<p>When we went to the Delaware session, it was very well done and most of the people were very pleasant, but there was one woman who was just relentless. “Since my son got into the honors program and is thinking of turning down X, will he be challenged and have peers?” “Since my son scored ___ on the SAT, will he be bored here?” “Will other students and teachers recognize his specialness and nurture it?” It went on and on and on. I know much more about that boy than any other parent could possibly have cared.</p>
<p>The jackasses who think that if they get noticed by the admissions rep their kid will get accepted that day are pretty humorous as well.</p>
<p>I found it amusing/yet sad to see the students wearing suits and ties, (what were they thinking?) with their resumes in shiny new folders trailing the tour leader along with their parents with their over the top boasting comments about their child’s ECs, SAT scores. Did they think the tour guide (in shorts and sandals and probably with matching SAT scores) was going to be impressed with that? I will admit it provided great fodder for my son and/or daughter and I to bond over…</p>
<p>Best info session: Reed College; they talked about the philosophy of the college, types of students, self-selection etc. Really spelled out the “fit” of the place. This approach was fantastic, cut out the useless stuff, and, like it or not, aimed at the heart of the matter. </p>
<p>Good info question: Which part of the application is more important than others?</p>
<p>Pet peeve: why does every tour guide need to talk about the mail boxes!</p>
<p>After attending three college info sessions, I decided that I, personally, was not going to attend any more:
- They were filled with information easily gleaned from the college’s website;
- All of the colleges D was interested in were looking for intellectually curious students who took on challenging coursework in high school and did well, though of course there is no minimum g.p.a. or SAT score, and we’re really interested in learning about each of you as individuals. I’m still waiting to hear the college admissions officer who says, “Yes, we’re here for those who didn’t get too much done in high school and who didn’t participate in many extra-curricular activities that they’d want to document in writing. Test scores? If your ACT score would be old enough to vote, that’s good. Hey, even if it’s close – that’s good too. Lots of alcohol on campus, but we have a great recycling program to collect the empty bottles on Mondays.”
- And has already been mentioned (with great examples!) the questions tend to the obvious or the inane.</p>
<p>I got a lot more out of reading the student newspaper, having lunch in the cafeteria doing some student watching, checking out the bulletin boards, and seeing the library than I ever did out of one of the information sessions.</p>
<p>“Can you skip an info session?”</p>
<p>I made my D attend one info session, just so she could see what they were like. Then we examined the college’s brochure and Web Site, just to see what “new” information was provided in the info session. Not much … for the many reasons given above. After that we relied on ad hoc discussions with students and professors. Worked out great. YMMV.</p>
<p>Well, since virtually every answer to a question about the college CAN be found on any good college website, it’s pretty hard for the info sessions to add much to the highly informed. I’d bet 90% of the parents at these sessions have NEVER looked at the website of the college as they are busy living their lives and actually rely on the school and guidance depts to help the kid with choosing colleges. The general public would find most people here stangely overly interested in such things. So the info seession IS for the generally uninformed and the are probably 90% right. The other 10% just need to suck it up for an hour or skip the session.</p>
<p>At one university, we skipped the Info session and didn’t feel we missed anything. Two of the ones we visited didn’t have info sessions, just tours and that was fine with us. One of them had us (the parents) watch a video while our daughter was interviewed. The last wo had info sessions. The first one we didn’t have enough time to do a tour so we drove around by ourselves but the info session was a very good way to get a better feel for the university than their website had been. The other one really showed us that this was not a place for our kid. Both the tour and the info session kept harping on how hard the place is and how much work you do. Well our daughter works herself to exhaustion already and we don’t need to add that much pressure to her. The tour and the info session helped us really see this since many colleges claim to be challenging (and she wants that) but drop dead hard is another issue.</p>
