I’m really not that jazzed about the info sessions. Maybe we’ll make info-session bingo or something, just to keep the boys engaged. But the first one who audibly shouts BINGO in a roomful of strangers has to scrape the ice off the windshield the next morning.
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Yes! We booked a room at the Granville Inn. Unfortunately we’ll be too late for dinner (and the following night will be in Gambier) but if you have good coffee/breakfast recommendations, I’m all ears. I’m not really functional w/out at least three units of espresso when traveling. Breakfast sandwiches/yummy baked goods would go over well with my crowd, too.
If it’s not a great time, at least we’ll have good stories to tell. I will report back on the various highs and lows.
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I think it’s important to keep in mind that you son is still a year away from sending off those applications, and more than a year away from making a final decision once acceptances are in.
After these two trips your son should have a better idea of the characteristics — location, size, culture— he prefers. He’ll have a few favorites and be able to differentiate his “must have” features from the “would be nice.” At that point he’ll still have time to do more research and identify other schools with similar attributes.
Because we live overseas we knew that our three week summer trip would be our son’s only chance to visit. We visited 14 schools. The result was 4 top choices, 6 good choices and 4 deletes. In retrospect we could have added another 14 (or 44) to the initial list. But at some point you have to accept that you can’t visit them all (nor should you).
In a few months your son will have a solid core of reach-match-safety and he’ll still have time to refine and add before sending off his applications. So relax and enjoy your time on the road. It’s a rite of passage for so many families.
(PS does anyone remember those early college tour video tape cassettes? We loved that guy shaky camera and all. He always began with the student mailboxes. Digital touring has come a long way since then but it’s still a good way to start the visualization process.)
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I did something similar with my D24, she read selected Fiske guide entries to me aloud in her favorite accents. She has a flair for the dramatic, and it made something that was seemingly boring to an 11th grader rather fun and amusing ;). Maybe some kids find the Fiske Guide interesting, one of my kids did and the other definitely did not, so the dramatic readings helped keep it light.
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Village Coffee Company, just down the street from the Granville Inn. (The Inn also has coffee makers set out off the elevator on each floor.)
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It’s a pretty short drive, along country roads. About 45 minutes.
I’ll pushback a little. The info sessions are typically run by actual grownups- not college juniors who get jobs as tour guides. And they put forth the “party line” on the institution. So no, they aren’t perfect, but if something sounds jarring during the session I think you can take it to the bank.
I visited Dartmouth for one of my kids on a gorgeous July day (Dartmouth has a summer session so there were students on campus). The info session focused almost entirely on snow- access to the ski slopes, Winter Carnival, various clubs and organizations to teach school children snowboarding, ice skating in its various forms. A couple of prospective students asked about performing arts-- quick answer-- yes, we have it, and then back to snow. A couple of prospective students asked about EMT/healthcare volunteering in the community and again- quick answer- yes-- and back to winter and how great Hanover is in the winter.
My kid’s reaction was “this place is not for me”. And I couldn’t argue. To be honest, the academics at the places you are visiting are not all that different campus to campus. A kid majoring in econ is going to take micro then macro… the value in the information session is NOT to hear about how innovative their Econ curriculum is because it’s integrated with Poli Sci and Policy (you can do that everywhere…). The value is in learning about what life is like on campus, how kids spend their time when they aren’t doing problem-sets or writing papers.
I know this goes against what everyone believes (especially if you follow the rankings) but for most majors, the variances between colleges are remarkably small. You’re a Classics major? You’re taking Latin or Greek- possibly both. You’re majoring in Poli Sci? You need an advanced stats course (with programming) before tackling advanced research requiring large datasets.
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We have had mixed experiences with info sessions - overall, I think the sessions are very informative, and you can get some info not on the website (especially about admission stats). However, the worst info sessions are the ones headed by some senior intern who is reading off an iPad (looking at you, GW). Truly dreadful. But even the one at Villanova with several hundred people in the audience was filled with tidbits not found on the website. So very informative.
