<p>Thank you so much! Off to Amazon.com…
:)</p>
<p>Anyone going to Family weekend? Our daughter is a junior and I just got a letter to buy a class ring. I totally blanked that it was in September! AGH!</p>
<p>Yes, since it is our very last Family Weekend ever (S#2 is a senior and S#1 graduated in 2010) we definitely felt the need to go. It feels very strange to have it so early though!</p>
<p>I’m lucky to make my own family weekend being close, but I did that with my other children too. Less busy.
I had to laugh at some new signs I saw around Yale, one was like a yard sign you see but it said to “Look both ways, You learned this as a little kid, it still applies now that you’re a big kid”. Also on the sidewalk, “Don’t read this, lookup!” before the sidewalk ends. </p>
<p>People have always said Yalies for whatever reason were the worst in crossing streets…the light turns green, you start to go and they cross…jaywalking,not looking, but now with texting, it’s horrible. I wouldn’t let my daughters drive in that area when learning. I’m sure it’s bad everywhere but the congestion makes it worse.
The walking and not looking has caused some accidents and I’ve seen many close calls over the years.
As with most large cities, assume the traffic signals are suggestions for some and have fun…weather should be beautiful.</p>
<p>I’d be interested in tips on Family Weekend from those who’ve been before. Do most parents attend? What are the most popular events? Do people organize groups for the football game, tailgating, etc.? Any general thoughts appreciated.</p>
<p>I’m feeling really sad that we’re not going to family weekend. We’re on the opposite coast and, frankly, getting our freshman daughter there and moved in was just a huge hit to our budget. Just can’t swing another cross-country trip so soon. She says she’s fine, but mom is not so fine! She also says only one suite mate (out of 6) has family coming. Wondering how well-attended this is.</p>
<p>@Momsville: We live much closer than you and are not attending, nor did we go last year. Fall weekends are taken up by our younger child’s activities; frankly, it is his turn to be our focus. Our sophomore is fine with our not coming. Most of his friends did not have parents in attendance last year.</p>
<p>For what it’s worth, my parents never attended my school’s parents weekends when I was a college student, and it bothered me not a whit. I personally think parents place much more importance on it than the students do!</p>
<p>We were surprised that D really wants us to come. And we will be able to see her in some performances. We are in driving distance though. We got a room outside of town to save some money.</p>
<p>Momsville, We did not visit DS during family weekend due to budget concerns also when DS was an UG. To reflect on what we did back then, it was crazy: We had spent well too much time and money when we helped DS move in at the beginning of his freshman year. Do not laugh at this, if I remember it correctly, we stayed at a nearby hotel in New Haven like 8 or 9 days at that time: staying there during his whole preorientation session and a day after he had moved in. (He will never “allow” us to do this right now. So we are glad we could do that crazy thing while we still could. It was a sweet memory.)</p>
<p>But DS flied back home every break except for the spring break in his senior year. Also, we helped him move out at the end of the spring semester every year.</p>
<p>I would say the biggest reason we have always attended the Family Weekend is because of the performances–both sons always had big performances during the weekend of acappella group, band, glee club, symphony. We did attend the guest lectures and panel talks the first year, and the football game a few times, and enjoyed all of that. But, again, the performances were the highlight for us every year. I’m sure I’ll experience a bit of sadness next year when we don’t have this weekend to look forward to–but I guess after 8 years we have gotten our share :)</p>
<p>I am not going to PW. I wish I could, but I helped my son move in and can’t swing another trip to the East Coast. I also am bummed as my son was tapped into an a cappella group and all the ‘babies’ of the group solo during PW. Hopefully, someone will be able to videotape it so that I can see it. That old bugaboo - infinite wants and finite funds! :)</p>
<p>Thanks to all who responded to my post about Family Weekend. We live only a few hours away and can visit New Haven just about any time, but we wanted to get a sense of how it important it is to be there for this particular weekend. Sounds like we won’t miss a whole lot if we decide that some other weekend would work better for all of us. I will miss that football game, though.</p>
<p>Thanks everybody for your wisdom about PW. I checked with my daughter and her answer was, “You were just here, like, 5 seconds ago!” I guess that tells me who is the one with the problem! :)</p>
<p>
We are really envious of you. A lot of things will be much easier if we live that close. (But we could not know in advance that DS would be in New Haven for so many years.)</p>
<p>Several years ago, the parents of one of DS’s suitemate’s occasionally even delivered homemade food to their S.</p>
<p>I went to Parents Weekend when my daughter was a freshman and did not go last year when my son was a freshman. I live across the country. It’s a huge hassle to fly across the country for two-three days. My daughter ended up getting sick while I was there (after pulling an all-nighter with a paper) and mostly we hung out. I missed all the activities except for one. Last year I felt a little bit bad that I didn’t go for DS, but I felt like I’d just been there for move-in. He said the weekend was a little weird – all the kids whose parents weren’t there felt a little bit weird seeing all the families, and all the kids whose parents were there were freaking out about how they were going to get their work done. </p>
<p>I did feel when I went that I would have been better off going on an off weekend when she didn’t have a paper due and when hotel prices were lower. I didn’t care about the activities. Two of my sons went to school nearby and I never went to family weekend. I just always felt it was a time for the school to show off and I didn’t feel a big need to do that. If I wanted to see my kid, I’d go when it was convenient for them and for me.</p>
<p>I agree that Family Weekend primarily makes sense if (1) your kid is a freshman AND (2) he or she will be in a performance or sporting event. Otherwise, it makes more sense to come some other weekend.</p>
<p>We will be missing Parents’ Weekend as well since spending the money on airfare, hotel plus loss of income since we are both self-employed did not seem reasonable so soon after moving our freshman in. Next year we plan to attend since there will be no need to move him in at the start of the school year - he can take care of that himself. We did the same with our older son at a different college - we went his sophomore year. By that time he had a lot more, well established, friendships and we took a large group out for dinner.</p>
<p>My husband caught the very end of parent weekend last year with our (then freshman) daughter. He had a work related meeting in New York on Friday and Saturday, and drove to NH Saturday night and left Sunday night. It was good for him to meet my daughter’s roommates and to see what her suite looked like, etc. Last year it was in October, I think, and she was pretty homesick, so it was good for her, too. This year we have no meetings in the area, and she is more settled and (apparently) not homesick at all. So no visits - air fare is just too expensive.</p>
<p>Well, I guess I’m the odd one out here. I have gone to Parents Weekend every year for 8 years and have had a great time every year. I guess we looked at it as a nice getaway weekend to spend some time enjoying all Yale has to offer as well as getting a chance to see our sons (even for only a few snatches of time here and there due to their busy lives).</p>
<p>Yes, we’re really lucky that we live close enough to visit often and on the spur of the moment. But Family Weekend is a chance to meet other parents, visit the campus without feeling like helicopter parents, and maybe get a peek at some things that aren’t on the tours. The problem is that DS is already swamped with extracurriculars and course work.</p>