<p>I am scheduling campus tours this spring to help me decide which is the best school. I am a campus tour newbie....what should I expect? Will this help me have a good idea on the kinds of schools? What they offer? etc?</p>
<p>I would observe the current students as you take the tour ( your gut can tell you a lot about overall happiness) and the buildings too! are the buildings clean, are there lots of bathrooms. how do the buildings they do not take you in look as you walk by. the tour is good and fine but, your personal vibe is more important.(IMO)</p>
<p>Don’t do the Saturday morning tour - all of the students will probably be in bed.</p>
<p>I think a campus tour is a great way to get a feeling for a campus and at least one student (your tour guide). However, know that a campus tour is a marketing device by the college. You will get a lot of good information, and definitely should take the tour. But it is useful to do more than that – attend a class, eat in the cafeteria, read the school newspaper if you can get one (and more if you see back issues). </p>
<p>Many schools will let you sit in on a class, but you have to check the website for admissions to see what they say about that. Sometimes they have a list of classes to pick from, but sometimes they just have you go to the course catalog yourself and email the professor to see if it is okay to sit in. You need to then plan the timing of your day so you can go on the tour and have time to go to class (it is not polite to leave partway through or come late if you can avoid it, by the way). So if you are a student whose parent is driving them between campuses, you will also need to coordinate with your parent to make sure they understand the timing of what you have arranged and that it will work out with the other visits you have arranged.</p>
<p>There are a couple of current extensive “campus tour” threads right now on CC.</p>
<p>I would give them a look.</p>
<p>Campus tours are a great way to get a feel for a college. Be sure to do the tour when school is in session. You should also consider sitting in on an information session while you are on campus and you can almost always eat at the school cafeteria. Ask a lot of questions during your visit. Look around and think about if you can see yourself as a student there. Some schools also offer overnight visits or the chance to shadow a student for a day which are also great.</p>