Cliff notes for 90% of pages 1-39: "Mom and dad, thanks for working 60 hours each this week and squandering your only day off to drive me to Hanover, but Dartmouth just seems too preppy, and you’ll agree the cafeteria food wasn’t that great, and I guess I’m just not feeling that whole New Hampshire vibe … so I’m definitely crossing a college — I probably wouldn’t have gotten into — off my list.
sidebar: Our facebook post faux-coy bragging we’re at Ivy League colleges got over 100 likes so far!"
A good thread about college tours might be about annoying parents or types of parents. We probably all have at least one trait more visible to others :-c .
We went on a college tour with the demonstrably well off, ultra fit family all wearing the latest fitness clothing except for the jewel of a daughter who was subtly regal. Of course, they had in tow a miniature dog over which everyone exercised the obligatory oohing and aahing. A crying infant would have been less obtrusive. And they name dropped every surrounding college that was higher ranked than the one we were touring. Somehow I found myself opening the door for them often.
@OldFashioned1 LOL, you’re living up to your screen name for sure… To each their own. But I would personally prefer a prospective student to drop some Ivys and other reaches off their list for whatever reasons matter to them than have them have no idea which of those reaches they may want to apply to and, like so many, apply to them all. Each of those applications takes money for the parents and a lot of time and stress for the students. You would rather them potentially sell themselves short and apply to none because the odds are against them (as they are for everyone)? Or apply to all because it’s pretentious to eliminate a school that probably wouldn’t have picked you anyway? Harvard is very different than Brown which is very different from Cornell, etc. Sure students can research them and figure out some of those differences. And if they or their parents can’t make the visits that’s all they can do and so be it. But I see nothing wrong with a student visiting Cornell and either deciding they don’t want to go to a college with over 20K students or deciding they love the rural, hilly location and don’t want to go to Harvard or Columbia in urban settings.
@m0minmd - the driving in CT is so funny! My H and I also were driving through CT to a wedding in New Hampshire many years ago. We had a miserable drive with horrendous drivers – and vowed to never drive in, near, or through CT again! We still laugh about it and when encounter someone going dangerously slow in the passing lane that they must be from CT.
Please make sure that your kids look around at the already enrolled students at the school - not the kids on the tour.
For example if there are 20 kids on the tour and half apply
and the school has a 20 percent acceptance rate and half of those accepted go there -
that could mean that no one else on the tour will be going there next year except your own child
Anyone else have schools that moved up the list and down the list and were eliminated after touring?
@jym626 - re post #536 - That was my gem… We still don’t like A&M! We are planning a graduation trip to Japan in June, told D18 there are 272 Starbucks in Toyko and she actually teared up (no really, she actually teared up).
@oldfashioned1 - having met Cindy Crawford in person and worked with her, she’s not all that…therefore, I am going assume that college/college visits are much the same.
*including your own child
Most on tours won’t apply, 80-90%+ are declined, many accepted can’t afford it or choose elsewhere.
I can’t remember the exact location (it might have inside a hotel), but there is a spot in Tokyo where you can be in front of one Starbucks, and you can can see two others within a 3 minute walking distance.
Walking down 34th street in Philadelphia in a 3 block walk Walnut -> Chestnut -> Market -> Lancaster there are 3 Starbucks. Go east from Market 1 1/2 blocks and there is another Starbucks.
@Dolemite - We actually visited Drexel for D16 …there is a Starbucks on Campus and there are relatively few natural disasters in Philly so I think it may make the list!
Hunter boots and Starbucks. Two things I can live without. Haha! Okay, you all hate me now. 
I would advise you cross off any college where there is no thriving town within walking distance…you will get very bored. Also, good clean facilities are what I look for besides academics and such. I mean, most colleges are beautiful but some you just cant stand to look at after four years!
I still read these threads about tours because they are like travelogues and bring back fond memories of touring with our son. He’s now in his mid-twenties & graduated from Williams. (I also find parts of these threads hilarious.)
To give back, here was my son’s approach to visiting & creating his list.
No need to visit after local interview with Admissions Reps:
Reed bec so many students didn’t graduate on time &
Harvey Mudd bec Pomona sounded as if it fit better
Never visited lots of campuses that fit his academic interests & personality bec of weather, didn’t want too frigid, & geography (realized he didn’t really want to leave the east coast). He also was very familiar with Claremont, the village with colleges adjacent, & California in general because of numerous family vacations, so did not tour any campuses on west coast.
