<p>This seems to be the right place for a thread where parents of MIT accepts could chat, share information, and plan for events such as CPW (Campus Preview Weekend) in April. I will post a pointer on the MIT forum if you all agree this is a useful thread -- I did not want to host it there, since that is meant mostly for students and not parents, but do want students (and any searching parents) to know such a thread exists here.</p>
<p>I've talked with several other parents and the Admissions Office at MIT and have some info to share about CPW. This is SUBJECT TO CHANGE, of course, as their plans become more solid. (Students will learn more through their MyMIT portal, and if we're lucky they'll share it with us.) Some of us far away (e.g. west coast) need to make early flight arrangements, so I'd like to share what I know now. I'd be happy to do it in this thread, or could do it via PM or email: what do you think is most appropriate? At very least, parents planning to attend the CPW event should connect here so we can connect there also, eh?</p>
<p>Let me know and I'll drop my CPW details in here if it seems right.</p>
<p>My husband and I are going. We have reservations at the <a href="mailto:hotel@mit">hotel@mit</a>. I'm looking forward to any early info Mootmom has gleaned.</p>
<p>Can I jump in here with something that I wish I'd known before I went to CPW with our now sophomore son? Because we knew a frat would be the last thing our serious son would be interested in, we didn't bother to attend any sessions on "independent living groups." This despite the fact that he was assigned a room at a frat for CPW! He was neutral about that, but he did decide his freshman year to pledge a frat. It has worked out well, as MIT frats are low-key. Our nondrinking son remains a nondrinker (health Nazi) and it isn't a problem. </p>
<p>He was invited to a very late party at the frat during CPW. The CPW parties are "dry." Have fun! Take rain gear!</p>
<p>OK, here's what I've gleaned so far about CPW. Remember that this is subject to change and is only meant as a guide, from what I've been able to learn so far.</p>
<p>--> CPW dates: Thurs. April 6 - Sun. April 10
--> Registration opens 9am Thurs. and it's recommended that you arrive in the morning. They suggested to me that visitors from the west coast (or elsewhere) may want to arrive the night before or on the red-eye to take maximal advantage of the weekend.
--> Free shuttles will run between Logan Airport and campus on Thurs. and Sun. If you arrive or depart at any other time, cabs are available just outside baggage claim for roughly $35 including tolls and fees.
--> Students will be paired with an appropriate roommate in a dorm or frat for Thurs. through Sat. nights. (Apparently all the dorms make it into a big PR weekend, doing all sorts of nutty and cool things to get pre-frosh interested in applying to live there.) Parents attending must make their own hotel arrangements.
--> There is a block of rooms available at the hotel@MIT (just about on campus) at a special rate of $149. If you reserve a room there, ask for the "MIT Campus Preview Weekend" rate. (617-577-0200 or email <a href="mailto:reservations@hotelatmit.com">reservations@hotelatmit.com</a>)
--> CPW check-out is Sun. morning between 8am and noon.
--> Details and <em>SIGN-UP</em> will be available for EA accepts through their MyMIT portal sometime in Jan., and RD accepts in April. Once the sign-up appears, the student should register online and indicate whether one or more parent will be attending, so a registration packet will be ready for the parents also.</p>
<p>Last year roughly 500 parents attended, and they encourage it, even if you've been to campus before. Parents and students will not be together (although parents are welcome to attend classes on Thurs. and Fri.). For parents, there will be financial aid workshops, seminars on health and wellness, campus and dorm tours, and receptions by various groups. </p>
<p>I am leaning towards flying out with my son and hangin' with other parents while the kids have their own great time. We live on the west coast and would plan to fly in Wed. evening. I think it would be great if CC parents found each other there, so post or PM if you're thinking of going so we can make a list and keep our eyes peeled! (Maybe we need to put our CC names on our nametags, or a CC sticker or something...? Ideas?)</p>
<p>Helpful info, faraway, and fascinating, since I'm "sure" my son wouldn't be interested either, ha. Please do offer your perspective as someone who's been there and done that: all observations welcome!</p>
<p>Why would you as parents go to CPW? Will it make a difference to your son's (daughter's) decision if you like or don't like the place? What do you hope to learn by going to CPW?</p>
<p>I am an alum, and my son is MIT '07 (my mail sticker reads XX '75 P'07 when they want money). My son didn't go to CPW as an admittee (he was going to school in Hawaii at the time, and had already decided to attend MIT). He did participate as a host last spring, though. So perhaps I'm cynical about CPW. </p>
