Is there a big advantage going to the admitted student days vs. a regular tour day? My daughter will be deciding between St. Olaf, DU, and Marquette. I’m not sure whether it makes more sense to wait until April for their admitted student days (DU will be in early March) or go earlier so she has more time to think things over before the May 1st deadline. We have yet to visit any of these schools and it will be a 3 hour plane ride to get there, so she’ll only be able to see them once.
If the dates work out, I think you get much more information at Accepted Student Days than you do during a regular tour. And if things work out, you might meet your next roommate or group of friends. Some people say it gives them an idea of the type of people that will be their future classmates and that swayed them one way or another.
Also, you may not end up visiting all three. After our first Admitted Students Day, S23’s mind was made up and he asked us to cancel the other visits.
+1 for admitted students day. You don’t have to sit through info on application that is no longer relevant, you get more info, you often get to see buildings and dorms that you may not or only get a superficial look at on a regular tour, and you will have a better idea who your actual classmates might be. Plus, swag.
To me, get there - admitted student day or otherwise. What fits your schedule.
In some ways, admitted student days are good - you have other admits so you can make friends, but the school is doing a sales job. When we were at School of Mines, the Student Panel (which was excellent) noted they loved admitted student day because it was the one day the food was good - so the experience is polished, etc. They’re selling.
A regular day - you can walk the campus, stop kids, talk to them -so more raw, more authentic, in my opinion. But the student day will have things like faculty sessions -but you can make an appointment on your own within an area of interest.
Often, kids want to go to the admitted student day but there are conflicts time wise, etc. - so just get there - that’s the main thing - if you need a viewing of the campus. Eat in the dining hall, walk the surrounds, etc.
For us, admitted student days were very different affairs than a standard tour and at least for our kid made a big difference. One major advantage is that typically many key campus offices or departments have representatives available on panels or Q&A sessions. It facilitates opportunities to talk with housing, the registrar, financial aid, career services, international programs. Often there is a student organization fair as well. It is truly a deep dive in ways that a regular tour simply cannot match.
Admitted student days also typically give you the opportunity to interact with a large number of campus members and this means your perspective is less likely to be skewed by a singular bad tour or interaction.
If the logistics for an admitted student day don’t pan out, then I would try hard to add on a department tour in a prospective major and sitting in on a class. Those are the other two add-ons that have been valuable in our searches.
If there is only a chance for one visit, I would not go sooner on a regular day if it’s possible to tour later at an admitted student event.
FWIW, D26 and I attended a few open house events for prospective students. A couple of them were really crowded and actually didn’t help her to get a feel for the place. It all felt too big and too crowded with people being herded from one place to another. So for her, the current thinking is that she’ll try to do admitted students days at smaller colleges and then likely request a specific department visit (sit in on a class, etc.) at the larger schools. I’m not sure if it’ll work in the end, but the overcrowded campuses at the open houses were a definite negative.
That - and they’re often on Saturdays. You’re not getting a true feel in some cases.
At Penn State, it was great - however many were there - yelling - we are Penn State - but that’s not getting you a sense of the real day. It was nice though they had tours of the nearby accuweather or local meteorological facility.
These are absolute sales pitches - and while have some great things, for people that choose to go or not go because of that day are often simply falling for a one day thing with polished presenters. Some, of course, aren’t polished and the kid chooses not to go because of that - also sort of strange.
Make sure no matter when you go that you walk the surrounds of campus, not just campus and stop kids and adults on the quads. We learned so much at Emory, UGA, W&L, etc. by doing this. Make an appointment with a club lead or prof too.
There’s many ways to get a truer sense than the ultimate sales pitch.
S24 is at DU. We did a regular visit and admitted students day as well. The admitted students day at DU was helpful because he attended the department specific events, met students and faculty in his department. Also learned about support for accomodations and disabilities. I was also just not really sold on DU (mostly because it is not really on anyone’s radar in our circle) so I really wanted him to be sure.
You can certainly get all of that information from virtual sessions if the scheduling does not work out. (If you have any DU specific questions, feel free to reach out).
The crowding is a good point. At one of C26’s admits we had the option of the big flagship day with 5000 cap (including guests) vs smaller admitted student days with 550 cap (it’s a big college) and went for the latter. If OP has these kind of options also something to consider.
It may depend upon the kid, and how the school handles things. My son did not like the admitted students events he participated in. I think they felt too programmed to him, he much preferred to visit on a regular day.
