VMI Overnight & Open House 23-24 Sep 2016

Falcon A

Just a Proud Dad
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Would be curious for those that attended the VMI Overnight & Open House to share their experience to help inform others that are planning to attend future overnights & open houses, or help those that can't attend, or those that are just thinking about VMI.
 
DS and I attended the Open House this weekend.

I was very impressed with the campus. It is beautiful and much larger than I expected.
I was also impressed with the emphasis on academics.

The informational day was long. It was a LOT of information to take in over the course of a day.

DS spent the night and came away thinking that while he can see the appeal for others and liked some of it, he did not feel like VMI was the right place for him.

One thing we BOTH agreed about is that VMI is unapologetic about VMI. They are who they are, rooted in tradition, and there will be some kids who belong there and many kids who do not. They did not try to sell the kids on the school like many places I have seen through the years with my kids. I liked that and so did DS.
 
Have you had an opportunity to visit Citadel? Just curios as to which schools you've attended and your thoughts. We're going through the same process.
 
For everyone lurking -- you no doubt have already heard this advice, but just in case -- If you are seriously considering a school, highly recommend you make a visit. There are multiple stories of folks that were dead sure about "School A" that when they visited, found out that it wasn't for them -- and that "School B or C or D" really spoke to them unexpectedly. If you can at all, go for a visit. It is worth it.
 
Sounds like it was a very useful and productive visit.

Deciding "No" can be just or more important than deciding "Yes".

I agree with this one hundred percent. And in no way do I want to sway his decision either.. at the end of the day, he has to be the one to go. :)

Have you had an opportunity to visit Citadel? Just curios as to which schools you've attended and your thoughts. We're going through the same process.

We have not visited the Citadel. He has a couple of SAs on the list and a few civilian schools. I am just being dragged along for the ride. ;)

For everyone lurking -- you no doubt have already heard this advice, but just in case -- If you are seriously considering a school, highly recommend you make a visit. There are multiple stories of folks that were dead sure about "School A" that when they visited, found out that it wasn't for them -- and that "School B or C or D" really spoke to them unexpectedly. If you can at all, go for a visit. It is worth it.

Agree with this! And also, from the initial visit, depending on when it is, to the "accepted visit" - that can also really change. With my DD (who only looked at civilian schools) - her "top two" in her JR year, both of which we visited and both of which she was accepted to with scholarships, dropped down on the list at the latter half of her SR year when we visited again. A sleeper school rose to the top and became her first choice. A lot of maturity can happen in that year.
 
I agree with this one hundred percent. And in no way do I want to sway his decision either.. at the end of the day, he has to be the one to go. :)



We have not visited the Citadel. He has a couple of SAs on the list and a few civilian schools. I am just being dragged along for the ride. ;)



Agree with this! And also, from the initial visit, depending on when it is, to the "accepted visit" - that can also really change. With my DD (who only looked at civilian schools) - her "top two" in her JR year, both of which we visited and both of which she was accepted to with scholarships, dropped down on the list at the latter half of her SR year when we visited again. A sleeper school rose to the top and became her first choice. A lot of maturity can happen in that year.

I agree 100%...most of these kids have the same colleges on their list and it's not feasible for most to go to visit all of them. We've visited a few, however, have decided to see what acceptances he receives before we travel across the country! ...Vermont, South Carolina, Texas, Annapolis... The list can get very long! I love seeing him so excited at his options and any insight on this forum is always appreciated.
 
DS and I attended the Open House this weekend.

I was very impressed with the campus. It is beautiful and much larger than I expected.
I was also impressed with the emphasis on academics.

The informational day was long. It was a LOT of information to take in over the course of a day.

DS spent the night and came away thinking that while he can see the appeal for others and liked some of it, he did not feel like VMI was the right place for him.

