Is it important to attend open houses?

[Anonymous]

Talk to me like I'm stupid:

1. Do admissions office care or keep track of whether you have been to open houses? Do they notice if both parents attended? DH and I are thinking of dividing forces, since he has a new job and can't easily get days off. But if its important for him to make a showing, he will.

2. Should we consider requesting a tour on a regular school day? Is that a normal request? Or are parents really supposed to attend the open houses to gather school information?

[Anonymous]

IME, open houses are jam packed and admissions offices do not keep track of who was there. I have never requested a private tour. I imagine that kind of request would be hard to accommodate as there are often hundreds of families looking at schools during admission season. (Depending on the school of course.)

[Anonymous]

No one keeps track.

The open houses often include a tour. I think requesting a private tour on another day would be kind of a PITA move unless you have a huge conflict (non-elective surgery, parent's funeral).

If you could attend a private tour during business hours, why can't you attend the open house?

[Anonymous]

Former Admissions Director here. I expected both parents to come to the interview. If something conflicted with that, I expected to have been able to at least chat with both parents at some point earlier in the process. Because I made it clear that both parents were expected at the interview, usually both appeared. The exception of course was if they were divorced/split and one parent was not in the picture at all. If there was another adult who played a major role in the child's upbringing such as a step=parent, that person was welcome to come. My reason was that I wanted to make sure both parents were on board with the program, supporting their child there, the tuition, etc.

We did keep track of attendees to the Open House as we had them sign in on a computer and for weekday tours they registered. I would have expected parents to attend at least one tour in the year before applying, ideally both parents, to make sure they understood the program and there would be no surprises. However, if it were just one parent who took the lead that was fine, as long as both parents were in evidence at some point.

Part of success at this particular school was parental support of the program and the student so making sure that was in place was very important. It wasn't just for show; we truly wanted to make sure that support network was in place.

Scheduling a private tour is a PITA move, definitely, but if you're polite, give a choice of dates, and explain that every other event just doesn't work somehow, it would be OK. Best to try to make it to the scheduled events, however. Most schools try to plan several and at varying times in terms of weekdays and weekends.

[Anonymous]

I disagree. I think they do keep track. Each time my daughter attended an event at the school (open house, athlete info. night, etc.) they had a sign-in. I think they want to gauge your child's level of interest in the school.

[Anonymous]

Having recently gone through this for DD's high school process, definitely yes. It really doesn't matter whether they are keeping track. It about you and your child making the right choice. Our DD when to two schools and was completely turned off and fell in love with another school. That's where she ended up going. That said, the open houses are a marketing show. Depending on your child's age and the school, it's really the shadow days that count since it's the closest they will get to an actual day there. But yes, open houses are important.

[Anonymous]

I think it makes a difference as I met the head of the school and admissions folks. Not fatal if you don't but always good to put name and face together.

[Anonymous]

Regarding open houses I think it depends on the school. I personally found many of them (the ones that attracted large crowds) to be useless. However, most schools offer/require parent tours and parent interviews. I personally think those two events are the ones both parents need to attend. All of that being said, the best way (and oftentimes the only way) to know if you want to invest the time doing a parent tour and/or interview is to attend a school's open house (I do think you and your spouse could divide these up if you each trust the other judgements to make that first cut). My husband didn't attend any of the open houses because his work schedule didn't permit it. I made the first cut based on the open houses I attended and then we both attended the parent tours and interviews. DC was admitted to 5/6 schools we applied to. I will also say that the parent tour and/or interviews for schools that I was "meh" about after the open houses confirmed that "meh" was the right feeling. LOL. If I had to do it all over again, I would cut any school that was a definite no and a "meh."

Best of luck to your DC!