Admitted students’ days are helpful because colleges will offer chances to experience more of what these schools are all about: more opportunities to visit with current students, go to sample classes, hear more about various campus resources, get in contact with clubs, etc. And prospective students who’ve been in touch on social media can meet up, too. Yes, it’s a big sales pitch for the school, but it’s still useful for students who are making the choice. That said, if it’s unrealistic to make all three admitted students’ days, prioritize the one at the school that seems to be the most likely choice and tour the others. When my D23 was deciding, we narrowed our list to three schools that were high on her list and/or were of interest but she hadn’t visited yet. We could do all three in one trip, but that would allow for only one admitted students’ day. So she chose the admitted students’ day at the school that was at that point her top choice, and we did self-guided tours on campus for the other two. She ended up at the top choice – would it have been different if we could have fit in more admitted students’ days? Who knows? It doesn’t matter, though, because she’s happy with her choice.
My son is also choosing between St. Olaf, DU, and Marquette. What are the chances?!?
This is my second go around and I was asking the same admitted students day vs. regular visit question a few years with my oldest. The decision was made when Denison offered to fly my son for their admitted student day. We decided on admitted students days for all schools in an effort to have an apples to apples comparison. The admitted students days were helpful. (BTW… he choose St. Olaf).
My youngest is registered for the March 8 at DU and March 21 at Marquette admitted students days. Our current debate is if we visit St. Olaf and Marquette back-to-back (March 20/ March 21) or split them up. I would really love to get the visits done in March so he has time to digest and think, but don’t want negatively impact Marquette by doing too much too close together.
I like back to back personally. Every kid is different but mine could love a school or like certain things but then a month later go to the next and forget the first. So back to back gives you a near instant comparison.
Either way, I suggest interviewing your student on your phone immediately after each so you get real and raw emotion and thought after each visit so if they act like they forget, you can go back to the tape and remind them what they said.
Tours give you a general feel for the school. I think my son (and my wife and myself) appreciated the accepted student days we attended because it gave us a better feel for the specific programs, especially his major. He made his choice immediately after attending one. Which surprised us because that is not his style.
At the University of Scranton, they paired off the kids to eat lunch with students, and parents got to eat lunch with a professor from the department of their choice. It was a more comfortable and personal setting and we got tons of information.
Depends on the school. Admitted student days are often Oscar worthy productions. They’re selling you. So I wouldn’t assume what you are hearing is what the real day to day is like. At School of Mines, the student panel noted - they love it because the food got good that day. On the other hand, at American it was bad boxed lunches.
But they are productions - they can be great - but you can do a regular tour and still meet with a club head, professor or more. The important thing is getting to a school. You can also stop kids on the quad and have a real discussion.
Getting somewhere is what matters - so you go when convenient, no matter the event.
One of the schools my kid is visiting on admitted student day does 3.5 hours with the department- general department intro then they break them up into major-specific tours. For that length of time I assume they will get a really in-depth look at the program. I have no idea what will take up so much time but interested to find out. When we’ve done other department tours on normal visit days they’ve tended to be around an hour. Not saying all schools do this much in-depth by department but I’m assuming they will get a really good feel for what’s on offer there that they wouldn’t on another day. Plus, 30-minute guided tours of the library. I’m not sure we ever spent longer than 5 minutes in a library on other regular tour days. (Plus tours of various dorms, etc). So yes it may be rah-rah marketing, but it’s also got substance.
My son ended up picking the worst accepted student day food, luckily the regular dining is better, and steps from his dorm.
When we toured Muhlenberg they gave us free vouchers to eat at the dining hall, the same food the kids eat. Smart strategy when that is a strength. Scranton did the same thing. They have a free ice cream bar, for those interested! At the other end of the spectrum my wife would put the schools that charge visitors to park. Especially the non-urban ones.
Thanks for all the replies and different perspectives - it was really helpful. She decided to focus on just two schools (she doesn’t like having a lot of choices - I think she’s the only student I know that only applied to 4 schools!) - St. Olaf and Denver - and so we decided to go for a longer visit at each to give her a really good idea of the school. We spent a couple of days in Denver where she was able to spend some time on campus with a student (friend) before attending the Admitted Students Day. We are doing the same for St. Olaf and leaving tomorrow - she’ll have a tour the day before the Admitted Students Day so she can see the school during a more ‘normal’ time and then be able to attend the Admitted Students Day with a little more perspective going in. This seems to work out well for her.
