I was wondering, do many people sit in for classes on their initial visit to the school? If so-
-How did you schedule it?
-Were the students friendly?
-Did you watch or participate?
Any information or insight at all would be very helpful- thank you very much! 
- After getting accepted to a school, there is an option to schedule a visit on one of the official revisit days.
- Students were fairly friendly. Some students acknowledged visitors more than others.
- I participated once, got the answer wrong and decided to listen for the rest of my visits :)
- There were about 3-4 visitors in each class that I attended
We were not able to do this on any of our initial visits but were able to do so after being offered admission. It may depend on the school and the distance that you need to travel to see it.
I WILL say that when we came back after being accepted, the classes were chosen by the school (full day) and reflected DS’ interests. Kids who played instruments attended orchestra and were able to play along, for example while kids with interest in CS/Robotics found that on their schedule.
Edit: I’m talking about before admission when you visit the school for the tour and interview, sorry for the confusion!
@LaxPrep What about before getting accepted during same visit as the interview/tour?
@katrina571 typically prospective students do not sit in on classes. I am sure a school would be willing to make special arrangements if you feel strongly about attending a certain class.
@katrina571 You can do that in our local day and boarding schools, which are rarely mentioned on this board. They call this “shadowing,” and it’s part of the application process. None of the NE BS that my daughter applied to had this option.
The only time we were able to do it was during “open house day” with a full day program. We preregistered for a couple events on Saturdays during October and January of the previous application year.
However, I recommend not doing the interview on an open house day. There were so many interview requests that they had alumni or new teachers, not AOs, do the interviews.
Episcopal High School (Va) had my daughter go to 2 classes and sit down lunch on her interview/visit.
Oh - and Cate had her attend a math class with a student and chapel
The larger the school the less likely this is feasible. It was part of the process for a few day schools. One day school had a shadow day after applications were due, but before decisions were out. It may be possible to eat in the dining hall and get a feel for the school that way.
NMH offered class visit days before applications were due. DC attended one of these and found it very insightful.
We were lucky enough to be able to sit in on classes prior to our interview and tour. This was something set up by one of the coaches at the school and allowed DS to see what a 9th grade English class was like while my wife and I sat in on more advanced classes within our certain disciplines, as we are both teachers. It was a wonderful experience. Not sure how often this happens, but might be worth asking about.
@AppleNotFar I’ve heard about that, could you choose any class to attend? Also, were there certain days or could you just sit in on any day?
@katrina571 NMH has planned class visit days. https://www.nmhschool.org/admission-campus-events/class-visit-days
Putney lets you visit a class when visiting… my kid also returned to shadow with a current student