While I understand wanting to take precautions to keep on-campus students safe, we are so disappointed to hear schools are canceling revisit days. I also don’t think revisit days will bring any more exposure to coronavirus than all the retuning spring breakers will, but I digress. My daughter has a top choice school, but not a 2nd/3rd etc. We were really relying on revisits to help her make that final decision (if she doesn’t get into choice #1). And I also think it’s so nice for students to be able to visit campus again so they’re that much more comfortable being there on move in day. Fingers crossed not all schools cancel!
@cityran I think the difference is you cannot prevent the students to return from spring break (unless you cancel the spring term that is) but you can cancel the revisit days to limit additional exposure, and they normally do include a bunch of reception style events with hundreds of people mingling about, which does not seem wise in current situation. I think the call to cancel is much easier for the Phillips Academics that have no worries about getting enough people who were accepted to commit to their schools. Not all boarding schools have the same luxury, though I would assume all would at least change the programming to limit unnecessary mingling and big crowds. But in any event, if a child/family needs to see the school (or see it again) before signing the contract nothing is stopping you from coming to visit and at least walking about campus on your own. And if you have any burning questions after that AOs will be happy to answer them, and/or connect you with current students/families.
I think canceling the revisit days is the right thing to do at this moment with the coronavirus being an ongoing issue worldwide and the testing hasn’t been done enough in the States. It’s better to be safe than sorry, for us, and for the teachers and students in those schools too. But of course, it’s such a pity that we won’t be able to sit in the classrooms to truly experience the schools so to compare and make the best choice. Hopefully, they will come up with some ideas like virtual classrooms, using Skype/Zoom… which is not hard to do at all. But of course again, if things get worse, and schools get canceled, there won’t be classes even on campus, :(. Praying that won’t happen and this virus thing will go away sooooon!
Students and teachers have been told they cannot go to level 2&3 countries for break. Every student will be screened before being allowed back in the dorms. So actually it is different from revisit days.
Additionally schools are planning for an extended spring break if necessary and setting up virtual school.
I wonder if the cancellations also have to do with many admitted students from Asia wouldn’t be able to visit due to travel restrictions and that would be unfair to allow other admitted students to participate and yet they could not. Just a thought.
Agree with above and will add: I wonder if the worry is just as much the other direction – can you imagine the fallout if one of the students or faculty does end up testing positive a couple of weeks after returning from spring break, and now they have exposed hundreds of students and parents from all over the country/world? Talk about a huge mess that would be.
Also just to say: regarding stopping by on your own - I actually do think that schools may not allow any visitors at all, so I would confirm that “nothing is stopping you” from visiting before doing it.
I think canceling revisit days may not just be because of accepted Asian students. The coronavirus is starting to spread in the U.S. too, and it’s been confirmed that there are likely more cases than confirmed. Many cases are confused for the flu, and many people aren’t being tested because tests at the CDC are a couple of thousand dollars even with insurance. Many people cannot afford it. So it’s a necessary precaution to limit people from entering the schools.
Oh I understand fully why they’re doing it , but we are disappointed it has come to this. It is my (very unprofessional) belief that this virus will spread so quickly that whether there are revisit days or not, the outcome will be the same.
In the end, it will make choosing a school a bit more difficult, especially as it sounds like schools will not allow any informal visits either, but life goes on. Even if they did allow for informal visits, since we live in Florida, we can’t just stop by. As of right now, none of the schools my daughter applied to have cancelled, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed she can still go to some revisits. As of yesterday, the Taft admissions office was asking for revisit day tour guides (my nephew is one). Will be interesting to see how it all plays out.
Yeah, I agree. Honestly, while I understand the reasons behind canceling, I am still absolutely crushed. No video or skype call will do actual revisit days justice, and it won’t be easy choosing a school without revisiting. I hope these schools have something good planned as a solution…
Taft has also canceled Revisit Days per the website.
We already bought a plane ticket for my son since my parents live in MA. The rumors about no informal visits better not be true. I don’t care about the normal dog-and-pony show but several of the schools my son did off-campus interviews with & he’s never visited.
My husband and I were talking last night about how hard it would have been to send dd off without seeing the school she chose again. She chose the second school she saw and didn’t want to revisit any other schools so in our family it was all or nothing.
Of course as a current parent I wouldn’t be sad if they cancelled revisit days. My kid has already been on medical leave for many weeks and is also predisposed to pneumonia based on her history so it makes me nervous sending her back. Sucks for everyone.
Cate is already on break, and in addition to not allowing certain kids To travel home, they have implemented a strict re-entry screening protocol. If there is a fever, etc the kid could be quarantined/sent home. They couldn’t really do that to visitors. Nor could they handle a large number of the students to be quarantined if even one person on campus is diagnosed with it.
I am guessing other schools will have the same policy re: spring break. It isn’t about anything Asian at this point. It is across the board. The only difference is that It is much less likely that Asian families will make the trek to visit compared to local families. The risk of not being able to return home is legit.
ETA: I know nothing about Cate’s plans re: revisit days.
Is there anything on the schools’ websites about the cancellation of Revisit Days? I just checked, and they are still listed on the calendars of both Groton and Exeter. I don’t doubt you all have good information, just wondered if anything was publicly available.
Not that I’ve seen and I too have been looking. My guess is that they won’t post anything until they know exactly what they’re doing as an alternative. And they’re probably still scrambling on that.
@CuriousMom3 The only one I’ve seen on the actual school website is Taft’s cancellation. But I agree – I think school will do one communication at M10, where they will explain what will be offered in place of the revisits. (BTW – I also happen to think that this might be the beginning of an ongoing virtual revisit option for those in the future who cannot make it to campus.)
The revisit cancellation is on Exeter’s website.
You have to dig a little on Exeter’s site but here is what I found… it also says they will continue to update the page as the situation is fluid…
“Since the outbreak began we have done the following:
March 4 — Canceled our campus visit program for new students accepted for the 2020-2021 academic year.“
March 3 —
And while I’m at it… Andover has not listed any revisit cancellations on its website. It only says the next update regarding Corona Virus changes will be Friday, March 13th.
Does anyone think cancelling revisits will actually hurt a school’s yield, though? It stinks for the accepted students - though it’s probably a wise decision by the schools - but I wonder if it will actually have any impact. I guess I’m assuming they’ll all wind up cancelling anyway…