As Regular Decisions are nearing, I would like to know what seasoned parents and their students have done in terms of making any last-minute visits to schools where their student has been accepted. My understanding is some schools will hold Admitted Student Days (or even overnights), and I assume there is also the possibility of visiting on a “regular” day and just checking out the campus again. How did parents who have been through this handle the decision phase? Did your student have a couple of schools that they wanted to visit again? Can you just go on a regular day during spring break? Were virtual visits an option? What do people think is most effective (and obviously time, $, and logistics are factors)? Are Admitted Student Days particularly worth it? Thanks!
My kids found admitted student days very helpful.
If attending is impossible due to scheduling, or cost, then do what you got to do. But if the college in question is a very different setting than what your kid is used to (i.e. College of the Atlantic for a kid who lives in the Bronx) I think the visits are worth it. When someone describes a campus as “beautiful and isolated” does your kid understand that the nearest Walmart might be two hours away? Or that a campus which is “urban and bustling” might have a main, busy public thoroughfare running through it and city noise throughout the night?
We went to two admitted student days. Both were very well done and gave a more in-depth view of the schools than just another walk around the campus visit. I would recommend doing those days for at least the top couple of choices.
For D22, we went to the top three schools’ admitted student days, and it was really helpful. For one school, the vibe of the students was clearly less of a fit. For another, the day was disorganized enough that it left a sour taste in our mouth, though we probably could have gotten over that if it were the right school for her. And we did stumble onto a corner of the campus that — had she gone there — would clearly have offered some interesting research opportunities. For the third school, it was well done, she met another prospective student she really clicked with, and it made the whole process feel a bit more real.
For D25 and S25, we’re really really looking forward to the admitted student days in April. Once the applications were in at the beginning of the year and I was in “the fallow time”, I found that I naturally redirected all of my Big Spreadsheet Energy to … flowcharts. Lots of boxes and arrows, charting out various scenarios, doing what we can to maximize on-campus visits. As acceptances / rejections come back, we can simplify the flowchart down, and once we have a clear itinerary, we’ll be able to set up hotels and flights. Should be fun.
We did one admitted student day for one and two for another.
For both they were too much - meaning too long.
For one, we did no second visit to where he ended up.
He was sold the day he visited - and he had zero interest so you never know. First visited as part of a friend day with three others. Came home. Applied. Didn’t tell us.
The second went back to where she goes - to validate. Actually visited three of the top four. She walked, watched, talked and said hello to the Honors Dean and Dept Head. Three days later got two endowed scholarships ? Connected - I don’t know?
Admitted days are sales events but they do have nice features.
The admitted one at AU sold my daughter on Intl Studies but also needing a second major with that. And she has two majors at her school.
Mines had a great Student Panel. And Penn State (was a preview day, but similar idea) was energy off the charts.
If unsure - just get there any which way. Watch. Talk to kids on the quad, in the dining hall walk the surrounding area. . Get comfy. If there’s no Admitted Day pizazz, you’ll get a truer taste in my opinion.
Best of luck.
Two of my three kids (3rd one was a recruit and committed early, so different scenario) made their decisions based on Admitted Students Day, so for us, it was pivotal! For my oldest, she didn’t visit the school she ended up attending until Admitted Students Day- she decided she didn’t love her other options (that she had visited before acceptances), so she threw her hat in the ring to another school last minute and to her surprise, was accepted. At Admitted Students Day she loved the vibe, loved the students she met, the class she sat in on, etc. and it sold her. One and done visit.
Our son visited the schools he applied to prior to his acceptances, however, we went back to Accepted Students Day at two of them, and his least favorite SOLD him - they really rolled out the red carpet, he met specific program heads and got a more in-depth view of his particular college within the larger university and could see what specifically they could do for him. It sold him on the spot.
SO, long story short, for my two, Accepted Students Days were crucial and literally caused them to pivot. It’s a very different vibe than a regular prior visit, and I think the ‘rolling out of the red carpet’ helps wavering students to see all of the possible potential and ‘glory’ of the school, IMHO.
We did go back and re-visit top two schools for my oldest, and that really helped him settle into his choice. Neither were accepted student events (we couldn’t make those work with our schedules).
For our youngest going through the process now, we’re signed up for two admitted student days, one in mid-March and one mid-April. Since then they said they are 100 percent committed to the mid-April school… but still wants to wait on RD decisions. Le sigh. I must summon all my hard-fought parenting patience for this one.
One tip, if there are schools your kiddo definitely wants to go to the admitted student days, sign up within about 60 seconds of the RD decision or you won’t get a slot.
