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Do parents attend open houses?


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Hi,

Yes it is, don't worry about it. I brought my mother to almost all the Open Houses I attended and many other students brought their parents. There was also one occasion of this student that could not attend and she actually sent her mother to get information for her about the program.
So don't worry about it and it is good to bring someone with you so you can have a second opinion. :)

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I literally just made an account moments ago just to tell you that this would be incredibly weird. Do not bring your mother. Nobody else will have parents (or friends) there. You are an adult and this will make you seem like an immature child. I don't know of any program/circumstance in which it would be normal to bring a parent.

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5 minutes ago, evf said:

Hi,

Yes it is, don't worry about it. I brought my mother to almost all the Open Houses I attended and many other students brought their parents. There was also one occasion of this student that could not attend and she actually sent her mother to get information for her about the program.
So don't worry about it and it is good to bring someone with you so you can have a second opinion. :)

What is n "Open House" then? Is there no structure and no interaction/meetings with faculty and current grad students? Is it literally just a day where you come walk around the buildings? 

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I brought my mom to one open house that I attended and went to another alone. Both times there was about a 50/50 split of students who brought their parents and those who did not. Nobody thought it was weird to bring parents! 

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1 hour ago, MaxDemian said:

What is n "Open House" then? Is there no structure and no interaction/meetings with faculty and current grad students? Is it literally just a day where you come walk around the buildings? 

If you didn't know what open house was, then why did you answer?

1 hour ago, chipsahoy2018 said:

My question is what is in the title! My mom wants to go learn about these programs with me, I just don't know if that is a normal thing to see at these or not!

It might be a little strange to, but I've been to open houses before where someone brought their mom, another girl brought her BF.  Usually these things ask if you plan on bringing guests anyway.  It's not a big deal.  I went to an open house with my friend for MBA school.  Some people just need the moral support. 

Edited by edardi1
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I only went to one open house and it seemed 50/50 if people had parents with them or not. I would imagine it's probably more important who's leading than anything. If you have a parent with you, but you're the one leading the discussion and asking questions, it probably doesn't make a huge difference. Plus if having your mom or someone else with you is important to you and a school doesn't like that enough to affect your acceptance, it probably wasn't going to be a great fit anyway. I'd say do what makes you comfortable...this process is stressful enough already 

3 hours ago, MaxDemian said:

What is n "Open House" then? Is there no structure and no interaction/meetings with faculty and current grad students? Is it literally just a day where you come walk around the buildings? 

It probably varies by school and program, but I'd guess they're generally less formal than what you're thinking. The one I went to was basically a giant room set up science fair style with each table having a different program within the entire graduate school. They had pamphlets you could take and a faculty member or grad student from the program at each table. At the speech table, the faculty member wasn't on this year's admissions committee, although she had been other years. There were campus tours available, but that was pretty much it. I'm sure other people have had different experiences, but I hope this helps clarify things a bit. 

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I'm just visiting from audiology, but I brought my husband to the one open house I've been to already and maybe 4 or 5 other people (EDIT: out of ~15) brought a parent. I have also asked ahead of time for my other three open houses and they all said guests were welcome! (I might be bringing my dad instead for an open house my husband can't attend.) I wouldn't bring more than one person, though -- an entourage might be a little strange!

Edited by AB121212
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To the original poster....are you talking about interview open house or typical open house? Because they are totally different. Open house where you're literally going to just learn more about the school is OK to bring a parent, but I would say that an interview/open house is not. I have been to both kinds and while I saw parents at the typical open house, I did not at the interview/open house. After reading the comments and knowing that it's interview season, I had to clarify that there is 100% a difference. Hope this helps!

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17 minutes ago, 18slp said:

To the original poster....are you talking about interview open house or typical open house? Because they are totally different. Open house where you're literally going to just learn more about the school is OK to bring a parent, but I would say that an interview/open house is not. I have been to both kinds and while I saw parents at the typical open house, I did not at the interview/open house. After reading the comments and knowing that it's interview season, I had to clarify that there is 100% a difference. Hope this helps!

