<p>I'm interested in hearing opinions re: Meliora Weekend.</p>
<p>We are parents of a current freshman. We live in the Rochester area, so we see our son as often as he would like. (However, not nealy enough for mom.) Despite our best efforts, we were not able to get into any session that really interested us. To be honest, from what we were able to read on-line there weren't many. It seemed like most were more appropriate for alumni, and I get that.</p>
<p>We signed up for some things, but ended up canceling. Upon further reflection, we really did not see what all the hype was about. We decided to visit our other college student that weekend instead.</p>
<p>Any remorse is quickly squashed by the realization that not much intereted us on the Meliora Weekend line up.</p>
<p>No, I live far away (2000 or so miles) and only see my daughter on semester breaks (and not always then). I went to Meliora her freshman year, but mostly because I was able to get tickets for the Keynote speaker (Anderson Cooper) and the comedy entertainment (Stephen Colbert). </p>
<p>It seemed to me then that Meliora was more a Homecoming event than a true Parents’ Weekend.</p>
<p>Plus everything is waaayyy crowded, parking is awful. Getting a flight in and out of Rochester (which not a large airport) for the weekend was difficult and there were lots of bumped passengers. </p>
<p>I haven’t been back for Meliora and don’t regret not going again. I visit D on non-Meliora weekends when things aren’t so frantic.</p>
<p>I don’t think we have older UR alums posting here - certainly not often - so you won’t hear the full story, but it really is more an alumni thing.</p>
<p>I am an alum and a parent of a UR student, so for us Meliora weekend is always a win win. The atmosphere is festive and we have heard some great speakers including Anderson Cooper and Sanjay Gupta. I am concerned that this year in particular will be crazy with Bill Clinton speaking and so more crowded than ever. That said, we usually have a wonderful time and have found the parent offerings like the fair of student services to be very worthwhile, but lightly attended. Our favorite part of Meliora weekend is visiting our daughter and seeing how much she enjoys being at UofR.</p>
<p>I am the parent of an alum. Personally I always enjoyed Meliora Weekend and felt the University does a good job. Usually our d was performing so that was a special reason to go, but I always enjoyed the dept fair on Saturday morning-study abroad, res life, etc. as well as the Sunday breakfast q & a with the deans and President Seligman. It is always good to hear the latest news and future plans. We did usually attend part of the football game as d usually needed to be at a rehersal around that time. It was a good opportunity to bring up stuff she needed as well as run to Target and Wegman’s, etc.</p>
<p>This weekend will be my 4th Meliora weekend (a bit sad about that). I too have seen most of the keynote, featured and comic relief speakers, and that was great. Being over a six hour drive away, visiting with my daughter is the main reason I go. I love meeting and interacting with her suitemates, meeting her bosses and co-workers and her friends in the student groups she belongs too. This year she will also be performing so that’s an added bonus for me. The highlight for her is a nice dinner out and time to catch up on what’s going on at home. To the OP: even if I lived in Rochester, I know I would go just for the above reasons.</p>