<p>It’s not impossible, just impractical. It’s a seller’s market. The school’s first responsibility is to serve it’s current “paying” population. </p>
<p>We can look at stats and numbers and deduce that the impact is minimal, but it’s not. Adcoms and students will tell you even the act of giving a one hour tour in a day that has very little wiggle room (homework and class wise), is problematic when multiplied by the number of applicants in the pool showing up for an interview.</p>
<p>Based on your numbers we can assume most of those 2500 students appearing on campus will be ninth graders. One can assume that 1/4 of the Andover student body is also 9th grade (I’m too lazy to look so bear with me). So 250-275 students will have to accommodate 2500 prospective applicants in at least one of their classes during the fall season. The tour guide will have to come back and get them, or the applicant will have to shadow a freshman. It’s a lot of work especially since not all schools allow interviews every day. Some have specific visit days to minimize the disruptions to campus life. So now put those 2500 into a limited number of slots and the problem is amplified.</p>
<p>While one student once in a while is not disruptive, making that arrangement feasible will actually increase the number of students asking for the experience. It will boomerang to parents who insist that - as the prospective “payer” - they be allowed to do the same thing. The classes are very small. So one more body in the room is, in fact, a crowd in some cases. In others, it’s intrusive. </p>
<p>One need only read some of the threads on this discussion board to see that while some parents are calm and take it in stride, others have their whole self-esteem wrapped in the process and are insistent that the schools genuflect when their precious “Poohs” show up on the doorstep. </p>
<p>As several have eloquently stated - the time to go is revisit day. That is when the student knows for sure they are wanted by the school, and the school, knowing the student is serious about them, can provide additional time for the applicant to get an uninterrupted experience of a “normal” day’s schedule.</p>
<p>At Exeter this year, a group called Prep for Prep based in New York was allowed to shadow people. However, they are group that helps people get into Boarding schools and Exeter takes 6 people each year from the group. Each person followed somebody around for half the day and then had their interview.</p>
<p>Prep for prep is an interesting case. In some cases the home situation made it difficult to push private school and the kids have to go back and “sell” it. The neighborhoods (and sometimes family members) are resistant. Boarding school is a foreign concept in most communities, but it’s considered a “sell out” in many urban communities where being “smart” is met with derision.</p>
<p>For many urban students boarding school is a significant culture shock. So I can see why the shadow would be so important.</p>
<p>Had a full range of experiences last year with daughter - full shadow day at Culver. Tour only at Taft, Exeter, and Middlesex. Class visit day at Northfield Mount Hermon. </p>
<p>Full shadow day makes a huge difference - Culver does an outstanding job on that - they have over 200 of their 780 students “on the list”, and you can pretty well count on a good match. NMH’s class visit day is a big help. But with the tour, you stand or fall by whether you click with the guide - we had two good ones, but one dud, and yeah, it did affect our thinking pretty strongly. </p>
<p>This year going through it again with son. Took some doing to get him a more in-depth visit, but worth it. Start with the kid’s interests. In my son’s case, music. So perhaps you call up the choir director or the orchestra director and ask if you can sit in on a practice. The answer may be “no”, but it could just as easily be “yes”, as it was for us. </p>
<p>I think many of the sports kids do get a meeting with the coach - but it’s just as important to meet with the math teacher or the science teacher or music teacher or whatever it is that has the kid’s juices flowing. </p>
<p>In the end, it’s a heck of a commitment from the family’s side to go through the visits and travelling, so it shouldn’t be too much to get someone to meet you half way if the kid has a specific interest. Perhaps a general “just show me something” might be too vague to work with, but if the kid is really interested in something, by all means call up the head of that department and ask for a meeting.</p>
<p>"Full shadow day makes a huge difference…class visit day is a big help. But with the tour, you stand or fall by whether you click with the guide - we had two good ones, but one dud, and yeah, it did affect our thinking pretty strongly. "</p>
<p>This is what I was getting at when I started this thread. </p>
<p>ssacdfamily offers some good advice. By pursuing the “start with your child’s interests and reach out directly to a department head/coach” approach, we were able to get additional exposure to a school that had nearly fallen off our list but is now back on. The additional time allowed my daughter/our family to get a better insight into what kids at this school are like, and we liked what we saw enough to offset any reservations.</p>
