interested. Designated my brother-in-law to move me in freshman year. I think they were just tired of it all - they didn’t do any college visits with me.</p>
<p>My daughter is a freshman at Penn, and I’m going to Parents Weekend next week! She’s half-way across the country, but I wouldn’t miss it for the world. That being said, I doubt I’ll go next year. Maybe I’ll go one more time after this year, like in her senior year. Our plans are to go shopping, have dinner with her roommate and her family, go to a movie and go to a football game. There are a couple of official things that I’d like to do but other than that I just can’t wait to see my daughter. She’s actually excited about seeing me, too!</p>
S2 and I are attending the love fest at the flagship for potential honors applicants that Saturday, too. We also expect the lovely IB teachers will pile on assignments that are due by the end of the quarter…October 30th.</p>