Admitted Students Day - Worth It?

bookmama22
Fri, 06 Apr 2018 15:24:03 +0000

For both my d’s it was the deciding factor. With older d, she had visited Brandeis on Labor Day weekend of her junior year so it had been some time. Accepting Students Day even though the weather was terrible was a chance to walk around campus, get the vibe, sit in some classes in both science and art history, her initial areas of interest, the gym facilities and student center and in her case, visit the art studio where she would be spending some time. Initially her first choice was Carnegie Mellon and she was accepted to a dual art/science program, no merit money as the kicker for that program was that both schools had to agree on merit money. We had never been out there to visit and unfortunately as my mother was ill and in rapidly declining health we did not get a chance to visit. The studio/campus visit and the merit money at Brandeis sealed the deal. She was waitlisted at 2 Ivies and never moved off the waitlist, would not have received any merit money from either in any case.

With younger d, we revisited University of Rochester on a glorious spring day and she had a chance to speak with students at a small event, tour the campus, meet with a music faculty member, see the practice rooms, get the vibe, tour a dorm room. She did have some merit money. She also had a more significant merit award from American and even though she had little interest the amount of the merit money made the trip important. We didn’t have a great experience as no faculty member in music department available, saw that the music library was essentially like a closet as compared to the music library she would be using at Eastman, got the vibe of the campus, toured a dorm. No classes available to visiting students to participate in as I recall, she didn’t really see herself there. Next was BU which we had toured earlier that year and had planned to revisit, no merit money involved but we said we could swing it if that was what her heart desired. After touring Rochester and American, her decision was made and no need to revisit BU.