<p>It seems to me that family weekend at UVa is more of a informational tour of the grounds & Charlottesville than it is about spending time w/ your son/daughter. Is this true?</p>
<p>Parents/family weekends at all schools are filled with sporting events, art shows, concerts, receptions with the administration, opportunities to learn more about the school, . . . . I think they can be fun weekends to visit your child, but since freshman year I haven’t opted to attend many of the organized events. Go if it’s a good time to visit. Participate in whatever you want to. Ignore the rest. (If you’ve not done one before, be forewarned that if your child has settled in well, you will not be spending the entire weekend with him/her. They like to sleep in, hang with their friends after hours, . . . I just counseled a friend today headed to her first this weekend that you can usually get your kid’s time by offering a decent meal off campus. They always seem to be up for that. 
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<p>My 1st year at UVA has said she may just come home instead of stay on campus for parent’s weekend (fine with me!) because it just sounds like it will be really crowded. We’re still playing it by ear but I agree, i checked the schedule and wasn’t inspired to attend any of the events excpet maybe some of the sporting events.</p>
<p>When I was a student, parents’ weekend was my chance to show off my school from my point of view (which was different from the tour guide’s point of view). It was also a chance to get a few good meals in with the folks without admitting that I might have been a little homesick. </p>
<p>Obviously, it’s been quite a long time since my undergrad days, but I bet some kids today feel the same way. :)</p>
<p>I’m not involved in UVa’s Family Weekend at all, but I’m pretty sure the point is to spend time family on Grounds (without the chaos of a move in/out going on).</p>
<p>BTW, posting this in the UVa forum might invite some students to chime in.</p>
<p>I went last year and had a wonderful time with D. Believe me, you’ll have a whole different perspective seeing it through the eyes of your student!</p>
<p>We’re not too far from D at UVA so we had the chance to visit her one weekend and have her show us around - I think for us it would be different if we hadn’t already been able to visit (and we’re planning on visting again prior to Parent’s Weekend too). If Parent’s Weekend is as well done though as the Orientation Program was I imagine it will be a great weekend. We’ll let D decide what she’s most interested in and play it by ear. I do love the UVA Grounds though - husband and I keep saying we need to sneak down to Charlottesville without our younger 2 and explore on our own and see D!</p>
<p>At my school, 90 minutes west or so of UVA, our parents weekend is just partying with parents and a few events. The students and parents just look forward to the partying though.</p>