Admitted Student Days- hoopla or ho hum

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:W&M is always fun - massive event tbh

I was coming here to say thIS. Best done. by a mile.

My son had great conversations with the professors at the tables. Even book recommendations from them. Sad he didn’t end up there- but he wanted to get out of VA and got into an Ivy RD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We loved JMU. The fabulous marching band greeted us and everyone was so welcoming. Great smaller sessions by majors.

Agree with this. My dd was sold on JMU before lunch. Thought it was so well done that we cancelled all the others and paid the deposit that day.

[Anonymous]

We did both W&M and UVA and a couple privates last year. They were very different and both wonderful. I didn't expect to have so much fun, nor for the days to be so helpful and to really give us a feel for each one. We walked away 100% sure which was the right school for my son - of course, we each picked a different school haha. Anyway, for what it's worth my son picked UVA because of what he learned and experienced at the Admitted Students' Day. I think both schools did a great job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would love to hear more about W&M's DFAS. Planning to attend this year with my daughter. Accepted ED, so not about making a decision, but have heard such great things and she is excited to go in April.

Do you have a date for admitted students day at W&M?

[Anonymous]

Has anyone done the admitted students day at Delaware? What does it offer that the open houses don't?

We went to an excellent open house in the fall, and DD had a lot of her questions answered. She got a lot of information about activities and the honors program, had a Q&A panel with students from her major, etc.

She registered for one of the admitted students events, hoping she might be able to dig a little deeper into her major, maybe even talking with professors, as well as asking specific questions about study abroad. But when she got the schedule, it looked really similar to the open house, maybe even a bit more compressed.

Given how busy her spring weekends are, she's wondering whether it's even worth doing. Anyone have any insights?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:W&M is always fun - massive event tbh

As a school that caters to quiet kids they come on really strong. But as a parent I really liked the sessions on internships, academic advising, and residence halls.

[Anonymous]

I graduated college 25 years ago and STILL regret not knowing that I should go to the admitted student weekend although I was absolutely attending. You make a ton of friends and get to really know the campus and it gets you up to speed quicker. Gosh it really sucked to arrive on campus and it seemed like 75% of the students had attended. IYKYK. I didn't!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We loved JMU. The fabulous marching band greeted us and everyone was so welcoming. Great smaller sessions by majors.

Agree with this. My dd was sold on JMU before lunch. Thought it was so well done that we cancelled all the others and paid the deposit that day.

+1
Ha! We did this too!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:W&M is always fun - massive event tbh

As a school that caters to quiet kids they come on really strong. But as a parent I really liked the sessions on internships, academic advising, and residence halls.

I'd say that's probably a reflection of the direction they want the student body to go in - my son says people have actually said they feel like it's somewhat suffocating to be introverted at W&M due to how outgoing and friendly everyone is in public (can't walk to class without running into multiple people)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I graduated college 25 years ago and STILL regret not knowing that I should go to the admitted student weekend although I was absolutely attending. You make a ton of friends and get to really know the campus and it gets you up to speed quicker. Gosh it really sucked to arrive on campus and it seemed like 75% of the students had attended. IYKYK. I didn't!

This is such a helpful answer thank you. I don't remember there being admitted student events back in my day, so I've been thinking - are they really worth it? How is it different from just an open house or regular tour?

[Anonymous]

I am the PP and I think it depends on the school. But really at top schools they are competing hard. They want to max their yield. They have swag, events, and again - your kid is going to miss out on social connections if they don’t go.

With kids applying to many more schools and admissions rates so low I am just not putting energy or resources into pre application visits. It’s all going to be post admit. My kids are not even interested in visiting until then!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They were super useful for my dd - she chose a top SLAC, and the admitted students weekend definitely played a role. Parents and kids split up immediately; she attended a few classes and panels, went to the club fair, lunches and dinners with other accepted students and current students. There were performances and social events - she went to the late night coffee place with a bunch of kids and then to a party. Got back to the hotel very late and had a great time. It was a taste of what going to school there would be like and now, midway through freshman year, she loves it even more than she thought she would.

Which college was this?

[Anonymous]

My DS's best friend from a Big 10 school is the guy he met on admitted student day. He graduated 3 yrs ago. Go figure.

That said, we never even toured any of the schools he applied to. Figured with admissions being such a crapshoot (and it totally was--denied at safeties, admitted at reaches, WLing, etc) we just went to all the admitted student days to decide.

[Anonymous]

For those that have attended the VT accepted student day did you also attend one of their open house days prior to that? The accepted student day agendas I have seen seem very similar to that of the open house we attended last spring. If you attended both did the accepted student day add anything to make it worth it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those that have attended the VT accepted student day did you also attend one of their open house days prior to that? The accepted student day agendas I have seen seem very similar to that of the open house we attended last spring. If you attended both did the accepted student day add anything to make it worth it?

Yes, we attended both. If I recall, the agendas were fairly similar with the big difference being at ASD you're actually among only other students who were admitted - that makes a big difference. My DC was able to meet someone who became her roommate (and good friend) and the whole atmosphere was just different. If you're able to make it, I would definitely go!