<p>These are all great suggestions. I would add: don't embarrass your kid by asking about drugs and alcohol. The tour guides and admissions staff will talk their way around it and you will only make your child cringe. Go to the guide books to read about the party culture or ask current students. Drugs and alcohol are available everywhere and there's only so much a school can do to control it.</p>
<p>bethievt-That is the exact reason I didn't want husband on tours with us; love the man, but sometimes I want to hit him!!</p>
<p>My daughter and I use to give each other a look when a parent would ask a "dumb" question. One time I thought we were both going to start laughing out loud; we had to move to the back of the group to control ourselves! </p>
<p>I didn't read the entire thread, but have your daughter look at the school's website before each visit. If she has a feel for the school in advance, she might have some questions she wants to ask, or areas of campus she wants to see that are not on the tour. I feel many kids are dragged on tours by parents and have no interest; they just mope around. It helps to know what you might see before you arrive. My daughter is a dancer and the dance studio is usually not on campus tours. She would call the dance department in advance and she if she could take a class or watch while on campus. We would them schedule our tour around the dance class. She was not planning to major in dance, but she did want to find a school where she had the chance of taking ballet classes. Unfortunately, the school with the classes she like was not the school she liked best overall.</p>
<p>Though the info sessions start getting repetitive, I will say that after my son heard "most rigorous curriculum available" as the expectation, repeated 20 times by 20 different admissions officers, he did not need me to tell him to keep up the challenge in his courseload senior year.</p>
<p>On one organized parent-kid "open house" that we went to, they split up the parents and kids for Q and A and tours. They began the Q & A with, "We did this so you will feel free to ask questions without embarrassing your kid to death." It was mostly good, but I wished many of those parents had done their homework by looking at the school's website before going to the event---maybe there wouldn't have been so many questions that could have easily been found online.</p>
<p>We are doing a first visit this month as a dry run for the real deal at spring break. Am taking S to a nearby school w/degree program he is interested in, but not the school. Both of us consider this a test run and will learn what to see and what to ask when visiting the schools he is more likely to apply. PLUS, it is really a test to learn about this particular degree program, and if indeed, it is what he truly wants to study.</p>
<p>I know many won't agree w/this approach, but is necessary w/this very indecisive and procrastinating child. This "local" visit should jumpstart his deeper look at schools he wants to attend, so we can visit at spring break.</p>
<p>The Mom, I think that is very wise. Our kids don't have any reference points when they start visiting colleges. This is often true even if they have spent time at State U for music competitions or soccer clinics. They were not looking at the college in the same way. </p>
<p>I always liked to pay attention to the kiosks and other displays on campus and maybe point them out to our student. It really helps to get the feel for the place. Another thing that I noticed was the degree of self-segregation by ethnicity I would see as we walked through campus.</p>
<p>Very important, IMO, is to remind the student not to judge the school by the personalities of the other prospective students and their parents on the tour!</p>
<p>
[quote]
Grab the student-run newspapers,they can reveal campus culture.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>We were at one school during spring break and took the student paper back to the hotel, where I read it. Bizarre goings on! It took me a while to remember that it was April first.</p>
<p>astrophysicsmom wrote:</p>
<p>"It was mostly good, but I wished many of those parents had done their homework by looking at the school's website before going to the event---maybe there wouldn't have been so many questions that could have easily been found online."</p>
<p>This is one of my pet peeves, too! Not that I expect everyone to be a CC addict, but really, so much basic information is on the websites and it wastes so much time. </p>
<p>Another, similar situation: you are on the walking tour and parents are asking the tour guide the EXACT SAME questions already covered in the info session that you all attended not forty-five minutes before.</p>
<p>mafool---lol!!</p>
<p>
Actually, I've found observing prospective students to be a somewhat helpful insight. It certainly can't speak for the whole school, but neither can one day of visiting. Observing prospective students shows you what kinds of people a school attracts, and these could be, after all, potential future classmates.</p>
<p>Often, the group of "prospies" will be determined, in part, by the school schedule in some part of the country, so the demographics may be skewed.</p>
<p>Also, the tour group in which you find yourself is the luck of the draw. All you need is 1 or 2 obnoxious, competitive families in your group to totally dominate the feeling of the group. </p>
<p>Just my opinion, of course.</p>
<p>Ultimately, the experience can really distinguish schools. Some of my experiences with different kids, after supposedly only visiting schools that were "possibles" --</p>
<ol>
