<p>Ask about the food.</p>
<p>Some of the really good questions I've heard asked of tour guides:</p>
<p>(on being shown the "display" dorm room) If the whole range of rooms runs A-F, what grade would this one get?</p>
<p>What was your foreign study experience like?</p>
<p>Describe your relationships with your professors.</p>
<p>What things do students gripe about?</p>
<p>In gauging the intellectual quality of a college, I found it illuminating to ask the guide: which of your courses have you enjoyed the most and why?</p>
<p>There was a pretty wide gap between those schools where guides gave thoughtful and detailed responses that reflected their individual passions and those where the guides said blandly "I enjoy most of my courses, I can't really think of a 'favorite' ."</p>
<p>I am printing this out for my S the tour guide! Might as well anticipate and answer the more interesting questions posed here :)</p>
<p>As a tour guide, I enjoy getting questions from my tourees - but I especially like when the questions come from the students, and not the parents - it makes sure that the kid is invested in the school and not the parent. I know it can be really overwhelming, and all you want to do as a prospective student is just to "look don't touch," but by engaging in the tour and asking questions that come up, it really invests yourself in the information about the school. Don't be afraid to interrupt a tour guide if you have an urgent question that you want answered - in fact, it might be a welcomed disruption from the mundane "schpeel" that tends to come out on the daily tours.</p>
<p>Questions I've been surprised by, and had to answer honestly nonetheless:
1) Is it true that people "party hard" here? (Came from a parent, clearly concerned about child's future safety)
2) What are those bars on the outside of the first-floor windows?
3) If you can change one thing about the school, what would it be and why?
4) Why should I come to Brown?
5) What was your favorite class/professor and least favorite class/professor?</p>
<p>First, most of the above questions can be answered by doing the research online before you visit. Judging the young volunteer guide is a crapshoot. That's the equivalent of judging the theme park by the theme park guides. Silly.</p>
<p>Do the homework before you go. The visit is a chance to look at specific things in depth--and to verify abstract impressions.</p>
<p>The student should try to sit in on a class in their area of interest. They should wander around, read the bulletin boards in the academic buildings in their field of interest. What is posted on the biology boards? Does the engineering school feel like home--or a space invaded by aliens? One son checked out the hardware in t he computer labs. The other one checked out the non-ficiton bookstore offerings.</p>
<p>Students should use their high school networks to try to have lunch or coffee with a current student--without the parents. Parents can spot them a $20. ;)</p>
<p>Parents can sit in on the info sessions but they should let the student go on the tour by themselves--and they should head over to the cafeteria to grab a coffee and sit and judge the general atmosphere of the place--without the impressionable student. Is it a place full of introverts? Extroverts? Balance? Are students discussing intellectual topics in their downtime? Are students stressed? Confident? Does the pierced student look as happy as the jock? Can you easily picture your child blending in?</p>
<p>Post-visit, the student should get online and check out the depth of course offerings. One of the parent's main jobs is to help the student pick a school that will be challenging in junior and senior year. Freshman year is a very similar experience across the board, IMO.</p>
<p>Note to schools: Take a cue from high schools and throw the parents off the tours! If they spit their pacifiers--give them a parent's tour where they can one-up one another ad nauseum.</p>
<p>We are on a college visiting trip right now and my dad has asked every tour guide ,1. where they applied, 2. why they choose that school over the others they applied, and 3. what extracurriculars were done by the individual in high school, and if they have followed it up in college</p>
<p>^^ Good questions but you might get a better response if you ask them rather than your Dad asking them since the guide may respond more directly to a fellow student.</p>
<p>Haha, here's another two cents from a tour guide.</p>
<p>Honestly, I'm going to avoid answering questions like "What's the drinking scene like here?" if asked by a parent. I've gotten it once already, and I responded by explaining the school's policy on alcohol and explaining that if you choose not to drink, there's plenty to do on campus. If a prospective student asked me, however, I'd be straightforward and tell the student what my college's party scene is like.</p>
<p>Don't ask questions about the dining hall when we're in the middle of the academic quad. While I love questions, I've given tours that have been dragged out by impatient parents. Tour guides base their tours on visual cues; if I haven't reached that walk between two buildings where I talk about the history of the school or entered the science building where I talk about pre-med and undergraduate research, chances are I'm not going to want to talk about those topics before I get there. I end up repeating myself and/or not having anything to say when I get to those places!</p>
<p>If you get the e-mail address of a tour guide, use it! If you come up with questions later, e-mail me. If I don't know the answer, I will find out for you or get you in touch with someone who does.</p>
<p>Just to let you know, tour guides don't lie. Yes, we may focus on the rosier side of the picture, but we do give you our honest opinion.</p>
<p>One last thing: If you ask me a question and I say, "I'm not sure but we can find out when we get back to the Admissions Department," please remind me at the end. I do want to answer your question, but if I've promised four people that I'll find out when we get back, chances are at least two of them are going to be accidentally forgotten.</p>
<p>I don't know about the rest of you, but I feel more comfortable telling the honest truth than dodging the question if anyone asks me about the drinking policy. If parents ask the question, they should be prepared for the answer, in my opinion. Then again, that's just my style.</p>
<p>Some other tips to those going on tours:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Tour guides love questions. They are the essence of our tours. If you don't ask questions, it comes across to us that you are not interested in the school. Also, we are trained to answer questions. We want to hear them!</p></li>
<li><p>Students should be driving the tours. I love to hear from the future applicants. While it is fine for parents to ask a question or two, tours are designed to introduce the students to a potential future home.</p></li>
<li><p>Feel free to ask specific experiences of your guides. We like to talk about our experiences.</p></li>
<li><p>Walk around the campus by yourself either before or after the guided tour. Things feel totally different when you are not being taken down a path designed by a guide.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Have fun touring!</p>
<p>This may be too late for most spring break tours but thought I'd revive it anyway</p>
<p>But just in time for summer tours! Thanks, very informative.</p>
<p>Now, if somebody can just tell me how I can get DS enthused....</p>
<p>Thanks for reviving this thread....just what we were looking for. First three school tour in about a month!!!</p>
<p>"Now, if somebody can just tell me how I can get DS enthused...."</p>
<p>I'm up to the job. Choose one or two from the following:
(1) "Your dad and I have been talking. Since you're ambivalent about college we think three years in the Army would be a good alternative."
(2) "If you're not going to look at colleges then you can WORK."
(3) "You're working at McDonalds this summer. Why? WHY???"
(4) "The local university is good enough for (your classmate xxx) and it's good enough for you. You can live at home and commute."</p>
<p>Well, you get the idea. Choices, life is about choices. Good luck!!!</p>
<p>LOL NewHope especially #1. And thanks HistoryMom for bumping this thread. Very helpful even though we're not there yet!</p>
<p>good luck with college visits</p>
<p>NewHope 33: I agree. No. 1 is a hoot!</p>
<p>I'm creating a Word document with all your great questions...my son can study it as we drive from school to school.</p>