<p>We considered the info session the most expendable part of the visit if we were squeezed for time. Can’t remember even one session where we got anything valuable out of it… except we liked the guy who ran the session at Bowdoin 
But since as a student you would never see that guy again, what did it matter?</p>
<p>Pizzagirl, wait… are you saying that there are colleges in the US where it is legal to smoke marijuana? Commonly done, of course, but it is the “legal” part that is silly about that question… unless the student has a medical condition, then it would make sense.</p>
<p>Regarding the overnight guest question, maybe asked by older parents… I know my parents still can’t get over the fact that D’s boyfriend is allowed in her room AT ALL. D showed my mom a photo of him in her dorm room, and my mom was appalled that the picture was taken ON D’S BED!! D explained that her dorm room is small, and there really wasn’t anyplace else for him to sit… this really didn’t appease Grandma, though.</p>
<p>Thanks, barrons…my thoughts exactly!</p>
<p>A few of the info sessions we attended did convey some useful info–mostly about the tone of the institution. This was particularly true of Brown (positive) and Harvard (negative). In both cases, it had to do with the student presenters. At Tufts there was a good presenter who gave interesting information.</p>
<p>One Q&A I remember was at Columbia, where somebody asked how important SAT scores are. The student presenter–a URM–said they weren’t that important.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Marian, that’s my pet peeve with EVERY meeting where the public is invited, regardless of the topic. I agree, that’s the kind of thing that really drags out a meeting, and makes it useless for most.</p>
<p>Strangest question I ever heard: “Is water available to the students?”</p>
<p>Without laughing or missing a beat the info session guy said “Yes, water is available nearly everywhere on campus and students are allowed to drink as much as they wish.”</p>
<p>(In her defense, I think the parent was asking about <em>bottled</em> water but didn’t make that clear).</p>
<p>“what time does the 1pm tour leave?”
“does it ever get this windy here?”
“which side of the lake is higher?”</p>
<p>“which side of the lake is higher?”</p>
<p>Geez … it says RIGHT ON THE WEB SITE that the WEST side of the lake is higher.</p>
<p>“…nearly everywhere on campus and students are allowed to drink as much as they wish.”</p>
<p>And the kids ears all perked up. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>Two pet peeves, one where the parent asked a question about a specific program just to inform all of us peons that their child was much smarter than the rest. They then went on and on about it when the admissions rep clearly was trying to move the conversation along (asking the parent if they could address their question in private later and the parent ignored the admissions counselor)</p>
<p>My second pet peeve was the parent who badgered the tour guide about alcohol use. I understand asking the question but when the tour guide didn’t answer your question to your liking the first time, do you have to keep asking it until she and the entire group was uncomfortable. I understand it was known as a party school but still!</p>
<p>Intparent, my comment was about overnight guests, not pot.</p>
<p>Years ago at one of the first, or possibly the first, info session I ever attended with D1 a student had committed suicide a week or two before. One parent asked about it and about the suicide rate in general. The person running the info session (also a student) was clearly rattled by it, and tried to change the course of the discussion but the parents would not let it go. I think finally I asked some inane question about what were some recent undergraduate research topics (probably could have gotten that info from the website, but in my defense this was in the dark days before colleges had websites) just to change the subject, but as soon as the poor kid answered my question, people started asking about suicide again. It was horrible, and unfortunately I think it permanently colored D1’s opinion of the college. (That, and the swimming test required for graduation.) Afterward, I heard a parent comment “I think they’re trying to cover something up.” I could have throttled him! For all we knew, the student who had died was the presenter’s best friend.</p>
<p>We went to one info session five years ago where I wanted to ask the guy running it if he smoked marijuana since he was channeling George Carlin. He was a middle aged man from the Admin dept, arrived late after lunch, and kept forgetting what he was talking about and who he was talking to.</p>
<p>My favorite question that I asked was at Stanford in the cafeteria. When the guide pointed out the soft serve machines, I asked if the tour got any (in my defense, it was a hot day). Next think I knew we were all lined up getting cones.</p>