The point of the tour is to convince the students to apply to that college, not vice versa.
On the other hand, showing up to an alumni interview with swag from another school may not be the best idea…
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When DS#1 went to a summer TIP program at Duke, the day we took him to drop him off, DS#2, who was maybe 12 years old at the time, purposely wore a UNC outfit (basketball jersey and matching light blue basketball shorts. ?
You are on their turf, show a little respect for your host. Example, I had a client who worked in upper management at Union 76. We took him out to lunch and we needed gas in our rental car, so we by-passed other gas stations (e.g. Shell) that were closer to find a Union 76 station to fill-up.
Similar concept to a college visit. If tOSU is giving up their time, energy and money to give you a free, guided tour and unfettered access to their campus and faculty, keep your University of Michigan Wolverine t-shirt at home. Have we lost our common decency (and sense) in this country?
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@socaldad2002 Now that we’re done with college tours, I’m trying to remember if we noticed this? I don’t consider it disrespectful but I probably wouldn’t wear a rival shirt. That said, it doesn’t surprise me. I wore a Rutgers shirt on Accepted Student Day and a few people asked me questions!
I think tour guides are paid. UNC CH was a great tour and you mention money. The $80 application fee (for us times 2), wait list then denied, money spent on travel, hotel, food, we don’t think the what price their cost! I bet schools use the application fees for advertising and visit costs.
My kids were both wearing St. Olaf sweatshirts on our tours just because their Grandma worked there and that’s what they get for Christmas gifts all the time. ?
“I think tour guides are paid. UNC CH was a great tour and you mention money. The $80 application fee (for us times 2), wait list then denied, money spent on travel, hotel, food, we don’t think the what price their cost! I bet schools use the application fees for advertising and visit costs.”
All of the college campus tours we have attended were free and the university is paying the tour guides, faculty, assistant deans, you can sit in on a class, some even “fly you in” and most give you free stuff (gift certificate to the cafeteria, free ice cream, swag, etc.). No one is forcing you attend (or apply) but if you do go on a college visit, show a little respect for your hosts as you are in their “house”, that is all…
@sushiritto - The OSU/UMich rivalry is special ; )
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Fall and spring semester tour guides at UNC are not paid. Summer tour guides are paid.
The bus service didn’t appear to be very frequent-- am I wrong about that? Would love to know as L&C would e great safety for my D I think. The real concern was that there’s no where to walk-- just a quick get off campus for coffee break or whatever. Seemed isolated. The said, she has since changed her tune of non-urban schools and might reconsider depending on final SATs, thoughts on other schools, and ED outcomes.
The city buses from L&C run downtown on what I’d consider a commuter schedule - more frequently during rush hour, less during the rest of the day.
The undergrads ‘wander’ to the law school for off campus coffee. Downtown Lake Oswego has some fun places but it is a little bit of a walk. Most kids have cars, scooters, bikes to get around.
@socaldad2002 We got a sticker and a key chain on some tours, some coffee. Penn State said don’t forget the ice cream (not free) which was awesome but we bought tee shirts and visited book stores. My kids weren’t student athletes so no special tours. And we enjoyed college tours, miss them.
@twogirls UNC should pay them, our guide was great. I thought it was an on-campus job.
I think it varies by school whether tour guides are paid. We asked one tour guide because I thought DD would like to do that as an on campus job and she said she was not paid. However, at DD’s current school, they are advertising the position as a paid job. Haven’t gotten DD to apply, because she feels freshmen aren’t qualified and one girl she talked to said she hated doing it so therefore DD doesn’t want to try 
It does vary by school as to whether tour guides are paid. I know they are not paid at Tufts.
A friend’s child was a tour guide. It was a campus job, but one had to apply and be accepted for it.
I don’t want to drift way off topic, but it amazed me to learn how grueling the interview process was to be a tour guide. Between the application essays (there were about 4) and several rounds of interviews, the process went on for about 6 weeks.
“It amazed me to learn how grueling the interview process was to be a tour guide. Between the application essays (there were about 4) and several rounds of interviews, the process went on for about 6 weeks.”
But that’s sort of the thing. If it’s that competitive, shouldn’t every tour guide be absolutely stellar? Why would you ever run the risk of winding up with a “bad” one?
Well, it depends on the college, right? Some of them, there’s a high bar to be a campus tour guide, others there isn’t.
Portland, Oregon:
Off list:
- U of Portland – priest/brother living in every residence hall was a deal breaker for my atheist son. That said, school had great facilities, great food (we ate at the grill), and the tour guide was phenomenal, the best we’ve had.
- Lewis & Clark – tour guide was personable and seemed smart but he painted a picture (unintentionally, I’m sure) of a campus divided into factions. So much discussion of themed housing (“that dorm houses mostly athletes”) and affinity groups. For a leafy suburban campus, the athletic facilities weren’t great: only one field, which is one reason, we were told, there’s no varsity men’s soccer team (in soccer-loving Portland of all places). Seemed like a solid liberal arts college, but just didn’t stand out or rise to the top for my son.
Unexpectedly liked: Reed. I think my son liked that this school has a unique point of view and resists educational fads. “Division 0 sports.” Required, first-year humanities course. No, we’re not test optional. Yes, we have study abroad but don’t emphasize it and only 20% of students participate. Also, nice campus, massive-sized dorm rooms.
Off the list:
Oberlin for trying too hard to be liberal and no stats on post graduation.
Vassar, felt like a women’s college who had lost its identity a bit and we did not love the town.
Georgetown, liked it a bunch but felt the DC Policy world and that was not my kids scene.
Washington U, really loved this one but was spooked by extraordinary standardized test scores of admits.
Added:
Barnard, Clear purpose and sense of empowering learning community for Women. NYC is pretty cool too!
Emory, delightful in both campus and education and Atlanta vibe
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^ on the college shirts - there was a (foreign) girl on our NYU tour wearing a Columbia sweatshirt. She got some sideways looks from the other touring kids but didn’t seem to worry the NYU folks.
At our Georgetown tour, a few kids were dressed very preppy, which put off my California-vibe D19. Gtown came off her list, not because of anything the tour guide did or said - she liked it a lot - but she felt that the academic atmosphere would be more competitive than she’d be comfortable with, and that was mainly due to the other kids on the tour. (To be fair, it would probably have been a significant reach.)