Depends on the events and if your student is interested in the events. We attended Parent’s weekend freshman year. Crowded, hotels are more expensive and often require a 2 night stay. After freshman year, we chose another weekend.

We skipped it. We'd just been there a few weeks earlier to help DC move in, and planned to be there a few weeks later to watch an event DC would be in. Three cross-country trips in less than two months was too much, plus DC was going to be busy for much of that weekend so we wouldn't get to see them much.

Didn't sound like we missed much, but of course I don't really know since we weren't there!

I was in a sorority and they did have great events. The college's weren't really worth it. Better to go on a game day instead.

I think parents weekend is a bigger deal at smaller schools.

At larger schools, parents would rather come for a football game.

almost all parents come the first year at kid's ivy. It would be sad to not have someone there. After the first year not as many come to family weekend but a good amount do.

Anonymous wrote:Has anyone just skipped the official Family Weekend events and just spent the time with your DC instead during that weekend?
Did parents actually learn anything useful from those events? Or were they mostly generic stuff?
For those who did attend, which events felt the most meaningful or worth the time to you?

Yes

If kid is feeling homesick, its a good opportunity to meet but otherwise no real advantage unless you are a helicopter parent.

I think they are meaningful only if your kid would be sad/disappointed that you aren't coming. We visit when it works for the kid and us.

Not really. Never been to one. We visit our kids on other weekends when it's not so crazy and you can easily get dining reservations. That way you also get to see your kid and their friends (because the friends don't also have family in town to see them). Much more fun and stress free

We did not attend any of our kids’ parents weekends — mostly because hotel prices were jacked up and restaurants were booked. It wouldn’t have been as fun as simply going to visit on any other weekend when we had more time snd easier accommodations. I found that parents who had kids in Greek life found parents weekend more meaningful.

We went to see our kid's performances. They were great

My DD didn't want to attend them. Her school was close to a city, and she preferred to just do stuff on our own there.

For one of our kids, we went the first year but skipped the official events. Didn’t go subsequent years. For our other kid, who’s at a big school, we skipped family weekend and visited another fall weekend to avoid the chaos.

You’re probably overestimating how much time your student will have to spend with you. Part of the point of the events is so you do try to co-opt all of your student’s time.

Has anyone just skipped the official Family Weekend events and just spent the time with your DC instead during that weekend?
Did parents actually learn anything useful from those events? Or were they mostly generic stuff?
For those who did attend, which events felt the most meaningful or worth the time to you?