One thing we BOTH agreed about is that VMI is unapologetic about VMI. They are who they are, rooted in tradition, and there will be some kids who belong there and many kids who do not. They did not try to sell the kids on the school like many places I have seen through the years with my kids. I liked that and so did DS.
That is really a good take away. VMI is a place where- if you aren't a good fit or you don't want to be there- you are going to regret/resent it quickly. It's a lot of money and a lot of effort and it takes a lot of commitment to happily succeed there.
I recently recruited someone for VMI who matriculated and only stayed a couple of days. This was a physically fit young man who did a visit while they were in the Ratline - but clearly , dropping after a couple of days -his heart wasn't into it. I have felt kind of bad & keep wondering if i oversold it, or overiold his parents and he was less enthused than he let on. I'm not sure what I could have said to strongly emphasize what to expect and how you should arrive at your decision. So in "lumpcrab" junior's case-a prospective Cadet visit that generated a " I don't think it is for me" decision is a good outcome. I wish him well wherever he lands.
 
I recently recruited someone for VMI who matriculated and only stayed a couple of days. This was a physically fit young man who did a visit while they were in the Ratline - but clearly , dropping after a couple of days -his heart wasn't into it. I have felt kind of bad & keep wondering if i oversold it, or overiold his parents and he was less enthused than he let on. I'm not sure what I could have said to strongly emphasize what to expect and how you should arrive at your decision. So in "lumpcrab" junior's case-a prospective Cadet visit that generated a " I don't think it is for me" decision is a good outcome. I wish him well wherever he lands.

Thank you so much.

And honestly, if said young man did a visit and got information about the school, and still chose it, then I would unequivocally say that that is not on you, unless you dragged him there kicking and screaming, against his will. It is more than likely he either romanticized the place or else he thought he would react differently to the stress and pressures than he actually did.

I wonder about that, if my DS gets into one of the SAs.. I mean, I know how I would respond if people were yelling in my face. I would be a total mess. He seems to think he would able to handle it just fine. I have no idea if he will or not, I guess time will tell. No one around here really yells in his face, so he doesn't have much to go on!
 
I wonder about that, if my DS gets into one of the SAs.. I mean, I know how I would respond if people were yelling in my face. I would be a total mess. He seems to think he would able to handle it just fine. I have no idea if he will or not, I guess time will tell. No one around here really yells in his face, so he doesn't have much to go on!

This is tough because even if your DS goes to visits (which is a great thing) and witnesses some of the things a 4th class cadet or midshipman has to endure, it's not the same as living it day after day. You really have to think about those things happening when you are physically and mentally exhausted and have a tough academic load plus the simple fact that day after day of all those things can really wear a person down. I think that is a hard thing to envision if you haven't been through something like that before.

For my DD and DS, they knew what to expect in a lot of ways, but actually living the life day after day was different. They are both still happy with their decisions, but there are definitely ups and downs over time and also many times they question the path they have chosen. I personally think the questioning is normal and a good thing.
 
I wonder about that, if my DS gets into one of the SAs.. I mean, I know how I would respond if people were yelling in my face. I would be a total mess. He seems to think he would able to handle it just fine. I have no idea if he will or not, I guess time will tell. No one around here really yells in his face, so he doesn't have much to go on!

lumpcrab -- this can be hard, but it might be good, after an SA visit or civilian school visit, to ask your DS to tease apart his selection logic . . . it is not unusual for a prospective student to visit one SMC and like it, and then visit another SMC and not like it. Same for the SAs. One candidate will like USAFA and not like USMA or USNA or vice versa. Just need to make sure the "4th-class system" isn't the reason for the decision because, while each school's program is a little bit different. . . and each school's 4th class system "is harder than anybody else's" . . . they all have their difficulty . . .

For my DS he chose VMI (a great school) over Texas A&M (a great school) and over 2 great "civilian schools" that had accepted him and offered good scholarship money (e.g., Purdue & Case Western). He knew he wanted a "SA-like" structure and education and he had good logic to support his decision . . in addition to having a situation where VMI "spoke to him" over the other schools, and in his case, VMI was preferred over USMA.

After all the visits, it would be good to sit down and sort it through . . . many times 1 or 2 schools will seem to just "speak" to the prospective student. Best wishes on this adventure.
 
[QUOTE="Falcon A, post: 506826, member: 23616"

After all the visits, it would be good to sit down and sort it through . . . many times 1 or 2 schools will seem to just "speak" to the prospective student. Best wishes on this adventure.[/QUOTE]

This is excellent advice. Thank you!
 
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