<p>Here's my opinion: if your son (daughter) is sure they're going to MIT, don't bother with CPW and save the money for the extremely expensive books MIT requires (or the extremely expensive tuition). If they're not sure, consider visiting outside of CPW, since CPW is one long party, and really doesn't represent MIT as it truly is. There may be a few useful parent events, but I'd lay bets you could get the same info a lot faster with a few emails or over the phone. Or from their web site.</p>
<p>As for meeting other MIT parents, why not wait until parents' weekend in the fall, when the parent events are fabulous AND aimed at parent-parent bonding, not persuasion?</p>
<p>Part of what is likely to convince my son to attend MIT over his other choice is whether he clicks with his potential classmates or not. He's already visited campus and had the tour, and chats with a bunch of them on the chat group; he wants to hang out with current students and prospective class members and see what it's like when students get goofy and hold a party. My own decision to attend my alma mater was solidified when I visited during their Spring Fair week and felt comfy that I could be part of a community that partied in that way. My opinion of the place will not sway my child's decision either way.</p>
<p>Me, I just want a vacation. :-) I'm usually too busy in the fall to be able to make a trip then, so it may be April or nothing. What I'd <em>really</em> like is for alumni groups on the west coast to hold receptions for admitted students, or parents of current and soon-to-be students, so we could mingle some without having to fly across the continent. (PS: Round-trip airfare for him is ~$300 right now, so it wouldn't be a big monetary drain to send him.)</p>
<p>Other parents: what do you think? P-of-admits: are you considering going? Why/why not? P-of-current-students: did you go? Why/why not?</p>
<p>Mootmom - our local alumni group is having a reception for admitted students and their parents, but we won't get an official invitation until after RD decions are out.</p>
<p>I guess my thinking is the same as Mootmom's - This is not a decision-making event for us. My son has already visited at a "normal" time and knows he wants to go to MIT. He even knows where he wants to live. For him, it just sounds like nerdy fun (he's flying out there this week-end for the Mystery Hunt just because it will be fun).</p>
<p>My opinion doesn't really matter, and even if it did, there really isn't anywhere else I want him to go. But I would like to see the campus and be able to picture what he will be experiencing next year. And I've heard so much about the fun atmosphere at CPW, I would kind of like to see it, if only from the periphery. Plus my husband and I love Boston, and would have no trouble entertaining ourselves even if CPW had no parent activities. We're using frequent flyer miles for all 3 of us, so it isn't a particular financial drain to go.</p>
<p>You make some good points about CPW. It's not representative of MIT life, but a big party to convince kids to attend. I agree that if money is an issue, skipping it for Parents weekend would be a good move. Your kids are sick of you in senior year, but will be actually a bit glad to see you in fall! </p>
<p>But remember--you're an alum. You know about the school, and you have passed to your son your confidence that he would fit in there. We were from far away and had never known anyone who attended. Our son found out he could click with his new classmates, and even connected with his first roommate. (They both bailed in fall from a Baker quad!)</p>
<p>Plus--I don't know if you have any older children, but we found out with our daughter that the college years just flew by. We loved her school and wished we had visited her campus more. We have not regretted the dollars spent on CPW and Parents weekends.</p>
<p>Yes, I'm an alum. And my son was absolutely positive that he wanted to go to MIT, even though I tried hard to talk him out of it. So for us, CPW was absolutely pointless. BUT: it's still not the best way to visit MIT. If a kid is thinking about going, and he decides on the basis of CPW, it's a mistake. Kids who've been admitted already (EA) would be better off visiting at a less artificial time. I think CPW has some (minimal) merit for kids; I don't think it's a good time for parents to visit, because it's designed NOT to give kids time with parents (except maybe on the flight). </p>
<p>I went for parents' weekend my son's freshman year; this year, we went two weeks earlier (to celebrate his 18th birthday). I enjoyed parents' weekend a lot, esp. the lectures for parents. I love visiting Boston in the spring and fall--but I don't expect to see my son much when I visit--he's way too busy.</p>
<p>"Why would you as parents go to CPW? Will it make a difference to your son's (daughter's) decision if you like or don't like the place? What do you hope to learn by going to CPW?"</p>
