<p>I live in the Pacific Northwest and am deciding whether to visit my daughter (freshman) on Parent's Weekend or another time in the fall. I visit my son at college on a weekend in October that is not Family Weekend because other parents have told me that it is not worth it. He is also on the East Coast.</p>
<p>Is the Tufts family weekend good? Worth going across the US vs. going a quieter time when the campus is not crawling with people?</p>
<p>What is your opinion?</p>
<p>I am wondering the same thing…I am on the west coast and D is going to NJ for school. Are Parent Weekends beneficial?</p>
<p>Ditto here for Tulane…although I feel like maybe if we don’t go, then son may feel a bit bummed if friends or roommates parents show…also a new football stadium this year which I think is likely to add to “the jazz”…pun intended </p>
<p>I think it depends on the school. I know that parents at my son’s college, also on the East Coast, told me not to go and that it wasn’t worth it. That may apply only to that school. So I visit him on another weekend in October. </p>
<p>I never went. If I had more money I would have gone but likely a weekend that’s not Parents Weekend as that’s when everyone is there. Ds was taken out by three sets of parents so he was well taken care of. </p>
<p>Good point!</p>
<p>At Dd’s first Parents weekend they had lots of activities, seminars, info sessions, etc. for the parents, which was great. D however wanted nothing to do with me that weekend. It was only a month into school and she was still finding her independence. Fast forward to spring Parents weekend and she couldn’t get enough of me! When I went again the next fall, the activities were all the same so I felt it was a waste of time. </p>
<p>what school?</p>
<p>^^^^Tiny LAC that nobody on CC has ever heard of!! Lol</p>
<p>We went to each kid’s parents weekend the first year and we booked our hotels months ahead. After first year we visited when the campus was a bit quieter.</p>
<p>Kiddo one went to college a couple of hours away. We went to the first parents weekend…but never any others. We saw him about once a month at a music event. No need to go to parents weekend!</p>
<p>Kiddo two went to school 3000 miles away. Between the travel time, and the time change, we would have needed to take at least two days off of work to be there for the full event (Friday dinner to Sunday lunch). It just didn’t happen. Dd was “adopted” by other families and was taken to dinners and the like. Some years, she offered to work so others at her job could spend the time with their parents. She told us we didn’t miss much by NOT coming to Parents Weekend.</p>
<p>We went the first year and will probably go again since D has special performances with multiple music groups. Otherwise, another weekend would be fine. She actually wanted to spend lots of time with us. We brought her sibs too. I think her sibs were the ones she wanted to see more than parents, but we had a nice weekend together. We did not do the formal activities, but explored the campus and town together. We are in driving distance, but not close, about 5 hours.</p>
<p>We were 3 hours away from my DD’s school…we went for the first Parents Weekend and not after that because we would meet her for a Family Camp weekend we did every year in the fall and parents weekend was just after that. </p>
<p>I liked the first parents weekend because it was neat for her to show off her school and go on the tour in the Nature Preserve.</p>
<p>If I was 3000 miles away I would ask her what she wanted.</p>
<p>We didn’t go, but went on a less crowded weekend. </p>
<p>My folks never visited. I went to school far away and didn’t expect them to. That first year I was a little lonesome, but after that it didn’t matter. We are better off and have more free time than my folks, so I think we will continue to visit once or twice a year. </p>
<p>I never went to any Parents weekend for any kids. Once they go to college, they are on their own.</p>
<p>I’d consider posting the question about how good the Parent’s weekend is on the thread for the specific school your child is at. Parents’ weekends vary between schools in terms of how good they really are/ how many activities they have/ when they are etc.</p>
<p>If it becomes a really burdensome expense to travel to a far away school, talk to your child and I’m sure he/she will understand. We lived close enough to go to both kid’s parents weekends and we always invite any good friend of our child whose parents couldn’t come to join us for lunch.</p>
<p>It depends on the school.
My mother & I went to the first parents weekend at a small lAC my oldest attended. But she was so busy we barely saw her. After that I visited when it was best for my younger daughters schedule.
But when younger daughter attended an instate u, we visited every spring and sometimes also in the fall for parents weekend.<br>
Youngest also lived off campus after freshman year, so it was easier to visit her.</p>
<p>When S was a freshman, he said we had just spent 3 weeks dropping him off in CA in August and said there was no point in us coming for Parent’s Weekend in October. The following year, he was OK with us coming, as D had just been accepted as a Jan admit and wanted to re-connect with her friends who were attending the same U that she would be going to, so we went that Parent’s Weekend. We also went to Parent’s weekend in the fall of her SR year of college and enjoyed it.</p>
<p>I’d suggest following your kid’s lead. If unsure, try booking refundable lodging and wait to see what your kiddo prefers (if it won’t make too big a hole in the family budget). </p>
<p>My son’s school only had Parent’s weekend freshman year. I enjoyed sitting in classroom and hearing about the program. I met a local mom, whose son was in same House as my son. She invited me to dinner, and later had son for T-day. The boys became friends thru the 4 years.</p>
<p>Op,
What about asking the parents on the Tufts section of cc? They will have more experience with the parent’s weekend at tufts</p>
<p><a href=“Tufts University - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/tufts-university/</a></p>