<p>How did the revisits go for everyone? Were the schools what you expected? Thing you liked the best? Thing you liked the worst?</p>
<p>^ should read "thing you like the least"..... too early to be posting!! ;)</p>
<p>Attended the first of two revisits yesterday with D. It was a fun day, and the school really rolled out the red carpet with lunch, entertainment, a social and take home goodie bags. Most importantly they matched my D with a great host student who made her feel welcome and comfortable. Last night she said that she couldn't wait to go to school there. This is remarkable for a girl heavily entwined in her 8th grade social environment.</p>
<p>I finished my revisits at both Andover and Exeter and enjoyed them immensely. They were extremely worthwhile. I'm going to decide which I want to attend tonight with my family.</p>
<p>I finished revists at Exeter and Choate. Exeter was nice, but I was really impressed at how friendly everyone was at Choate.</p>
<p>should you really love the school on revisit day? my d found the day confusing and came away with the feeling she might be bored there. the day itself was a bit boring. what do the rest of you think about the revisit day being artificial?</p>
<p>Hmmm, I don't know about that; my son loved his revisit, as did we, but he already knew he really wanted to attend this school. The day was of course, a bit contrived, as you are the "guest" and they are playing host to you. I did not find it to be overly "artificial" though.</p>
<p>I think you need to keep in context how different the revisit day was from a routine day. At our daughter's revisit day at Thacher, they tried to make it a chance to try being a student: she went to their formal dinner, attended study hall, slept in the dorm and attended classes the next day. For her, it was perfect and she could easily visualize herself as a happy student there. If the revisit day has a lot of special events, you have to rely more on your previous visit during a regular school day and trying to observe student-student and student-faculty interaction and recognize that the revisit is more of a dog and pony show.</p>
<p>I'm just wondering how useful the revisits are for people who are confused about the choices. Does anyone have experience asking for more time to decide?</p>
<p>I actually asked a school for an extra week...to see if more FA would come available. They said, "Sure!" Basically, they're still in control of the timetable because they tell me when they've got money or don't have money. We've decided to go with this school (which I'd rather not identify) or a public magnet school that he's been admitted to already. So we have the luxury of time to see if time will bear fruit while others have to move on to other BS choices by April 10...because even if this school gave them more time, the other school(s) they're considering probably won't.</p>
<p>We only made the request after the revisit. I felt uncomfortable asking a school to tie up precious FA funds when we weren't sure we'd end up using those funds. After the revisit we knew that this would be the right choice...provided there's more FA.</p>
<p>Sounds good, right? Well, as far as I'm concerned, an arduous, hand-wringing process just got extended by another week (at least) and I just want it to end and have everything resolved.</p>
<p>The revisits were incredibly useful to me. Before them, Andover wasn't really in the running (with a mediocre first visit and interview), but afterwards it became clear that it would've been a great choice, had I not chosen Exeter. It really gave me something to look forward to in the fall.</p>
<p>In addition to learning more about the school, the revisit can also give you the opportunity to meet faculty and ask specific questions. We learned a great deal about science, math, and language placement by speaking individually with faculty. One of the teachers offered to stay in touch over the summer and give my child work to do so that he would be ready for a higher level of language in the fall!</p>
<p>So, I'm glad to hear somebody else was umimpressed with one of the top schools on a visit. I had the feeling everybody loved everything they chose. Noe, I'm still interested in learning what gets below the surface at the revisit. Somebody please give me a good tip. What, for example, is one good question to ask a student?</p>
<p>During one of our revisits, a parent asked, what did you learn on a revisit that led you to choose this school, and then did it in fact, turn out to be true (or as the moderator reframed- truth in advertising).</p>
<p>I think d'yer's situation of being given additional time is pretty unusual.</p>
<p>I believe that's true, doc, which is why I prefer not to name the school. Perhaps the school's name will drift out at some other time, but I'm pretty sure I've been mum so far.</p>
<p>Yes, I just don't want to encourage others to ask for extensions in decision-making. One thing I would like to suggest for others going through the process next year is to try to do the revisits as early as you can. With one of my children we didn't do them until april 8 and 9th and then had very little time to decide.</p>
<p>Milton didn't schedule their revisit until April 9 for day students. We requested an earlier date, but they said though they understood the bind, they refused. That's where we find ourselves on the eve of the revisit, just one day before decisions are due. It's a tough spot to put a fourteen-year-old in, but that's why we are hitting this board so frequently, hoping for just the kind of insights insiders already know. Thanks for that, all.</p>
<p>yes, masspop, sometimes you don't have a choice but to do them at the last minute. We were lucky that when we did april 8 and 9, the choice was very clear, so there was no agonizing. we had a lot more trouble with our first round of decision making than the second two.</p>