Only campus he didn’t visit before admissions decisions was UChicago bec he & his high school college counselor were quite certain there was no need.
All campus visits were of places that were possibilities. They were all maybes that either stayed on the list or dropped off. Throughout the process he never “fell in love” with a particular college or university. His goal was to apply to places that he thought he could see himself at, be satisfied when he heard back from admissions, & be happy with his decision of where to matriculate.
Here are my memories of the college trips, in alphabetical order:
Amherst: went twice, tour, then later to attend a class & speak with professors in his major. He wondered why the place looked dead. During the tour, we all noticed how empty the campus was. No one walking around (other than those touring) & the student center was very quiet. He was impressed with 2nd visit bec of contact with the profs, which was like an after class office hour. Applied.
Brown: went on science tour only. He couldn’t see why Brown was so popular. (Also, took a look at RISD bec of secondary interest in visual arts) Didn’t apply to either
Carnegie Mellon: He got a kick out of the long sloped corridor in hall the length of the quad’s longest side. Didn’t care for the campus’s architecture. Didn’t apply bec didn’t feel right.
(as a parent, by Brown & CMU, I liked the small restaurants & shops adjacent to campus)
Dartmouth: 2 visits, general tour in early spring when it snowed, then sat in class & spoke with prof in summer. Didn’t apply bec prof who taught class in his major recommended he apply elsewhere bec of his interests.
Haverford: 2 visits, general tour & returned for interview. Tour was great bec of unexpected events. Tour guide was from NYC & “complained” of birds waking her up in the morning. I had an embarrassing moment when I popped my head into what looked like an empty lab, but wasn’t. The prof teaching a very small group forced me to enter so I could ask questions & show interest. My embarrassing moment encouraged my son to poke around the department he was interested in where he found a prof to speak with. Although he applied, as he was doing the application, realized he’d prefer not to attend Haverford.
(Swarthmore wasn’t on list to visit, but had time to pop in when touring Haverford. Tour confirmed why it wasn’t on the list. the guide was too precious in a pseudo-pretentious way, (if that makes sense!) and, oddly showed the group a desolate triple dorm room that felt like a dungeon… on the other hand, a groundskeeper gave us a lift to the admissions office bec he told us the importance of first opinions)
Johns Hopkins: 1 visit, 2 tours. Funny general admissions presentation. Still remember Adm Rep giving examples of memorable additions to applications & what not to send, baked goods… most memorable was someone who mailed an oar with his app. I was on a different tour than son & husband. My tour was great. Excellent guide, very personable. No one was interested in asking questions, so I did. Learned he was in ROTC & why. Described ins & outs of January term. Made comparisons to other colleges, based on his friends’ experience. Son’s tour was terrible. Guide knew nothing. On the surface, didn’t apply bec of tour. In retrospect, didn’t apply bec JHU wasn’t compelling for him, probably bec at this point in creating his list he was moving more toward wanting a LAC.
… can’t believe I’ve written so much … if this isn’t helpful, please let me know
–oops… can’t see how to edit my comment above (#593) … if helpful, i’ll try to find time to write up the other tours.
@ManhattanBoro Fair assumption based on your screen name that your family is from Manhattan? Did your son easily adapt being a city kid in a rural area?
The most embarrassing parent we encountered was at a Midwestern flagship. On entering the dorm she asked what time the boys " had to be out " of the girls rooms. First the tour guide didn’t even really understand the question. Then when she did and was like “whenever the girls want them to leave?” the mom was flabbergasted. Then she asked about curfews. The tour guide, perplexed, asked “what kind of curfew” before saying “well none” Then when we were walking down the hall there was a boy going to the shower in a towel and a girl stepped out of her dorm room and the mom practically yelled " oh my God, you mean the girls and boys live on same the hall". My daughter felt very sorry for her son and claimed that he must have evaporated due to embarrassment because he was nowhere to be found at the end of the tour
LOL, how old was this mom? Even by the time I was attending college, long ago, the idea of curfews and segregated dorms would have been a thing of the distant past and I am old enough to have a kid heading to college in a couple months…
@maya54 That sounds like fodder for some college based comedy. Cue the guy in the towel. Roll camera. Action! 
The mom was only mid to late 40s. They were apparent,y from a very rural area and from the conversation it seemed like the kid was first gen.