What was very refreshing about a Denison tour is the personalization. The student’s name and high school are on the screen (which was really fun checking out where other kids were from); a very nice info session, and a one-on-one tour. On S24’s second visit, my DH told the tour guide, so she said, " Let’s go check out some things S24 is specifically interested in" vs. the big picture tour. Something like that would be impossible in a group of 28.
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Your room rate should come with breakfast for 2. If so, that would work very well for your group, although you need to give a few extra minutes to sit and eat. If you have more than 2 in the room you can pay for the additional breakfast.
And without a doubt, grab some Whit’s frozen custard, which is open late, if you have time that night or after your tour.
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I won’t claim I never stifled a yawn in an info session, but generally I looked forward to them.
My favorites were when they did NOT spend a lot of time going over the super-repetitive stuff, and then the AO was really willing to openly answer admissions questions. Lots of blunt talk about academic requirements (including the nuances of their policies on testing).
But I also agree it was always interesting to see what THEY thought was really distinct about them. Again some times that was easier than others. Like, again my favorites were the AOs who all but referred to their normal competitors, and then explained what they thought were relative strengths of theirs. Even when they were not so explicit, though, you could always sort of tell when you got to that section of the presentation.
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Agree, some info sessions can be VERY useful. Oberlin and Haverford had had the two best among my children’s many tours. Gave a clear sense of institutional values, how they read applications, and seemed less like a sales pitch than an inside look at the institution.
There were others that were god awful platitudes and stereotypes. But you won’t know which one you’re getting 'till you’re sitting in the room!
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We did this. Not crazy at all.
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So true!
Like, we had a great info session at Amherst, one of the conversational ones where the Associate Dean leading the session–Dean Wan–really just had a conversation with us and was very good about answering questions and illuminating their admissions process.
I then heard a report from another person who really hated their Amherst session! And it sounded totally different.
OK, so I don’t know, but maybe this was just luck of the draw in terms of who we got. Which just shows how this part of the process can have a lot of randomness.
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Reading this thread with interest as we will also be at the February Macalester Day. We are trying to see UW-Madison, Lawrence, Macalester and St. Olaf on one trip (5 night/5 full days), flying into and out of Chicago. I think it is doable but it will be tight. It seems the only way we can make it work comfortably with all the driving is to visit St. Olaf on the sunday before as well. Maybe if enough of us ask for it they will add a tour on Sunday. I imagine there are quite a few people in town for the Macalester day that it could happen. Fingers crossed, since St. Olaf is very high on her list.
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We ended up deciding that it made more sense to arrive earlier so we’re flying out Friday and doing a proper tour of St. Olaf on Saturday. Perhaps you could still swing this?
Let me help you…
We visited Wooster and Oberlin…
DD hated Oberlin - too artsy for her, too open curriculum. We left before end of the tour…
Wooster - she liked school, but it was literally in the middle of nowhere, majority of students were from Ohio. She is not Ohio middle of nowhere student…
She did not apply to either…
Based on this, you may drop both or one of them.
Frankly, I hardly can imagine a student from Bay area in Wooster…
BTW. I would keep Lafayette.
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Not everyone minds a small-town or rural area. Some of us actually prefer it to a more urban area. Wooster was my very favorite school when my son and I toured colleges. He ended up choosing another school (Haverford) but I wished I had known about Wooster when I was applying to college.
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Eh – I don’t know what will resonate with our son. There are people who love each of these schools, not just from Ohio. I’m trying to keep an open mind and just enjoy the adventure. And Lafayette isn’t getting cut from our list of potential schools – just the list of places we’re able to visit on this particular trip.
If he decides to apply to Lafayette and gets in and is excited about it, we’ll definitely check it out.
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Particularly at this stage, it is actually the surprising results that have the most value! So definitely make room for being surprised.
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