<p>I’m a parent that would send my S on their own. I would figure that it isn’t all that different than when sending them off in the fall. They will still have to travel. They will still need to navigate the campus and the schedule for the weekend. The only difference is that they are in a hotel instead of a dorm and there isn’t a whole “lotta” difference if you think about it. There won’t be that much “maturation” between now and 8 months from now. The only thing as a parent that I would like is a copy of the schedule of events and to know where the hotel is relative to the campus. If it’s not walkable then I would want to know how the kids will handle transportation back and forth from the hotel eg. is there campus transportation, a city bus pass, etc. If my child were nervous or fearful more than one might be in general then I’d start to wonder if they were ready to be far away and navigate their own life. I know the first holiday my oldest came home he had cancelled flights, delayed flights an unexpected overnight and there was stress in his voice, but he managed to do what he needed to do. A little “stretch” stress is OK I think. My oldest managed on his weekend (but they stayed in the dorm) and S2 will be heading out in a few weeks for one of his own and I don’t think he is staying in the dorm but we don’t have all the details yet. I won’t tell you I wasn’t nervous that first trip because I was, but I knew it was an important “test” not only from the scholarship viewpoint but from the “readiness” viewpoint.</p>
<p>Almost always, the students who are invited would have already applied and been accepted.</p>
<p>My parents let me do my college visits by myself, and plan on letting me do any scholarship weekends by myself. </p>
<p>She’s going away to school in a year, if anything this is good practice. TRUST her</p>
<p>*Are the weekends for students (seniors) who have already applied to the particular college? *</p>
<p>Yes…</p>
<p>The schools (that do these competitions) usually review the apps/stats from their prospective students, then “cherry pick” the best students and invite them for these competitions. Its an way for the school to get a bunch of smart kids on campus on at a scheduled time, so the school can present a program to really sell the school.</p>
<p>I went to several back in the day and always went alone. 1-2 were at off campus hotels, but all meals, etc were scheduled/structured. In all cases, the school was footing the bill for the airfare and the provided meals. I did have to get my own meals during travel to and from, but it was fine.</p>
<p>I traveled with the kid across the country for one of these weekends–knowing that it was competitive, but that roughly half of those invited would get full tuition (admissions should tell you the odds). We had visited the campus once before and the kid had already done an overnight in the dorm, but had not had time to explore the surrounding area, so we scheduled an extra couple of days to explore. I had to be there to rent car and hotel. Teens cannot rent cars in that state, and I don’t think a minor can get a hotel room. The exploration was what sealed the deal. The college reimbursed for travel expenses and had offered a dorm room/food on campus. Because the kid wanted to be well rested for the big interview and discussion sessions and dinner with sponsors, the hotel worked better for a good night’s sleep. Turning down the dorm was not a negative. </p>
<p>We just recently went through major hassles (hours on hold) with airlines to rebook a cancelled flight. The kid tried to handle it, but Continental offered only a much more expensive flight involving complex connections (that were later delayed or cancelled) and pulled some high pressure tactics. Learning to negotiate airlines is a usefull life skill, but not one a kid should have to learn over an already pressured scholarship weekend. I recommend doing what will reduce anxiety the most. Maybe arrive in time for the big interview, then do the overnight stay with other kids afterwards? Parents can and should keep a very low profile with the colleges at that point.</p>
<p>My son attended one and went by himself. He stayed in the dorptm but I would have been ok with him staying in a hotel. Maybe part of it is having a son rather than a daughter. Son’s older brother was a senior at the school at the time living off campus. Son came a day early to hang out with brother. The school provided him transportation from the airport to brother’s apt.</p>
<p>Gourmetmom -in my son’s case he was invited for the weekend in March. He received a special letter with an acceptance and an invite. They paid for half of his trip. They invited approximately 100 students. Ten were eventually offered full tuition scholarships and other 20-30 were offered half tuition. My son was given a half tuition scholarship. We were completely surprised by the invitation. He was a very strong candidate, but I didn’t see him as one of the top 100 students who applied to the school. There must have been something about him that stood out, but I am not sure what it was. He chose to attend a different school, but he really did like the school that offered him the scholarship.</p>
<p>D1 went by herself, they were put up in a hotel near the university. She did fine and really didn’t need/want me around. However, D was more than ready to spread her wings and fly solo, she had been traveling alone to college visits and summer programs for a couple of years. I think that the activities were pretty tightly scheduled by the university, so there’s not much for the kids to have to navigate on their own. Other parents went and there were some activities for them.</p>
<p>My son did two scholarship weekends and I went with him on both. One school (USC) neither my wife nor I had seen, and the other (UMich) I had not seen. Both weekends were <em>very</em> different. In both cases the schools paid for my son’s transportation and lodging, but there the simularities end. At USC, my son stayed with me in a motel room the first night (not paid by USC) and in a dorm room the second. At UMich, he stayed in a hotel room almost on campus with other scholarship students. It was specifically requested that parents NOT stay at the same hotel. At USC, there were lots of activities and talks for the student and parent. At UMich, after a brief campus tour for parents and students, they were separated and did not meet up again until the weekend was over. At USC, it was very much a sales program to get these top students to consider USC and I suspect that UMich was the same but I didn’t see it. At USC, the students were competing for a half-tuition scholarship (about $19K) and were pretty much guaranteed a $6K one at a minimum. At UMich it was about $12K scholarship plus $8K for room and board (as long as you stayed in the dorms). From a financial standpoint, it was definitely worth it and in each case he only missed a day of school (Friday).</p>
<p>He could have visited either one on his own and he had already visited USC on his own for an audition, but my wife <em>really</em> wanted to know about USC’s location and safety. For UMich, I simply wanted to see it.</p>
<p>Our kiddo has traveled alone in the US for sports related things…and also for a weekend “recruit” thing at a state flagship…</p>
<p>if this kind of thing comes along next yr–I suspect that as long as classes are terribly impacted–and it is one of the top choices–that we’d allow kiddo to go alone…</p>
<p>kiddo already had to navigate some unfortunate partying behavior of the host students…and passed with flying colors…</p>
<p>I would send my son by himself. He has flown across the country several times, including three college visits this past fall. Occasionally there were problems with flights, but it was a great experience for him.</p>