Anonymous
Post 01/30/2025 16:49     Subject: Admitted Student Days- hoopla or ho hum
Anonymous wrote:Went to LMU, Pepperdine, SMU and Miami.

LMU was meh…SMU and Miami were better.
Pepperdine was amazing. Kid changed his mind from Miami to Pepperdine after that.


How was the Miami one? Did your kid get to speak to students in their program or college? We had a great tour and then a school specific online event, but they only had one major from that school represented and it was not helpful. DC actually decided to pick a major in A&S instead of the other school.
Anonymous
Post 01/30/2025 15:21     Subject: Admitted Student Days- hoopla or ho hum
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
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.


What was the turn-off for him?


My son is a nerdy type. He did not like the really loud welcome in the sports arena. We visited examples of dorms, and they were old with no central air. The food was terrible, (but I hear that they've improved their meals since). The special program he was invited to be part of was inflexible with far less study abroad options than he was hoping for.

He went to his second choice, which turned out to be far more studious and nerdier (a plus for him), with renovated dorms, central air, better food and many more courses to choose from in the same major, plus exactly the study abroad option he was looking for.



Where did he end up? Sounds like a great school


Elliott School of International Affairs, at George Washington. The rest of the school isn't that highly ranked, but Elliott has a great reputation.

NP. What was the first option you described above, the one he didn't choose? Just curious.


W&M dual degree programme with St Andrews. It's a tiny program and VERY selective, so he was flattered to be invited. But he didn't like the W&M campus, and he was turned off by the rigidity of the course offerings, particularly at St Andrews. Elliott at GW has a lot more choices, and ultimately is the better known foreign affairs program. Price was the same, because he got merit aid from GW. So it's all good.
Anonymous
Post 01/30/2025 15:09     Subject: Admitted Student Days- hoopla or ho hum
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:VT was great in '22. Got to meet in smaller groups for his major and talk to current students about their classes, team sports, dorm life, etc. Even got to tour a few dorms. Felt very authentic. Some of the larger events still felt like a sales pitch, but that's to be expected. Made my son's decision easy.


We were also there in '22 and had the same experience. My daughter fell hard for the school and loves it there!


+1
We went last year and were blown away. It was DC’s top choice anyway, but ASD just sealed the deal.
Anonymous
Post 01/30/2025 08:58     Subject: Admitted Student Days- hoopla or ho hum
Anonymous wrote:Michigan was amazing! Lots of school spirit and impressive students that truly ran the revisit day program. My student decided on Penn but it was hard to turn down!


+1 They brought in the marching band! DD was already almost sold but it was a great day - they made sure to highlight academics, school spirit, clubs, and we saw a dorm room and got fun swag.
Anonymous
Post 01/30/2025 08:48     Subject: Admitted Student Days- hoopla or ho hum
My son did UVA and W&M. I thought they were both great, totally different, and gave a feel for the school.
Anonymous
Post 01/30/2025 08:17     Subject: Admitted Student Days- hoopla or ho hum
We found them incredibly helpful.
Anonymous
Post 01/30/2025 08:12     Subject: Admitted Student Days- hoopla or ho hum
Without naming names, the ones that turned us off most were the ones that were very low effort. Fair or not, felt like it was possibly telling on how much they prioritized student experience. I can see how the big hyped ones may turn some people off either being too loud and extroverted or too much of what feels like a sales-pitch. We’re introverts and didn’t mind them though, the effort was appreciated.
Anonymous
Post 01/30/2025 07:53     Subject: Admitted Student Days- hoopla or ho hum
Anonymous wrote:VT was great in '22. Got to meet in smaller groups for his major and talk to current students about their classes, team sports, dorm life, etc. Even got to tour a few dorms. Felt very authentic. Some of the larger events still felt like a sales pitch, but that's to be expected. Made my son's decision easy.


Son went last year and was very turned off and chose not to attend. I think the Business school was overwhelmed.
Anonymous
Post 01/30/2025 06:39     Subject: Admitted Student Days- hoopla or ho hum
Anonymous wrote:We attended an open day / admitted student day (they doubled them up) at Loyola Marymount in LA.

It was like every other open day, an introductory chat with an admissions person, then a tour with various students.

Absolutely nothing different.


We had the same experience. and with a worse tour guide. Took LMU out of consideration as the vibe was not as good as the first visit.
Anonymous
Post 01/29/2025 21:37     Subject: Admitted Student Days- hoopla or ho hum
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.
Anonymous
Post 01/29/2025 21:02     Subject: Admitted Student Days- hoopla or ho hum
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote: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.


How did your son find a roommate? Ahead of time on Instagram or?…..


She said they met when they sat at the same table for lunch.


Yes I see that but at first I read it as “met him” as in pre-arranged to meet up in person. Because some students do connect online to find a roommate
Anonymous
Post 01/29/2025 20:33     Subject: Admitted Student Days- hoopla or ho hum
Went to LMU, Pepperdine, SMU and Miami.

LMU was meh…SMU and Miami were better.
Pepperdine was amazing. Kid changed his mind from Miami to Pepperdine after that.
Anonymous
Post 01/29/2025 20:04     Subject: Admitted Student Days- hoopla or ho hum
We attended three admitted students days in 2022: Pitt, Fordham, and Northeastern. All three events were well-done and gave us a good sense of each student body and the vibe on campus. (We hadn't been able to do junior-year tours because of Covid restrictions in 2021.) DC found the days really helpful in determining which school felt like the best fit, and ended up choosing Northeastern.
Anonymous
Post 01/29/2025 19:32     Subject: Admitted Student Days- hoopla or ho hum
Michigan was amazing! Lots of school spirit and impressive students that truly ran the revisit day program. My student decided on Penn but it was hard to turn down!
Anonymous
Post 01/29/2025 18:33     Subject: Admitted Student Days- hoopla or ho hum
Loved Muhlenberg's. Mine was invited to one of the scholar programs. They put us up at a hotel and had an amazing reception on top of all the other admitted day events.