Very worthwhile and Parents are definitely welcome (we attended with our S in '17).
Our son found it worthwhile to cement his decision (which he did that day) and to hear presentations from Global Studies (S will be studying in Barcelona this fall), Career Services, Business School, etc. It was also quite nice to witness the culmination of a long arduous college admissions process and see S transform into a very excited future student.
@collegiatedad : Congratulations to your DS!
@TimeFlies2, D21 is looking at similar type of school, also from MA. Here’s our early list;
College of William&Mary:
Vanderbilt:
Johns Hopkins Univ
Carnegie Mellon
Georgetown
U Del:
TCNJ
Wake Forest:
Leigh U:
Elon:
Duke
Emory
Chapel Hill
UNC Wilmington
Loyola Maryland
We’ll get it narrowed down to 9 schools by next year…she knows we’ll only visit a few ahead of time and others if she’s accepted
@VikkiG5 You’re probably not looking to add to the list, but you might consider Richmond. Only 45 minutes form W&M and a great school.Wake Forest like but smaller (about 3k students). Really excellent focus on undergraduates.
OP I’m going to chime in and also suggest Elon. We are also from MA and I have an FD there who is beyond happy. She loved Wake and Elon but felt the vibe at Elon was more what she was looking for. Wake was little too buttoned up for her. Both schools are true liberal arts program where you don’t declare until second year. Similar in size, beautiful campuses and D1 sports. Elon is less expensive too.
What a great story! Do you have any info re financial aid as yet?
@rickle1, I can have D21 look but her undergrad size is pretty much 5-15k…
@VikkiG5 Funny you say that as that was exactly my kid’s range. He determined that after we visited Richmond. He liked it but it seemed small to him. Granted we visited in the summer so not much going on.
@collegiatedad Congrats to your son! We’re just back from our first visit (DS is a junior) and he LOVED Wake. It will be a reach, though. Also really liked Elon, Furman and Clemson. Maybe he just liked the South?!
@mommadj we have a family friend who’s daughter loves Elon. That will definitely be a contender for us.
We also know 2 girls who go to Elon, and they love it
@VikkiG5 Hi, my D was accepted at Lehigh, W&M and Wake. All 3 track demonstrated interest, we visited all 3 and did on campus interviews at all 3. If it is feasible I highly encourage visiting and interviewing.
^ and check with each, they might interview in summer and early fall only, which means you need to do it before you apply.
S was admitted to the same three as above in 2017. Time flies…Didn’t interview at W&M but did at the other two. Visited all three. The other thing you might consider in addition to interviews (was very helpful to S) is to set up an informational meeting with a department head in your kid’s area of interest. S was business school so we met with the head of student services at each business school. Got a personal tour, they had a 30-45 minute conversation with S (which he referenced in his applications), etc. Was a great way to really get a feel for how they operate. Wake spent a good hour going over the different majors, curriculum, study abroad options, business related clubs, outcomes, etc. It was great and fun. Each school was very accomodating and more than helpful. I simply found the Dean of the B school on their site and emailed him / her and they connected us to the appropriate individual. They want to help (especially at these smaller schools).
Guys, writing regarding my DD 21. I did a Naviance search and WF came up as a surprising suggesting. I ran the NPC and It falls exactly where we are able to pay. She has very good stats which I wont enumerate here. The problem for her is that it is 600 miles away from us. I would be willing to drive down to take a look as it seems beautiful. Wondering what to do??? She is interested in pre med. And like time flies, wondering what other schools close to the 95 corridor might be comparable financially and academically.
@BronxBaby We live in NY, and we visited Wake Forest, Elon, Univ of Richmond and Davidson all in the same trip. We took our time, not trying to do too much in a day. We did this particular trip at the very end of summer when all these schools were in session and before our D’s school started. It all depends when your child starts school.
@ugg2023 and @rickle1 thanks, not sure we’ll visit all but will definitely look into Skype interviews if we don’t get down. We’re in MA and all the schools are between NJ and Georgia
If your son is a mostly B student, Wake may not be great for his self-esteem if he gets in. There is a strong pre-professional culture there, the students are academically and socially competitive and the professors for the weed-out courses tend to be somewhat jaded. Wake was our student’s dream school, she got in ED but in retrospect she now wishes she had listened to me when I encouraged her to consider BU which I thought was a better fit. Wake has been OK overall but I think the level of intensity as students vy to get into the business school, med school, etc, is a little much.
What about High Point University? It’s in the same part of NC as Wake, we have friends from DC whose daughter has had a tremendous experience there.
I’m an undergraduate student at Wake Forest. While it seems like your son might have grades on the lower end of many Wake applicants, I’ve found that being a well rounded student is what’s most important to WFU. If your son is involved in sports and/or clubs, especially in a leadership capacity, I would seriously consider applying anyway. It’s also important to note that Wake is test optional, so only submit sat scores if they’re on the higher end. Interview for sure. Put the time in to completing the supplements on the application, because the admissions counselors read those essays and put a lot of wait on them. If the grades are slightly lower but everything else adds up, he should have a good chance. That said, I was the valedictorian of my high school, so I can speak from anecdotal experience. Don’t let be discouraged from applying though, it’s a great school and I’ve met so many different types of students — there is no perfect formula to create the best “wake applicant”.