If you can make the Admitted Student days work for your top acceptances, it can be very helpful. Schools tend to make lots of resources readily available, so getting info is the easiest it can be. It’s also a great way to get a feel for the school.
Any day can be hit or miss depending on who the guide is, whether the class you’re visiting is getting exams returned, the weather, etc., but an Admitted Students day will have more data points.
DS found them useful, so much so that he volunteered to help with the event at the school he attended.
My kid is going to a ton of admitted student days - mainly on weekends, only 1 is a weekday.
It is somewhat overlapping with Open Houses (for one school we already did an open house and an admitted student day), but at admitted student days we have been to there is far more chance to hear about specific majors/schools/degrees and time to hear from more professors, more Q&A time. Also more chance to see more dorms, etc.
Also, visiting once admitted FEELS very different. You are no longer worried about getting in and kid can really try to fully visualize themselves there (or not!).
I agree that if you can swing getting to the admitted student days for the top contenders, do it. That said, it’s not necessary and plenty of kids commit without them.
My D never went to an accepted student day because her spring was totally filled up with senior retreats, shows, proms, state meets, senior recitals, etc… She had already been to campus twice and had been saying all along the school was #1 and she didn’t have any second thoughts.
It’s hard to find dates of Admitted Student Days for some schools my D is still waiting to hear from. With Easter falling on April 20 this year, it’s going to be a busy month.
Best of luck! Both kids found Admitted Student days helpful - daughter visited for large publics, one in state and one out of state. The school she ended up going to also had an overnight stay option where she stayed in the dorms with current students whom she found out more information with. Son visited for two smaller private schools. Since he was accepted for the same major at both, these schools both offered department tours and question/answer sessions for the major, and being able to compare the two was quite eye opening and really helped him make his decision.
Obviously visiting can be quite expensive but it is also nice that the Accepted Student visits my kids attended gave a little bit of swag (department t shirts, water bottles, etc).
If there’s a school or two you’re looking to plan around, you can email their admissions office and ask. I emailed one yesterday to ask, since the info wasn’t on their site (and my flowchart was collapsing under the extra boxes and arrows), and they wrote back a nice note with three different dates.
Oh, another thing you can do is to look at the “campus tour” calendar for the school. If there’s a day that normally would have tours, but there are no tours available to sign up for on that day, it could be a day they’re reserving for admitted students.
This may depend on the kid. My son actually didn’t like the admitted students days with lots of people around. He preferred going on a regular day with fewer distractions and planned events.
Sorry, I meant this as a general response.
Plus, the students that you see on an admitted student day are the ones that likely would be a part of your campus world if you attended there, as opposed to random kids who may or may not have applied but are simply on a tour for general informational purposes.
Agree, S24 found admitted student days incredibly informative and absolutly revised his rankings. We scheduled 4 visits and completed 3. Top choice school went down and off the list based entirely on admitted student day. This time the people all around are future classmates! That gave a better sense of the vibe and it was not a fit.
We canceled a fourth admitted student visit and it was a mistake. At the time, S felt it was lower ranked then his top 2, so we decided not to spend the time and money. Both of us later regretted that decision. When it came time to deposit, he was still very torn and that 4th choice came back into serious consideration but it was too late to go.
We found admitted student visit information was often only availble in the accepted student portal. Some schools offered free flights or other financial support for travel. Yes, it was significantly different and felt more useful than returning for a regular visit day so I will prioritize these for our younger kids.
Admitted students’ day was worth it, but we couldn’t do all of them. After getting all decisions, her top 3 choices were a flight away from us, but within driving distance of each other. So we timed the trip for admitted students’ day for the likely top contender and self-toured the others. She eventually chose the top contender, but I think she probably would have chosen that school regardless of which admitted students’ day she attended (and it turned out to be a great choice for her).
My D24 found admitted students day very helpful. It’s also a way to celebrate your child’s acceptance to the school and they make it a very special event. At least the ones we attended. My daughter attended USC and Cal Day and both were phenomenal. My S20 attended Baylor’s and it was a nice event as well, although we were not able to attend the entire event since the spots were mostly reserved. I have heard others are long and really not that helpful, so it probably just depends. On some colleges that are close by, that we could not attend the admitted students day, we did schedule a campus tour and visit. They are somewhat helpful, but not quite the same. If that’s the only oppyounhave, and you can afford the cost or time to visit, college tours and visits can be helpful, if nothing else just to check out the campus, students, maybe hop into a class, see a dorm, eat the food, and familiarize yourself with both on and off campus. It can help your student to begin to feel more connected to the school and to imagine actually being a college student.