Although admitted student days are often confused with prospective student days, these events are a distinct entity unto themselves. As their name implies, admitted student days are open only to students who have already been accepted to a particular college or university.
These are different from events aimed at prospective students, which are open to anyone who would like to attend. Admitted student days share several similarities with their prospective-student-focused counterparts, but as they are specifically designed for students with offers of admission, they can help families gauge what life on a given campus is like.
There are several clear reasons to take advantage of these spring events, including the following.
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1. Their ability to ease the college transition. The transition from high school to college can be challenging for both students and their families. In many cases, your initial campus visit during the pre-admissions or admissions processes may have been your only visit to your new home, which can make it difficult to plan for the specifics of your transition.
Admitted student days can help in this regard. At these events, students can learn valuable information about academics, extracurricular opportunities, housing and support systems, and a number of other areas. For instance, what appliances are permitted in the dorms? How many people will you live with in your freshman year?
Because students who are attending these events have already fully researched the school, applied and been admitted, they can ask more targeted questions than those that they may have asked at a prospective student event. The more details students and family members learn about the college or university before matriculating in the fall, the more comfortable they can all be with the eventual transition.
2. Their ability to further inform the decision-making process. Since admitted student days are sometimes held before students must inform schools of their decision regarding enrollment, they can be powerful tools for still-undecided students and their parents to weigh institutions.
The information that students can glean from panel presentations, as well as the targeted questions that they can ask, can be compared across multiple colleges and universities. Students can then select the school that best addresses their unique needs and interests.
For example, if you have a particular major in mind, you can evaluate the department opportunities and support at each institution. If you applied for financial aid, attending financial aid sessions during admitted student days can be a very useful exercise. These sessions can help you determine what sort of aid you can expect to receive from different schools, which will allow you to make an informed decision.
You can also take a second campus tour, this time in a group that consists entirely of admitted students — and your potential peers — during a time when classes are in session, thus enabling you to gain a deeper sense of the campus atmosphere.
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3. Their ability to introduce the day-to-day college experience. The information that has been outlined above is crucial for students who are looking to ease their transition to college, and for those who are looking to choose between schools. But on-campus admitted student events offer a third advantage — they are the ideal environment for students who hope to experience true college life at a given campus to do so.
In addition to campus tours, students can explore the city or town in which the college or university is located, and you may be permitted to stay overnight in the dorms with actual students at the university. Beyond learning about academics, extracurricular opportunities and financial aid, experiences such as these can often be the most important factor in a student confidently choosing a school to attend.
Although students and family members who have attended a college’s prospective student day earlier in the college decision process may not feel as though they need to attend an admitted student day as well, there is useful information that can be gathered from such events.
Whether students are still in the process of making their decision about which school to attend in the fall, or whether they have made up their minds and simply wish to begin a seamless transition to college, they should take advantage of these opportunities for admitted students.
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3 Reasons Parents, Students Should Attend Admitted Students Days originally appeared on usnews.com
