<p>S, a junior, takes the SAT on March 12, then he and I are spending his spring break visiting a number of schools in the midwest (U Chicago, Northwestern, U Michigan, Kenyon, Oberlin, Ohio State, and Michigan State). The major focus is not on identifying a particular school, but rather identifying a type (public/private, urban/college town/rural, etc.) that best suits him. Since this is a "mile high" overview, we'll be doing mostly Admissions presentations and campus tours, with some poking around of our own where interest warrants.</p>
<p>He's had to register for most of the presentations/tours, so they'll be able to identify him. Is there a standard dress code for these types of events? If the answer is "casual," please be more specific as his idea of casual is something from the '92 vintage Pearl Jam Collection.</p>
<p>When my son (now in his second year of college) toured, he would wear nice jeans or shorts (if it were hot) and a polo. He wanted to look nice but not overdressed. When his kid brother starts his touring, he’ll probably follow his older brother’s lead.</p>
<p>We just did a six college tour. If there’s a dress code, it must specify blue jeans because that’s what all the kids and most of the parents were wearing. Really, don’t worry about it.</p>
<p>First and foremost, since your visit includes a tour, make sure your shoes are comfortable! With boys that’s probably not as big of an issue as with girls.</p>
<p>I would go with “casual” and qualify it as clean, no offensive messages/logos on clothing, clothing doesn’t smell bad, in good repair (no huge holes/rips/tears) and leave it there. Not sure what '92 vintage Pearl Jam looks like? Flannel shirts and loose-fitting jeans comes to mind. Maybe it’s just me and my parenting style, but I do not battle over clothing choices as long as it’s clean, in good repair, etc. </p>
<p>To me clothing is probably acceptable as long as it’s not so over the top that it makes its own huge statement.</p>
<p>Unless your son has an interview, no one will even remember if he was in a torn teeshirt and jeans or was more dressed up! If he has an interview, I still wouldn’t worry too much - nice jeans and a polo shirt go along way.</p>
<p>I concur with college_query in post #4. Save the fancier clothing for actual interviews. Also, if you’re visiting the places you mentioned, the weather is likely to still be brisk, so either review your outerwear clothing options and/or dress in layers. Comfortable shoes and an umbrella are a must. We ended up doing our east coast and mid-west tours in July and it rained parts of every day that we toured. </p>
<p>At Northwestern (our last stop) it poured rain most of the time. I think we were all maxed out on tours at that point. S wasn’t sure he’d even apply to Northwestern. Care to guess where he’s now a happy freshman, winter weather and all? Yep, Northwestern.</p>
<p>My son wore jeans and a polo or nice shorts and a polo or nicer T-Shirt. I felt better knowing he looked neat and respectable but most kids went for comfort and many looked like they rolled out of bed. There was really no way for the colleges to single him out since he was in a group. You sign in at Admissions but that is the extent of them knowing who you are, unless you want to spend time talking to professors or someone in Admissions.</p>
<p>We toured most schools in the summer and I was surprised how casual some of the our guides dressed.</p>
<p>None of the schools on your list are going to award a kid a scholarship because they showed up in a suit on campus visit day. Superplex is obviously a ■■■■■ (just look at a few other posts, this is a student, not a parent).</p>
<p>Even an interview at those schools does not require a tie or slacks, I agree with the polo and unripped jeans or shorts. Comfy shoes and rain gear are in order.</p>
<p>FindAPlace, it also poured cats & dogs on the day we toured the college my D1 ended up at I figured if she liked it after that, it was the right place for her. And it has been a perfect fit.</p>
<p>My D had an impromptu interview offered to her during our Oberlin tour. She interviewed in whatever she had on…probably a T-shirt and shorts or maybe a sweatpant. Interview went fine, she eventually applied and was accepted.</p>
<p>This question is a frequently asked question on the boards. The answer is: just let your kid wear whatever what he wants. Whatever he normally wears when he’s hanging out with friends. Whatever he will feel comfortable in. It really will not matter. Not one bit. At any of those campuses.</p>
<p>Sensible shoes would be nice, but that is for his personal comfort. If he is comfortable wearing pumps then let him wear pumps.</p>
<p>Be comfortable and clean. I don’t believe in dressing up or dressing out of the ordinary for college visits. Part of the goal is to see how you would fit in on that campus, so you should dress as you normally do and see if you feel comfortable. If everyone seems a lot more dressed up or a lot more dressed down than you, that might be something to pay attention to. </p>
<p>If you’re doing an interview, still just wear the normal clothes, but maybe the best version of those clothes. If your son is a jeans and t-shirt guy, let him where jeans and a t-shirt, but maybe his nicest t-shirt, and one without any cartoon characters on it. The idea is to present yourself to the interviewer, not some invented persona.</p>
<p>I agree that if you’re not having an interview, it doesn’t matter. I would say that if you are having an interview, “business casual” is the best bet–collared shirt (can be a polo), pants that aren’t jeans (khakis are fine), shoes that aren’t sneakers or sandals (deck shoes are fine).</p>
<p>I would note, though, that if you wear “business casual” for the tour and info session, you will feel slightly superior to the shabbily dressed people. That might be enough reason to do it.</p>
<p>I just keep seeing in my mind our campus visit/tour at MIT. A large group of Asian students came to the presentation with their chaperone–no parents. They had been to Harvard that morning and 10 of the 30 of them were wearing Harvard sweatshirts. That’s probably not the best choice, especially if you plan to sleep through the presentation as many of them did!</p>
<p>We also ended up getting an inpromptu one-on-one with an admissions counselor or honors college rep on two of our trips. I was glad that our son had on clean jeans and an Old Navy sweater over a t-shirt for those.</p>
<p>I went to a sumer honors presentation this year at a small school. In the parking lot I saw a group of young men changing their shirts before the presentation. Seems like they had visited the rival school and wanted to dress in their colors, and now it was time to switch from Blue to Red.</p>
<p>Yeah, wearing the colors or sweatshirt of another school is considered bad form. But it’s good if you wear the colors/sweatshirt of the school you’re attending! When I was a tour guide we were regularly reminded that we were not allowed to wear things with other schools names on them while we were guiding. This was because a lot girls started wearing their boyfriends/girlfriends schools’ logowear around without thinking.</p>
<p>On our summer college road trip last year at small midwest LACs at every stop D had an informal interview with someone from admissions (ranging from a student intern to regular admissions staff). She dressed as she usually does, jeans and a witty tee shirt. got in everywhere. Now when we recently went back to one of them for a scholarship interview she was told to dress in business casual. My d’s interpretation of that differed from my own, but I didn’t fight her on it as we were also touring the school again and the weather was lousy. (she wore a brand new pair of dressier jeans, shirt and vest…all okay, where we differed was the shoe choice…she wore “dressy” sneakers that matched her shirt, ha ha!)</p>
<p>Visiting Bates with DS1, after our tour, the director of admissions stopped us and introduced himself. It can happen at an LAC. S was neat but casual (summer) and it was fine. Far less likely for anyone to notice you at a big school. For DS2 interviews at Conn and WFU, the students were all wearing dress shirts, ties, blazers, cute dresses, etc. Being super casual doesn’t mean a student wouldn’t get in, but it could make him/her feel uncomfortable sitting in the waiting room–and who needs to be more nervous than the kids already are?</p>
<p>My D usually wore a conservative grey dress to her interviews that were scheduled interviews. You could call it business casual. She felt comfortable in it. But those are interviews as an applicant in senior year, not college visits in spring of junior year.</p>
I figured if she liked it after that, it was the right place for her. And it has been a perfect fit.</p>