We enjoyed William and Mary's very much. It's not going to give you the day to day feel, but it's a chance to learn more about the school, tour buildings, meet with club representatives, speak with professors in your major, and hopefully get excited about the school. The lunch was nice, and my son met his roommate when we sat at the same table with their family. Finding your student's name on the admission banner was fun and a good photo op.

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

We enjoyed the admitted student event at W & M. However, my kid felt a little overwhelmed and is now at a smaller college.

Anonymous wrote:UVA is great--they bring in the mascot, band, acapella singers and have a number of informative sessions. We learned a lot and it was definitely worth while.

UNC was meh if you already took a tour. They had a brief info session with the mascot, admissions and students answering a few questions, then a tour that had a little more info about dorms than a normal tour, but otherwise was the same. Was surprised it wasn't better.

Thanks!

Can anyone else report on specific schools?

I can't wait to take my kid to one where we didn't visit before b/c it was a reach a plane ride away.

I'm not sure how important they are for schools where we toured. We saw Clemson during the early summer and there weren't students on campus, so I think that might be helpful. There were students at UGA, though, so I'm not sure we'd get a lot out of a return for a formal event.

UVA is great--they bring in the mascot, band, acapella singers and have a number of informative sessions. We learned a lot and it was definitely worth while.

UNC was meh if you already took a tour. They had a brief info session with the mascot, admissions and students answering a few questions, then a tour that had a little more info about dorms than a normal tour, but otherwise was the same. Was surprised it wasn't better.

Anonymous wrote:We attended so many as my DC did not have a favorite school and is still undecided on major in their second semester. I'm so glad we attended all of them - provided so much information about what the schools prioritize, the types of students there, and what the general vibe was on campus. Well worth the effort, IMHO.

+1

We attended so many as my DC did not have a favorite school and is still undecided on major in their second semester. I'm so glad we attended all of them - provided so much information about what the schools prioritize, the types of students there, and what the general vibe was on campus. Well worth the effort, IMHO.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:On the one hand, more hoopla may help a student be more enthusiastic about choosing the school.

On the other hand, the more the hoopla, the more skeptical I might be of whether the admitted student event gives the student a realistic picture from which they can make a decision.

This. The events can be fun but you're not attending 4 years of admitted student days. Visiting on a regular school day is what helped me make my decision between my top 2 choices.

I definitely agree on value of regular school day, but I do think admit days can be a glimpse into how much they prioritize student experience.

Anonymous wrote:On the one hand, more hoopla may help a student be more enthusiastic about choosing the school.

On the other hand, the more the hoopla, the more skeptical I might be of whether the admitted student event gives the student a realistic picture from which they can make a decision.

This. The events can be fun but you're not attending 4 years of admitted student days. Visiting on a regular school day is what helped me make my decision between my top 2 choices.

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

And my son was turned off by the vibe (and other things besides) and went elsewhere. This is exactly why Admitted Student Days are valuable: some schools look great on paper, and some campus tours are curated such that details important to your kid are glossed over... but Admitted Student Days is when colleges typically let their hair down, dorms and dining halls are open, and the nitty-gritty gets revealed.

Please attend as many of them as possible.

OP, it’s not that serious, of course people have different preferences. Some like fanfare and some don’t. I do think knowing which ones are basically repeats of tours is helpful though. Time gets right between April and May to do it all.

On the one hand, more hoopla may help a student be more enthusiastic about choosing the school.

On the other hand, the more the hoopla, the more skeptical I might be of whether the admitted student event gives the student a realistic picture from which they can make a decision.

It's all about your attitude. You can have people walk away from the same program with different opinions. Why don't you just go into them with an open mind and not with other's opinions in mind?

W&M is always fun - massive event tbh

Thought it would be nice to share which schools really did it up big and made it special. Also good to know which were like regular tours, less personal, and maybe less worth the effort and expense to attend.