It is one where it is like an open house in the morning and an interview in the afternoon, so probably the interview open house! The school is a three hour drive away so we are making a short trip of it, and I was trying to determine if I should bring her in with me or just have her go shopping or something during the time! Not sure if that changes anybody's thoughts haha. If it isn't weird I'll go ahead and bring her in, but it's not a big deal if I just go in alone!

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22 minutes ago, chipsahoy2018 said:

It is one where it is like an open house in the morning and an interview in the afternoon, so probably the interview open house! The school is a three hour drive away so we are making a short trip of it, and I was trying to determine if I should bring her in with me or just have her go shopping or something during the time! Not sure if that changes anybody's thoughts haha. If it isn't weird I'll go ahead and bring her in, but it's not a big deal if I just go in alone!

Well, I completely change my answer then. Don't bring your mother. I thought this was a post-acceptance, recruitment-style open house. Glad this was clarified!

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31 minutes ago, chipsahoy2018 said:

It is one where it is like an open house in the morning and an interview in the afternoon, so probably the interview open house! The school is a three hour drive away so we are making a short trip of it, and I was trying to determine if I should bring her in with me or just have her go shopping or something during the time! Not sure if that changes anybody's thoughts haha. If it isn't weird I'll go ahead and bring her in, but it's not a big deal if I just go in alone!

okay, well in that case don't bring your mother.  thank you clearing that up!  haha

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11 minutes ago, AB121212 said:

Well, I completely change my answer then. Don't bring your mother. I thought this was a post-acceptance, recruitment-style open house. Glad this was clarified!

I have some like that too! Hahaha yeah I figured it would be weird so that's why I wanted to double check! So for the recruitment style one I have coming up later, she could come to that and it wouldn't be weird? She sometimes thinks of things I don't so it can be convenient to have her around sometimes!

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6 minutes ago, chipsahoy2018 said:

I have some like that too! Hahaha yeah I figured it would be weird so that's why I wanted to double check! So for the recruitment style one I have coming up later, she could come to that and it wouldn't be weird? She sometimes thinks of things I don't so it can be convenient to have her around sometimes!

Yeah, for recruitment open houses, it's normal to have a guest and I think it's extremely helpful to have an outside perspective to ask questions you wouldn't think of. For interview events, it would be inappropriate to bring a guest. 

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1 hour ago, chipsahoy2018 said:

It is one where it is like an open house in the morning and an interview in the afternoon, so probably the interview open house! The school is a three hour drive away so we are making a short trip of it, and I was trying to determine if I should bring her in with me or just have her go shopping or something during the time! Not sure if that changes anybody's thoughts haha. If it isn't weird I'll go ahead and bring her in, but it's not a big deal if I just go in alone!

Oh, I didn’t know this was for an interview! If that is the case I wouldn’t recommend bringing a guest. 

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On 2/27/2018 at 4:12 PM, MaxDemian said:

I literally just made an account moments ago just to tell you that this would be incredibly weird. Do not bring your mother. Nobody else will have parents (or friends) there. You are an adult and this will make you seem like an immature child. I don't know of any program/circumstance in which it would be normal to bring a parent.

You're the weird one dude... so many people bring parents with them. Doesn't make them an "immature child". Some people value their family's input on making an educated decision on which school to attend.

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I personally decided not to bring my parents but I know that they really wanted to come. I don't think it's weird at all honestly, unless it's for an interview.

 

But tbh mostly I'm commenting here to just mention how thoroughly that dude got roasted up there. Ouch.

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  • 3 weeks later...

It depends on the program. Some programs encourage it, whereas other programs do not. You can email the program and ask! I did that a few times and some programs said they love having others attend and other programs just straight up said no. It's best to ask to make sure :)

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12 hours ago, lbh33 said:

Hi! To those who commented on this having been to open houses.. can you say what you wore? I'd appreciate it! 

I am attending ASU's open house tomorrow and wearing a business casual dress and a cardigan (in case it's cold in the building). I have no idea if it's what you SHOULD wear since it's my first open house ? I'll let you know what others wear though! I figure it can't hurt to go business casual haha it leaves a good first impression!

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