Visiting in April

<p>My son has four (and maybe by the end of the week five) schools he would like to visit during April. This means missing way too many days of school (since spring break is over and most acceptances came after his break). What are you all doing asbout visits? Do you have a max number set?</p>

<p>Our Spring break is April 22-29, and that is way too late to visit schools, and we may still need to visit two (first time), and re-visit two others. Have you checked your H.S. school policy? Our H.S. lets you have 12 absences, unrelated to illness.</p>

<p>How far apart are his schools? Depending on that, he could take off Wednesday to Friday, or Tuesday to Friday, and do them all in one trip. At this point it is more important to visit/revisit than worry about missing school. Even if you miss 5 or 6 days, it's really okay. Many acceptances arrive with "Admitted Student's Day" invitations, and those are also good time to visit.</p>

<p>We ourselves eliminated 4 schools without even visiting, just comparing them to other acceptances. But yeah, like I said, we still have 4 potential visits.</p>

<p>12 absences, unrelated to illness?</p>

<p>What type of H.S. is it? </p>

<p>My daughter's H.S. allows just one day for juniors and one day for seniors to visit schools. No other non-illness absence is allowed and a Doctor's note is required before and after holidays if you happen to be "sick".</p>

<p>It's an excellent public H.S. that gets students into Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Princeton, you name it. </p>

<p>The absences have to be excused, i.e. verified by parents, and are only for Seniors. Thank goodness they do not expect college visits to be satisfactorily accomplished during summer, December and Spring breaks, when many colleges are also on break. </p>

<p>So, what does your school do if you tell the Attendance office that you are going away for 5 days? Tell you not to come back? (just kidding)</p>

<p>Virtually. It can be devastating to your grades to miss school for an unexcused reason (school related activities, one college day, and illness are the only acceptable reasons). All late work is penalized at a rate of 10% per day (that's 30% over a weekend), and teachers do not make allowances for missed assignments or tests.</p>

<p>Hey, you are in college, its the last month of your senior year, and you are making an important decision - don't let lower grades stop your fun</p>

<p>Don't schools have vacation/trip forms for these things?</p>

<p>I am sorry to hear that. Sounds crazy to me. We can excuse our child from school..... I just call the Attendance Officer the day before, let her know why, and then send in a written explanation when we return. We have only done this once in Senior year, and for 2 days, and we will be doing it one more time in April for 3 or 4 days, depending.</p>

<p>I'm sure that our school cracks down on the habitual offenders, kids who leave the school whenever they want, or leave the house and don't make it to school.</p>

<p>Anyhow, when my 17 year old is sick, we do not go to the doctor, unless it is past 3 days, or seems more than the usual bug/virus/fever, so I could not possibly imagine getting a doctor's note for a 1-day absence. Wait...that note would cost me $25.00.</p>

<p>Is this a private school you are talking about? :(</p>