<p>Thanks, Cathymee, the Singer competition does not sound as intense as some on this board. She'll already in FL on a school trip so we'll meet her there and see what it's like. I told her she should be proud that she was asked and she should attend with an open mind. There are several negatives, the most important being too far from home, and that she got into her reach EA.</p>
<p>Not a parent - sorry! I just found this thread through another one.</p>
<p>Anyway, if I remember correctly, I went to two scholarship weekends (It was only a year ago, but I applied to 12 colleges, and all the visits, etc. kind of start to blur together.)</p>
<p>At USC, I was in the running for their presidential scholarship (1/2 tuition). Nothing was guaranteed to most, though if you were a NMF -- as I was -- you were guaranteed 1/2 tuition already. I went to see more of the school, and to see if I could get an even better scholarship (there was that possibility). They did the usual tours, question and answer sessions, etc., and had the USC marching band come and play for us. We stayed with a student for the night, and had meals in their dining hall. The purpose was, as someone stated earlier, to see how students look in person, but also to give us a view of the campus. Not everything was paid for, though. No hotel for the parents, and I think you may have had to pay to attend the weekend.</p>
<p>Second, I went to the University of Texas at Dallas' McDermott Finalist weekend. They went all out for us: paid for flights, meals, hotel room for your parents (and one for you, since you shared a hotel room with another finalist), symphony tickets, and more. Everyone was guaranteed a full tuition plus more scholarship, and if we became a McDermott Scholar, we would have gotten A TON more perks. We had meet and greet times, an individual interview, a group interview, a group project (we had to complete a task in groups of 5 or so), meals, a tour (in the rain), and we went to a symphony performance. A major purpose in this weekend was to make ALL of us want to go to the school. I definitely felt appreciated. I didn't get the McDermott scholarship, though, and ultimately decided that despite the full-tuition+ scholarship I would still get, the school wasn't right for me. </p>
<p>Baylor, the school I'm at now, didn't really have a scholarship weekend. However, they offer full tuition scholarships to National Merit Finalists. They had a special weekend in November for seniors who were National Merit Semi-Finalists. Nothing was paid for, but you did get a $1000 scholarship for attending the weekend. It was like a typical school preview weekend, though they treated us to a nice dinner and focused on their honors programs. That visit is one of the major reasons I'm here now, for I really liked what I saw.</p>
<p>astrophysicsmom, I was upset when my child qualified for merit aid at a pricey school and didn't get it. Based only on grades, it should have been offered where someone I know with lesser grades but slightly higher SAT scores got it (all non-need). Mine turned down the school for one that offered a better package.</p>
<p>PVmember - yes, it's hard not to feel rejected when you don't get the scholarship. In my son's case, he spent many hours on a separate scholarship application for a pricey school - and had to get three extra recommendations from teachers and others. No dice. We called and they told us - sorry- but we should be happy that he got in. They also told us most of the money went to need based cases that year. It DID affect his perception of the school - he didn't even want go look at it again (even though we were willing to work with him to make it a choice -even at full price). He attended scholars day at his local state U, loved it, and that was it. I think the these special days and weekends are effective for recruiting top students. Everyone wants to feel wanted...</p>
<p>I found this thread to be a very interesting. As a new round of college application is here for 2008, any information from last year's veterans will be very welcome. It will be nice to include the names of the schools. Also please share if these scholarship weekends or other by "invitation only" special weekends were expense paid or not, Thank you in advance.</p>
<p>In the case of D1, she wasn't even interested in state flagship until she went to the scholarship weekend. It ended up her first choice for regular decision rounds. They didn't do too much wild - just paid for the weekend of seminars and some lectures and I think a basketball game) and then let them mingle with the (I'm guessing selected carefully) college students in the honors dorm.</p>
<p>dragonmom, may I ask what school was that? Also did they pay for your D1's travel cost?</p>