Okay, so sorry in advance for becoming a “poster queen”. Hopefully my questions are doing others some good, too.
Several of the schools on our target list are hosting receptions locally. What are these events like and is the purpose primarily to sell the school? I doubt there is much chance for the student to try to impress a DOA, and it might be uncool to even focus on that. Am I right or am I wrong. What should we expect?
Thanks!
PS I hope this wasn’t covered elsewhere, as i did start by searching for this discussion title, first.
We were invited to several receptions during our school search… the invitations were offered while we were visiting the school. We enjoyed them because they each hosted by a current student’s family and the Headmaster, DOA, a few faculty and a lot of kids were there (both prospective and current students). It was a ,more casual way to learn more about the school and socialize with current families. My daughter connected with both students and faculty and felt really good about applying to both of those schools. The receptions hosted in a hotel or meeting place have a different feel to them but are still a great way to connect with and make an impression on the admissions staff who will be reading the applications and deciding on next year’s freshman class.
In our experience, these were definitely worthwhile. The Cate reception in NYC includes alums, and a lot of college-age and recent college grads showed up the year that we applied. My daughter really enjoyed speaking to them, and got a very good impression of the school from this interaction. We also met the DOA, who then made a point of re-connecting when we were at Cate for our tour. We went to receptions for a few schools and, as @cameo43 says above, most of them were casual and enjoyable events. They didn’t seem pressured or a “hard sell”, and I do think that it shows interest on your part.
I say go to any to which you are invited. It may be a function where they are trying to “sell the school”, but it is also a place where you can go and meet staff/alumni/other applicants. If you are lucky enough to be admitted to more than one school, the decision where to go will be made easier if you have a very good, broad sense of the community and whether you feel it is “right” for your family.
I also feel that it can’t hurt to show the admissions folks that you are seriously considering their school…
All of these events are hosted by families. It sounds as though we should go. It is helpful to know that it will really be a place to help us form an opinion, rather than the other way around. (Though I suppose an enormous and memorable gaffe could stick out in the poor, addled overworked AO’s mind!)
Good point, too, to punch as many tickets as you can that show sincere interest.
For what it’s worth, we did not attend those kind of events when we were looking at schools with my oldest child (just not really on our radar, I guess). Last year, as a current student at a boarding school, he attended one of those events and spoke on a panel with some other students, just answering questions about what it’s like to be a student at that school. When I thanked him afterwards for being willing to give up an afternoon to do that, he told me he really enjoyed it, that the prospective students asked really good questions, and he wished he’d attended an event like that when he was applying to schools as it would have helped him figure out he wanted to go to that school long before he got to revisit day.
I only went to one while applying. It was nice to meet a family from the school, and I said hi to the AO the next week at my interview, but it didn’t make or break anything.
