<p>My perspective is very different but perhaps that is because I am with a much smaller school that gets fewer applicants and rejects fewer applicants. If you are applying to the big schools or the schools with a high rejection rate, they may have less interest or ability to interact with every applicant. After all, only 1/4 of those people will ever actually become students and for the school it is a seller’s market. </p>
<p>At my school, parents and students tour, often one-on-one, and usually with a current student, not a paid admissions counselor. The prospective student is encouraged to sit in on classes, not just peek in. Everyone is encouraged to talk to anyone they meet in the halls - so long as we aren’t keeping students or teachers from getting to class on time. If you stay for a meal (and we encourage you to), we will sit with a random group of students - making sure first that we aren’t interrupting anything. The one place where we draw the line is that, unlike college visits, we do not allow prospective students to stay in the dorms overnight. Our students are just too busy to offer visiting students the Southern hospitality that we would want to show.</p>