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<p>Judging from CC, it’s those things, bathroom arrangements, perceived grade inflation, plus high school perceptions of prestige. And, of course, cost. And how many “hot” people there are of the gender the student is most attracted to.</p>
<p>None of which, except for cost, really makes for scintillating info session Q&A.</p>
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<p>IMO the schools should of course be good hosts … in addition unfortunately the questions were dominated by kid specific, validation specific (does 4 subject tests mean 4 subject tests), or the innane. To me there were two positives to info sessions … there were 1 or 2 questions that were helpful to the overall audience and it did give a feel for the culture and approach of the school … however, for me given limited time on each campus this was a very inefficient use of time … especially for getting a feel for the school; the same info in much greater depth an be gathered in the same about time hanging on campus (IMO).</p>
<p>Don’t sell the hotness question short, JHS. For the right amount of money, I could be persuaded to go to any future campus visits and ask how hot the girls are on my son’s behalf. “At this campus, do you think that he (pointing at S) could score a 10, or will he be competing for the 7’s and 8’s?” Bonus points if I dress like a cougar.</p>
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<p>Again, what can / should be done about this, other than redirecting a kid-specific question to “I’d be happy to talk with you privately after the session about your specific situation”? Other people are there. Other people, sadly, aren’t perfect like we all are.</p>
<p>We went really, just to see and feel the campuses. Sent the kid, father and grandmother off on the tour while me and the grandfather scoped out the campus. We were the people watchers.</p>
<p>My favorite was Michigan State. They sat us in a lecture hall and talked incessantly about the MSU’s status as a land grant university. <em>Cheer - Land Grant-Cheer</em> </p>
<p>They did not tell us what it meant, though. Even worse, for 2 hours no one asked what it meant lol. (Yes I went home and looked it up ) ;)</p>
<p>MSU also hammered home the availability of the instructors. I took that little gem and reminded my kid to get to know her instructors. It’s worked out well at the school she is attending - not the land grant school.</p>
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<p>They probably had heard about the CC Info Session Question Quality Police and were too frightened to ask.</p>
<p>Info sessions are valuable for some and not for others. The only irritating questions (in my mind) are ones that are VERY specific to ONE child and not about the school in general. I guess I think that one should make an appointment to talk to an adcom if they really want to ask kid specific questions.</p>
<p>What was annoying to me was when questions were asked and the info session person couldn’t answer them. My last kiddo started college in 2006. Hers was the first class that took the SAT writing section. It seemed at EVERY college the question was asked “How is your school using the SAT writing score in the admissions process?” At that time, not one school adcom was able to answer the question…maybe now they can! </p>
<p>I do think that having an info session for the kids…separate from the parents…might encourage the students to ask some questions. Or at least the info would be more student oriented. </p>
<p>If someone were to ask me what to do…I would tell them…first read the website from the school. Second…see if you can schedule an interview or meeting with an adcom. Third…go on the tour. Fourth…attend the info session.</p>
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<p>Dartmouth does this. First they have a students-only info session. Parents are made to wait outside. When that’s over they open the doors and invite the parents in and have a more-typical general info session.</p>
<p>I remember from many years ago (2003) that the UPenn info session was mostly dominated by a discussion on the safety of the campus. I thought it was perfectly legitimate. I mean as applicants and parents of applicants, you can do whatever you can to find out about the campus safety on CC and other such forums. Still, coming from the horses mouth does not hurt at all, especially if it is new information about increasing the budget for security of campus etc.</p>
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As I said earlier I think the schools should be good hosts so they need to answer them very politely … as a parent of prospective students I’d suggest skipping the sessions. PS - for tours I love the idea of separating the students from the parents although I’m not sure it would be as valuable in an info session but if I were chief at a college I’d probably give it a try</p>
<p>Guilford does this by starting the info session with parents and students but the students are led out after about ten minutes to do their own separate tour. Parents then stay for 10 minutes or so more and then are taken on a parents only tour. I guess we were given an abbreviated tour because we all ended about the same time. I love this approach.</p>
<p>“Again, what can / should be done about this …?”</p>
<p>Well, how about getting some laws passed? Something along the lines of “No Prospie Left Behind?” (Hey, someone’s got to be over-the-top on this subject, why not me?)</p>
<p>I think we can put the OP’s issue in the “Asked and Answered” pile. Of course the college needs to be a good host. Of course colleges can’t (and don’t) expect info session attendees to read up on the school beforehand. Of course parents will be less inhibited about asking questions. Of course all the above will be really annoying for those who have taken time off from work and driven five hundred miles in order to gather information about a school their student is considering. But it is what it is. As the famous movie line goes “Forget it Jake. It’s Chinatown.”</p>
<p>I always grab copies of the student newspapers and push them on my unwilling children, who are all “Mom! Enough already!” Gotta give them something to talk about in therapy.</p>
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<p>Now there’s a plan…</p>
<p>Just kidding;)</p>
<p>Life is too short to suffer fools gladly.</p>
<p>“I always grab copies of the student newspapers …”</p>
<p>YES! I liked perusing the activities pages to get an idea of what students liked to do on the weekends. The papers were also a good prop for annoying my kids in the car on the way home. “Oh look here, it says that Geology students find rocks are a hard subject.”</p>
<p>Another thing we did when visiting colleges was read the bulletin boards…very interesting and gave you a flavor for what was up…especially in the department the kid was interested in.</p>
<p>Having the prospective student sit in on a class in their area of interest is also a great way to gage the comfort and fit of a school.</p>
<p>Class visits are helpful. If time permits, more than one is good to get a sampling.</p>
<p>For those people visiting a school that is already of great interest… try to arrange appointments with specific depts etc. Or just walk around. Our visit to Case was neat because we roamed around a music building, played a Steinway grand piano in a practice room, talked to some staff in the building. Also ate lunch and visited the placement center and roamed while son went to class. This happened to be a full day visit, so we could do a lot.</p>
<p>Some people, no matter where you go, are just not good at asking questions. But one would think a presenter could look beyond the specific question or parental concern, to the real issue and use it as an opportunity to provide information that might be useful to everyone. The responsibility is on the presenter, not the audience. </p>
<p>So say a question is ‘is the campus safe?’ Well yeah, of course they will say it’s safe! Duh. But the real question that should be answered is “what specific things does this campus do to ensure student safety, that might be distinct from other campuses?” And more importantly, does it sound like they take the issue seriously and have put attention on it. </p>
<p>If the question is, “will my child make friends?” Who knows about someone’s particular child! But the real question to be answered is, "what specific, and possibly above average, features of this college- be it room selection, configuration of dorms, culture, frosh week activities, fill in the blank- might create a more sociable culture compared to some other colleges? Is this something they give a lot of attention to? </p>
<p>I abhor generalities, platitudes and adjectives. Give me facts. </p>
<p>Someone asked what good questions would be. I have some thoughts: I think good questions are ones that would come from someone who notices discrepancies between messages coming from the colleges, or between the front the college puts on and other information one picks up. If one part of the website says X yet the statistics show Y, why is that? If they tout this X theme, why does it appear that so many on campus are doing Y? </p>
<p>I would also be interested in knowing where they see their biggest challenges, what are they working to improve upon? Everyone can talk about their blah blah blah strengths, but where do they feel less competitive, and what are they doing about it?</p>