<p>Parent of a second year and a current EA admit still deciding…both of them chose to visit at times other than the Official Dog & Pony Show (and not just at Chicago, but at the other schools where they were accepted, too). </p>
<p>Advice: if you know someone attending a college you want to visit (or if the friend can arrange for you to stay with the friend of your friend), take advantage of that opportunity. It made for much more compatible and realistic visits. (Also made it easier to sit in on classes of specific interest, since inevitably someone on the hall was happy to take a S to one of their classes.) The admissions offices at colleges do the best they can to get volunteers to host prospies, but they can’t make custom arrangements for partying/non-partying, etc.</p>
<p>S1 stayed at a couple of dorms when he visited, but wound up assigned to a different dorm as a first year. Has been extraordinarily happy. S2 stayed with his brother twice and when he went out in early April, was able to stay with someone in Pierce, which he thought might be a good fit. </p>
<p>A lot of the issues you all are discussing are an inherent part of the staying-over process. Four months from now, wherever you wind up, you’ll be negotiating a new life with a roommate, different values, priorities, sleep schedules, cleanliness standards, etc. This is part of the process.</p>
<p>imbri3: There are nerds, too. Very happy ones. :)</p>