Anonymous wrote:I have a HS senior and we started thinking about where to go for spring break, which may be the last one when our two teen’s spring breaks line up. We haven’t typically gone for big trips and were thinking about doing one for the last hurrah.

A friend suggested that Admitted students day may be over spring break, and if our senior is divided over which college to attend, the Admitted students day could help make a crucial decision.

How important are these days? Would you not schedule a spring break because of them?

Thank you for your advice.

They are very important, BUT, so is the last big hurrah family trip. I would not hold back on that just because there might be an admitted students day.

Do some research now on when the days will be planned for your DC's top 1-3 favorite schools. As noted here, most schools will have multiple options.

Anonymous wrote:Do kids who got in ED go to Admitted Students day? I get that the point is for the college to convince kids to go there (and the ED kids are already committed), but it sounds like the events are fun and kind of a boondoggle for kids.

Some do. We met some kids who had been admitted ED or who had already committed at an admitted students day. I think it’s a chance to get excited, meet future classmates, and ask questions.

The admitted students day really helped my kid make up his mind between his top choices.

Even my second kid, who had a #1 with no schools a close second, got a lot out of the students day for her chosen school.

Do kids who got in ED go to Admitted Students day? I get that the point is for the college to convince kids to go there (and the ED kids are already committed), but it sounds like the events are fun and kind of a boondoggle for kids.

Admitted student days offers a big opportunity for social connection. My kid was accepted ed, and met up with a ton of kids in person that they had already met online via social media. I am not sure the day had much value in terms of decision making. Because it's all standard stuff and I think the best way to learn about a school is to speak with current students that share your kid's academic interest and/or similar social personality to give them a sense on social life. Some kids even met their roomates and found roommates. I think the extra school touchpoint is valuable. Admitted student days vary by school so it may or may not interfere with spring break. My kids visit day was in early April.

Anonymous wrote:If you didn’t ED these visits are invaluable in making the best decision.

I agree!!! My son looked so depressed on the admitted student weekend of his first choice…and it’s a university nearby us that we knew well.

It 100% changed his decision to a different school. It did feel very cliquish and professional, and anal.

He ended up at a university we hadn’t toured until after acceptance…shortcut off as a reach last minute. Looking back all of us were like “duh. This is just like him and his friends” why hadn’t this been on the list. I think as parents we had incorrect stereotypes.

I have two seniors (twins) applying to different sets of schools. We are planning to take a trip over spring break. I looked up the schools they want to attend the most (2 each) and their admitted student days have previously not fallen on our spring break week, or they have multiple admitted student days. I figured this might be one of the last spring break trips we ever take with them.

And be aware that some admitted students days fill up quickly, so you might not get your choice of dates unless your DC acts as soon as the get the invite. Both U-VA and U-MD fall into this category.

11:26 PP here. It's better if the admitted student days are not over the weekend, because if they are your kid can't sit in on classes. Those are really important to see how prepared other students are, whether they take class seriously, how much discussion there is, etc. A weekend visit just isn't the same.

Agreed that events are important. One of my kids didn't get into any of their tippy top reaches, and we had a bunch of schools to visit that they'd never toured. These days were VITAL. For another kid, they had seen the school on tour, but really wanted to make sure that the other admitted students were a match. It is SO different from a tour.

Admitted student days are not always over the weekends, so you can't necessarily plan to bookend your spring break with school visits. We went to a 2-day event last year that was Thurs/Friday, which meant flying on Wednesday and returning on Saturday.

For both of my kids, we had multiple flights in April - along with car rentals, hotels, etc. Of course, flights are last minute, so you're not getting deals (for one flight, the only availalbe seats were first class).

So even if your spring break is in March, keep in mind that April could be a very expensive month and plan accordingly.

We had a senior last year and foresaw this same issue. We wound up scheduling a spring break trip (booking it around this time of year last year) from the Monday to Friday of spring break, so we could keep both weekends open in case an admitted students day (or two) could be fit in on those weekends.

As it wound up, there was an admitted students day the first weekend of spring break that we attended. While it was slightly inconvenient/tiring to drive 6 hours home on a Sunday afternoon/night upon the conclusion of the admitted students day to then head to the airport early the next morning for vacation, it was still a perfect setup and wound up being very helpful in the final decision making.

If you didn’t ED these visits are invaluable in making the best decision.

Only works if your spring break is in April. RD decisions aren’t even out to mid to late March.

My daughter went to admitted student days and the school at the top of the list fell to the bottom and the school almost at the bottom is where she decided to enroll. Those were the days she determined if she would actually be comfortable on campus with the rest of the student body.