<p>I'm from NY and I'm going to visit California next week to look at colleges. One of the colleges I'm visiting is University of Southern California but when I tried to register for a tour, that entire week is filled up! Should I just explore the campus myself? Or is there some other way I can get a guided tour?</p>
<p>Campus tours are way over-rated. Ask for an interview. If they have an opening and you can communicate with the interviewer, tell him or her your problem and see what they suggest. If you cannot get an interview with an AO, ask the dept chair in your area of interest for ten minutes and be on time. Otherwise, find an undergraduate at USC in the cafeteria or outside the library, and grill them. Then go find another. And another. You’ll learn so much more from them than you ever will from a campus tour. Then go walk around the campus, asking questions as you go. You’re gonna love the campus, I predict. </p>
<p>My niece attends, but other than that I have no affiliation with the school.</p>
<p>Some weeks are busy for college visits and the official tours fill up. One option is to show up at the college admissions office shortly before a tour and/or info session, explain that you haven’t registered, but ask if it is still possible for you to join, and they might let you attend anyway. If not, just get a map and head out on your own. Be sure to eat a meal in a campus dining hall to watch how the students interact.</p>
<p>When I took my daughter visiting colleges over her spring break, it was a very popular week. We weren’t able to reserve a spot at the info session and tour at one college on the day where our travel plans had us passing by that location. But we showed up anyway at the appropriate time and asked if we could join, and were told that we could. Had they said no, we would have graciously accepted defeat and shown ourselves around the campus.</p>
<p>Contact someone from a club you may be interested in (sports, religious, etc.) and explain your situation. They can sometimes arrange for someone to show you around. That “private tour” will be much better than the official one.</p>
<p>If you are coming from NY, I’d call the admissions office now and see if they can squeeze you in on a tour. I’d be apologetic for not booking a tour earlier, but you didn’t realize they would book up and you wanted to wait until your flights were arranged etc. If that fails, then it isn’t a bad idea to contact a club or something you are interested in and see if someone can show you around. You want to at least visit admissions and let them know you came to see the school. </p>