<p>I really don’t buy the argument that it is impractical for prospective students to shadow when visiting BS campuses. My elder daughter attends a local independent high school, which is relatively small - 600 students; around 130-140 in the freshman class. The school receives over 600 applications for those 130 -140 spots. A smaller ratio than the 2000 for 200 spots quoted for Andover above, but still a large number of applicants for a small school. Class sizes are small - the largest being around 15, but my daughter’s freshman biology class had only 7 students. EVERY applicant is encouraged to spend a day on campus shadowing with a current student. Shadow visits are conducted 4 days a week, October through mid-January (obviously excluding non-class days). On average, 10-15 students shadow nearly every school day in the fall. If a school of 600 can accommodate 600 shadow visits, surely the HADES schools can as well. Particularly since many families are traveling long distances and arguably, the decision to attend BS is more complicated than attending the local day school.</p>
<p>Just my thoughts - it works in many places around the country and the shadow program would probably change many students’ opinions about where they would or would not apply.</p>
<p>As a parent of a current bs student, I beg to differ about shadowing. </p>
<p>When we were looking at schools, I thought shadowing would be a great idea, but that is a whole day adventure, which every family doesnt have. Looking back I am not sure I would have gained any additional knowledge about the school. One day, 5 or 6 classes would not have given me much. Teachers are different, subject and delivery vary.</p>
<p>I discussed this issue with my d over break and she says it changes the flow of the class, example, parent weekend. When people come in and out it breaks the flow and takes away from the lesson. In classes like English or Geometry or Physics, the students are engaged and focused. As a parent, to think this is what would happen on a daily basis would irritate me. The kids should not have to be on display every minute. </p>
<p>As we toured and interviewed, we found schools that didnt meet our needs, thus spending the day shadowing and disrupting the flow would not have been a good use of our time. As a teacher, the constant interruption in and out of my classroom would be a pain.</p>
<p>I believe that shadowing is best left to revisit days. Student-to-student interactions, in class, meals, and activities. Parents are with other parents involved in making final decisions. At this point your child has been accepted, thus you know they want you. </p>
<p>I am not saying it cant be done, but I cant say it would be of any help.</p>
<p>^ doesn’t make any sense. Are you saying more is less? How is someone distracted? People are not coming in and out constantly. They go in and out at the same with the rest of the class. It just looks like you want to make a counterargument!</p>
<p>As the parent of a current student–
I would not want my child to have to do multiple shadow days throughout the fall. My child is at school to learn, not be an admissions rep. Having students shadow DOES change the environment in a small classroom. I know my child would feel responsible for showing a prospective student a good time and would not take advantage of tutoring or study time on a shadow day.</p>
<p>As a parent of a prospective student–
We looked at local boarding schools, which meant we were able to do interviews on half days or miss just a couple of hours of school. If attending a shadow day were part of the admissions process we’d feel compelled to do that too. To make our child miss 6-8 full days of school to attend classes at a school they might not even have an opportunity to to attend would not be productive, nor would it be good for their fall term grades.</p>
<p>One of the schools we looked at had been highly recommended. We expected to love it but by the end of the tour it was clear it was not a good match for our family. To spend an entire day shadowing a student would have been a waste of everyone’s time and to back out at the last minute would have been rude. The alternative is to schedule shadow days separate from interviews, adding an additional visit to the process.</p>
<p>I don’t see any compelling reason to offer a shadow day before decisions come out. My child already knows which schools will drop off the list if s/he is admitted to others higher on the list. Hopefully s/he will have choices come March 10th but that is not guaranteed.</p>
<p>I agree with Sue22 and Alexz825Mom. If applicants were allowed to shadow another student, I’d worry that not shadowing would send a message that we weren’t interested in a school. As I called to arrange interviews before Labor Day, we were able to get them done with a minimum of disruption to my son’s school schedule. It would have been very tough to require him to miss more than a week of school. It would also give an unfair advantage to students who managed to book appointments to shadow on weekends.</p>
<p>I think OP wants it as an option for someone who wants it, none of it is mandatory for all. A bunch of private day schools already do this and this is not a foreign concept.</p>