<p>Next weekend, both Smith and Wellesley are having open houses for Juniors. Now, i've been advised to just go to one for the whole day rather than rushing to get to both (You can disagree if you like, i'd gladly hear it). But now the question arises about which one to go to, if I'm only going to one. What do you guys think? Which open house should be better/more informative/more parent friendly? Which school tracks expressed interest more?</p>
<p>(cross posted in Smith forum)</p>
<p>Go to Wellesley College! :) The campus is beautiful, and depending on what you're interested in, you can get a good look at the facilities. The buildings are veeerry interesting. And Wellesley usually has tons of food for the parents and you, and lots of presentations. I've never been to Smith, so obviously I vote for Wellesley.</p>
<p>I'm not sure about Smith, but Wellesley did have an open house for seniors last October (which I, a parent, absolutely loved). I would check with the admissions at both schools and if one has only a spring event and the other offers both, then go to the first one and visit the other in the upcoming fall. I agree that trying to make it to both open campuses in one day would be unwise.</p>
<p>For what's it's worth, we visited the Smith and Wellesley open campus for freshmen ten and four days ago, respectively. The Smith one was MUCH better organized, better food (and more of it) and the "message" at Wellesley from the administration was "be grateful we let you in to our exclusive little club, and, oh yeah, by the way, if you see us walking around, thank us for giving you the chance to pay us $45,000 a year". UCK, it was a real turn off to me as a parent. As my D is not the one paying out of her savings, it didn't rub her the wrong way so much, but I thought every interaction with the admin at Wellesley as awful (not the faculty and not the students - they were all fine). Having said that, the overall adademic level of the students at Wellelsey seemed higher. So it depends on what you want in a college. Choose your best fit college, then choose where to go.</p>
<p>Honestly, I'd recommend to not go to either.</p>
<p>I think it's best to see colleges on typical days, rather than these mega-planned events. I learned the most by staying overnight and attending a class at two colleges (Wellesley was one of them) on a regular day. It gave me a really good idea of the atmosphere of the schools and what it'd be like to be a student.</p>
<p>I also attended Spring Open Campus last weekend and had a lot of fun, but it was definitely different seeing it on a non-typical day. If you want to go to an event, go ahead, but try to visit both on a regular day.</p>
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<p>Also, regarding Delicate Arch's comment about the administration speech: I'm a little confused by what you stated! In the speech, the director of admissions specifically said that she thought it was ridiculous when people came up to her and thanked her for admitting them because it was the students and their families, not the admission department, who did all the work. It was one of my mom's favorite messages of the day.</p>
<p>Yeah, I remember that message, too. I thought it was sincere and charming. As a prospective student who was still considering applying to Wellesley when I went to an event previous to the SOC, I didn't get a sense of snootiness, but I did get a sense of pride. And let's face it, any college without pride is, well, lame.</p>