<p>My son was torn between three schools, including MIT, and he (and I) attended the days for admitted students at all three when he was a senior. He had not spend a lot of time at any of these schools before he was admitted (and had never visited his eventual choice, Stanford, previously).</p>
<p>The final decision was a very difficult one, which was totally up to him. However, I think that because I had spent several days at each campus and attended the sessions geared towards parents, I could more intelligently discuss with him the pros and cons of each and give him my impressions and maybe some information I had picked up which he had not found out. I think it was helpful to my son in his decision process that I attended these events.</p>
<p>Also, I agree with farawayplaces that soon there won't be as many "events" to share with your children, as they grow up so quickly. If it is feasible and affordable, it is a nice thing to attend, and parents can tour Boston and relax in their free time. Of course, if it comes down to a choice between books and CPW for financial reason, that is another story.</p>
<p>I've often been accused of being overly cynical. This may be one of those times when it's (once again) appropriate. </p>
<p>I think it's great to visit colleges. I wouldn't have dreamed of letting either of my kids go off to a college they hadn't visited (although I'm really not sure I can count my son's only visit to MIT--he was twelve at the time, and spent the day with a friend of his uncle's, who worked in the Media Lab). But I think CPW is not a good light in which to view MIT, and I don't think it's a good time for parent-child bonding, either, since its goal is student-student bonding.</p>
<p>So my response is: great, go visit MIT with your kid--but don't go for CPW. Go some other time.</p>
<p>S attended CPW, parents did not. I think he needed time to look at campus without parents and get his own dose of what life is about without parents around. Had to travel there by switching airports in New York, land in LaGuardia, leave Newark to BOS. Did visit MIT in junior year of HS and other schools. He did visit other schools for admitted students, but after CPW knew he would be fine at MIT. I think he needed to realize school was not all "geeks" and could experience full college life. As for parents week-end, I was to cheap to pay the $20 to attend, went out to see son but skipped planned events.</p>
<p>If anyone else in my area is interested, the MIT Club of Northern CA just responded to me that they do not host any spring events for admitted students. They suggested we fly east for the CPW in April.</p>
<p>dmd77 - I think it's perfectly clear to everyone that CPW has nothing to do with parent-student bonding. The kids will be off doing their own thing and staying elsewhere. And I agree with you that CPW would not be a good basis for decision-making. But I still think that parents who can go w/o financial hardship should go. It's a chance for them to get an introduction to the school. And going to CPW in no way precludes going to Parents' Weekend in the fall also. Spring and fall are both great times to visit Boston (I'm sure not planning to visit in the winter!). More than cynicism, I think that your opinion is affected by the fact that you are an alum and you were already familiar with the school when your son applied. For me, MIT is totally unknown and I am very curious about the place where I expect my son to spend the next 4 years.</p>
<p>I view this sort of like traveling to another town to watch your kid perform or play a sport. You're in the audience, they are in the spotlight. They may be lost in a huge bunch of other kids. You may not even see each other. But it's still nice to be able to witness these sorts of things and have some appreciation for your child's experience. As someone else pointed out, our opportunities to do that are flying away rapidly.</p>
<p>dmd77 - I agree with you that CPW (or other similar weekends at other schools) are not the best time to see what a school is really like. The problem is, many students cannot take the time or spend the money to visit distant school until they are admitted. At that time, in April, there is only one month until the final decision must be made. Attending the programs for admitted students is usually the most convenient way to schedule a visit to the schools at this time during which the student can stay overnight, attend classes, social events, etc.</p>
<p>it may be more convenient to access certain types of information during preview week-ends than it might be at other times. It's kind of packaged and handed to you. There are presentations by representatives from students health, financial aid, etc. Faculty and advisors may have special office hours to make themselves available to prefrosh. Profs are expecting visitors, so you don't have to get permission to sit in on classes.</p>
<p>I'm sorry to hear that the Bay Area club doesn't have an admitted student event. I always enjoy the Puget Sound Club's event. I wonder if either of the other CA area clubs have an event?</p>