Specifically regarding Cal State Long Beach. I tried to get a spot in one their tours but they’re all filled to capacity so I was thinking about walking around the campus with a friend of mine’s that’s a student there.
Of course you can go visit the campus independently! Don’t worry about that. Chances are that your friend will be able to give you a much more personalized tour than you would have with an official guide.
You can go into the admissions office and asked for a pamphlet about a self guided tour.
Some schools offer self-tours – you can download a map and take a walking tour on your own. Best way is with a friend who attends, so it sounds like you are set.
We did the tour without registering. We got there about a half hour before the tour started and registered as a walk in, We were coming from the east coast and were worried we wouldn’t have been able to do the guided tour since it was full. I called and they said come early and register as a walkin.
We did an official tour in October, which was okay, but not great. We tried to get another tour when deciding between schools where my son had been accepted, but none were available. We decided to go on our own, and it was perfect, because we knew our way around a bit, and were able to visit the places pertinent to my son’s major and interests. We said “hello” at the head office for the department, and we were miraculously invited into the office of the department chair, who kindly spent 40 minutes talking to us. I’m sure we got lucky, but it worked for us! Also, it was very easy to get an impromptu tour of the dorms.