I started going to our high school’s college night when my oldest was a freshman, but the kid’s didn’t attend till they were juniors. It generally opened with some reassuring speaker (the one I remember was 75% of the colleges in the US accept 100% of their applicants) and then had break out sessions with stuff like a panel of AOs from highly selective colleges, or engineering colleges, or NY colleges. There was also a yearly presentation from the Guidance Office that went over the basics and another assembly for financial aid and another one for sports admissions. I don’t think it would be a bad idea for parents of freshmen to see what the Common Application looks like. But neither of my kids looked at a college before January of junior year.