We are getting a fair number of email invites to sit-in classes virtually at schools where my DD has applied.
There is a part of me that thinks this would be a really great way to learn more about the school. But there is also a part of me that thinks that at this point, there are no more decisions to be made right now until we know what are options come M10. So why add another thing to the to-do list? Or worse – why fall in love with one school even more now, only to find out it’s not an option come M10. And, TBH, I welcome the opportunity for DD to turn her attention to other non-BS-related activities for another few weeks while we wait. Why feed the obsession? (ahem, Mom here typing on the board…)
I’m going to assume that as part of virtual revisits, these same schools will offer virtual class drop-ins post M10, so why not do a targeted few classes instead?
I guess I am wondering what other parents are thinking about this. And also – has anyone attended any classes? I’d be curious to know your experiences or thoughts?
I hope it doesn’t make it look like we aren’t interested in the school, and that is my fear. However, I very much do not want D falling in love with anywhere right now. From M10 to A10, this is my top priority. Right now though I think it’s actually kind of crummy for the schools to even ask. We don’t need even more Zooms. Right now it just seems like a waste of everyone’s time.
But I do worry a bit about this, so I am curious how others feel.
I’d wait until M10 for sure for exactly the reasons you cite. Lord help you if you or DD falls for a school and then M10 brings devastation (for the record that’s not going to happen!)
Also…the eternal optimist in me (ha) says the zoom classes share little in common with in-person classes and so to the extent I hope we’re in class in September I’m not sure I want to get too wrapped in whether a teacher is a zoom star.
Thanks @dadof4kids for calling out specifically my underlying fear/assumption which was: maybe they will think we don’t care?
OTOH I also think: the admissions team is knee deep in apps right now — I doubt there are checking this info for “candidate interest.” I think it may just be a way to make their offering more robust and it just took a few months to get things stable enough to offer this kind thing officially to a larger crowd.
@DroidsLookingFor Agree. This is where I am landing my take I think.
I have a slightly different take on this. I can’t imagine schools will invite every applicant to join zoom classes. It’s distracting and this year the applicant pool is so much larger. Maybe the invite is indeed targeted, meaning it likely comes with acceptance on m10?
@G07b10 No, definitely not targeted. These emails are sent as part of the auto-generated emails from admissions office – like Announcing a chance to sit in on a class! click here to RSVP!
We are just probably applying to different schools. My DD3 is focussed on all-girl schools and some of the less-stressful co-ed schools. I don’t think that any of the schools my DD2 applied to last year are doing these visits now. (At least not from what I am hearing.) Just don’t want anyone reading anything into not being invited to visit classes. It’s definitely school-specific, not applicant-targeted.
@Calliemomofgirls Understood. I still think it’s targeted. They may just have different email distribution lists set up internally. Just as revisit is not open to everyone but by invitation only. It doesn’t make sense to invite everyone to sit in classes.
We are fine not going anywhere this year. DD is enjoying the unlimited time to chat with friends again and the idea of BS seems to be yesterday already. She certainly took my suggestion on lowering expectations. She will be happy either way, and so am I.
@G07b10 Not to go back and forth on this, but I don’t want you (or other future parents) operating under false information: post M10 revisits are indeed open to everyone (who gets in, of course). (They will likely be virtual this year, however.) And admissions events like these invites to zoom into classes are also open to all applicants. It’s just not many schools are offering this option. I am 100% positive that the admissions events (zooms and such), are not being targeted in any of the 28 (yikes!) schools that I am now somewhat intimately familiar with. Sure, you must sign up and yes space might be limited and fill up. You’re right that you can’t have 40 kids join a class, even on zoom, but the invitation was not targeted.
Fine to manage expectations or decide to keep them low if you wish, but know that this issue is NOT a data point to include in deciding how low they should (or should not) be. You are not missing out on any targeted invitations.
What I have seen does not look at all targeted, very similar to the mass emails we got earlier in the year. My guess is @Calliemomofgirls is correct that it depends on which schools you applied to (and at least one we got info from but didn’t apply to emailed for an event we could RSVP to that they specifically said was for people who applied this year OR who might apply in the future). I know we have some overlap, so it’s probably the same schools sending us stuff. I can’t tell you who they are without checking though, because when I see these emails I am just not dealing with them until M10. D and I are both mentally and emotionally fried. I’m not putting her through the ringer again just because maybe she might get in to a school. We will wait for decisions.
I hear that SAG is working out a “zoom star” agreement.
Though that’s sarcastic and makes me throw up in my mouth a little, SAG did in fact just craft an ‘influencer’ agreement which makes me projectile vomit.
well, not to fuel the fire, but we have some overlap with both @Calliemomofgirls and @dadof4kids and we have received no such emails.
But - I do not think this means anything in regards to being targeted or checking “interest”. (I say that more for MY peace of mind than anything else…LOL).
I think post M10 would be the time we would visit these opportunities, also. I would think (hope?) that schools would provide this option as part of the “revisit” process.
I just received one of these invitations from Westover, and I can second (third?) that they do seem very similar to the mass emails we received earlier in the process.
And the last class date is March 5th so it won’t really be an option to revisit these options after M10. That leads me to think that they have separate events lined up for accepted students? Either way, I’ll be waiting until I’ve received decisions to register for any boarding school related events.
Twelve schools - no invitations. I would probably sneak in if allowed. Son might. After going out of our way to not encourage identifying a favorite school, we need to identify a favorite school soon.
I know which schools we have in crossover @buuzn03 and they have NOT sent us any such invitation either.
In other words: most schools aren’t doing this.
No one is being targeted for this because they are stronger applicants.
These are essentially like zoom admission info sessions being advertised in auto-generated emails for folks with completed applications. A hard cap on numbers and need to rsvp and reserve a spot, but the invite itself is NOT exclusive nor is it a data point regarding application strength.
I would love the opportunity to sit in virtually on some BS classes even before M10. Doing so might help us determine if BS would be preferable for our kid generally or is something we should just forget about because it probably isn’t for us. I’d especially appreciate it for history and humanities classes, as I’d like to see the types of topics discussed and how certain literature and historical happenings are presented.