<p>Regarding revisits, assuming your D/S gets more than one attractive admit:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>What type of questions did you/can you ask there may have felt too delicate during the interviews? Is there such a thing as a question so indelicate that asking during revisit might get the offer revoked? (Such as an explanation of a recent negative controversy surrounding the school, etc.)</p></li>
<li><p>How many revisits is reasonable?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Cheers!</p>
<p>Well, presently I’m a 9th grader at Andover, and on my revisit (I only had one, which I think is normal), I asked my guide everything: dorm life, teachers, hook-up culture, LGBTQ issues at the school, nothing was off limits. Asking about controversy (at Andover, last year some controversy was about the feminist movement, and this year is mostly about the new grinding policy) is acceptable. Just have your D/S use judgement when asking questions and avoid coming off as insensitive. </p>
<p>As for your second question, I guess you could have as many revisits as you want, but I think one is sufficient. Best of luck!</p>
<p>Nothing you can ask or do short of criminal behavior can get you revoked at revisit days.</p>
<p>They are tiring, so most people pick their top one or two schools. </p>
<p>They are very helpful for parents, after you pack up and send your child next September, it really helps to have some familiarity with their new world, it helped me imagine what her life was like there.</p>
<p>Go to visit all the schools you’re still seriously considering-- both DS and we (parents) felt like we got a much better sense of each school than we had from our initial tours and interviews–students and parents get to sit on on regular classes (not together), talk to lots of different people, eat a regular meal, really hear about the curriculum, and ask absolutely anything. I would, of course, ask your questions politely (not like you’re challenging or criticizing the people you’re talking to), but I don’t think there are any types of questions that are off limits. I know there were separate parent sessions and parents were asking all kinds of things about rumors they’d heard about drugs, cliques, politics, whatever. Remember, at that point, you’ve been admitted, and they want very much to convince you to come to their school. It never occurred to us to do more than one revisit day for each school, but, at one school we visited on a day my husband couldn’t come, they invited him to come back another day by himself. All in all it’s a pretty fun day-- all the pressure is off you and on them.</p>
<p>You can visit the schools ON YOUR OWN again as many times as u want.</p>
<p>But “Revisit Days” are formal events at the school. They are BY INVITATION ONLY events for admitted students, and u only do it one time per school.</p>
<p>Did you get genuine, non-defensive answers on the controversial issues? Does anyone ask in detail about attrition rates?</p>
<p>My question about how many revisit was how many schools would you reasonably revisit if you had more than a few options.</p>
<p>Best.</p>
<p>I asked about the attrition rate at my interview, but I would assume you can ask about it at any time. I’m not sure what you mean by “in detail”. I simply asked what’s the attrition rate and why do people usually leave. After I figured out the two schools that I’d be okay with attending, I determined which school I’d be most happy attending so there was no need to go to 2 revisits.</p>
<p>We went to revisit days at two schools. Both seemed to deal with questions in a straight forward and definitely non- defensive way, including questions about a recent scandal at one school. Were they completely open and honest? I have no idea-- but they didn’t get defensive or angry. Plan on asking whatever you want to know-- just not in an angry way.</p>
<p>
Surely you must prefer some schools on your list more than others. If u got accepted to 7 schools, why would u bother revisiting more than the top 2 or 3 that u prefer?</p>
<p>My son asked about attrition rates and reasons at every interview, long before acceptances came along. We never had the sense that anyone was offended. On the contrary, they seemed to be impressed that he had done his homework and had some good questions at the ready. Now he did get one rejection, but I doubt it had anything to do with that question.</p>
<p>I don’t think attrition rate is a sensitive topic. However, do put the number into context; according to NAIS “facts at a glance,” the average attrition rate for NAIS member schools is around 9% (median, almost 8%.) <a href=“http://www.nais.org/Articles/Documents/NAISFactsAtAGlance201213.pdf[/url]”>http://www.nais.org/Articles/Documents/NAISFactsAtAGlance201213.pdf</a></p>
<p>Students leave schools for many reasons: homesickness, disciplinary reasons, illness. I would be wary of a school which had a really, really low attrition rate, because it might mean the administration turns a blind eye to bad behavior. Or they could be having a very, very good year. Context is everything.</p>
<p>Other questions to ask? Well, how about what supports the school offers to students who have learning challenges? Or to students who fall behind due to illness? If your child has mono, what happens? Is it possible to keep up or catch up if you miss a few days of class?</p>
<p>Read the handbook carefully. Schools have different policies. Ask the parents who call you if the school abides by its printed handbook. Ask if any policies are due to be changed in the near future.</p>
<p>Ask if the school plans to change academic offerings in the near future. NMH dropped Russian a couple of years ago. If your child really wants to study French at a school, will the school continue to offer that language for the next four years? Is the only teacher who teaches an advanced course, or a great coach, due to retire? If that’s a primary draw for you, ask how the school will deal with the change.</p>
<p>I would say, no more than four revisits. Schools try to arrange revisit days which don’t conflict, but it’s a tight time frame to revisit more. With both children, the ultimate choice coming out of revisits was not the one we thought we would choose at the start. </p>
<p>Remember, every school you apply to should be a school you would be happy to attend. Don’t apply to schools which don’t appeal to you. Having said that, finances can shorten the list drastically. Even there, though, do be careful to compare apples to apples. Are there extra fees, such as laundry or uniform costs? How much will it cost to get to and from campus several times a year? Add in the cost of tuition insurance, which is a good idea for everyone.</p>