<li><p>A large state university during "changing of the classes." My kid looked around at all of the students wearing t-shirts with the University's name on them, and said NO WAY (viewing this as cloning, not school spirit). One of my other kids loved this school and put it at the top of his list.</p></li>
<li><p>Another state university, where one of the speakers was a Senior English major who made grammatical mistakes. My kid thought this reflected so badly on the school that I had to force him to take the tour. The tour then went to the rec center where the guide raved about intramurals, and back to the auditorium. My kid told me "I told you so" all the way home.</p></li>
<li><p>A school that offered free lunches. My kid stuck to the chair in the dining hall (literally - it was dirty and sticky). This kid rejected the school based on dirty chairs.</p></li>
<li><p>A school at which the presenter said "We know we're a great school and that you all want to come here. Your job in your application is to tell us why we should even consider you." It was true, but my kid decided the arrogance wasn't warranted and was unfriendly. This school was off the list before we were off the campus.</p></li>
<li><p>A school that took pictures of its tour groups, which you could download off the Internet the following week. The tour did everything right. When we stopped for ice cream at their campus creamery before leaving the campus, an alumni stopped at our table to ask if my son was applying and to tell him how great the school was. My kid liked everything about this school, got in, but didn't get any financial aid. </p></li>
<li><p>A school that stayed on the list since my kid couldn't really find anything wrong with it even though it wasn't triggering any excitement. We toured it again after my kid got a great financial package, with a tour guide who loved the school. This student guide was well-spoken, enthusiastic, and spent a few minutes with each person on the tour to talk about things that were great about the school. At the end of the tour, my kid picked this school.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>At the end of the process, everyone will have a story about the schools that were rejected and the schools that gave their students "Ah HAH!" moments. Some of the stories are sorta funny (sticky chair moments?!) and some of them may make you wonder if your kid should have selected a different school. Our kids have so many opportunities! It may be crazy, but I find I'm actually looking forward to doing it again with my next kid.</p>
<p>I think the "dry run" approach is a fine idea. We felt we turned into better lookers, listeners and askers as we went along. In fact, during the first group of schools we visited (5 schools in 5 days-seven days counting driving days), we were so exhausted that we could barely make it through dinner before falling into bed. Later tours were much less tiring.</p>
<p>Neonzeus</p>
<p>Your #4 point would have been instant turn-off for my son too.</p>
<p>I think that, initially, its much easier for the parents to feel free enough to ask questions than the students - and even good questions from the parent are cause for embarrassment. It took a few campuses to even have a basis for comparison and for the good questions to start coming from DD. So your idea of starting with a school in which your child might not be hugely invested is wise.</p>
<p>Ohmadre made a good point about visiting schools that are not 'the perfect school' at first. In the case of my youngest daughter, she was very nervous about interviews and initially asked if she could forgo them since nobody actually requires them. We had her interview at a couple schools that weren't high on her list first. After the second (third?) one she decided they weren't so bad after all. The later interviews she had were with schools she really liked. By that time she was totally into them and not nervous at all. Visiting and asking questions on the tours of large schools is a good way to get warmed up for the more intimate ones.</p>
<p>Sounds simple -- but works.</p>
<p>My D was into science. Class size was an issue. Asking how many in Inorganic Chemistry was enlightening. At small schools, class size could still be 80-110 students. Not something to ignore if class size is your priority.</p>
<p>If not in science, ask about size of Econ 101, Poli Sci 101 etc.</p>
<p>The dry run is a fine idea and I kind of wish I'd done it myself!</p>
<p>
While I do agree (and I do really like mafool's other advice throughout the thread, too), I'd like to point out that this can be said about just about anything you encounter on your campus visit. A visit close to finals is going to be much different from one at the beginning of the term; sitting in on a pre-med class will have a different atmosphere from a freshman English core requirement. And, as Neonzeus pointed out, lots of different things will trigger your own and your daughter's own reactions. That said, do as much as you can, and try to look at the commonalities and the big picture of your broader experience.</p>
<p>Speaking specifically, one thing that has been particularly helpful to me has been sitting in on classes. Know what kind of class it is--subject, level, etc, because that may make a difference in the impression one gets (a freshmen class I sat in on seemed to be little different from high school, so at first I didn't like it, but given the context it was all right). Sitting in on classes is an opportunity for your daughter to see several students, observe the approach to learning, note the facilities, etc. And for me, it has been the easiest way to find a few students or a professor with whom I can comfortably converse.</p>
<p>If your daughter is anything like me, impulse reactions can be very strong, so collect "artifiacts"--take pictures, take notes (if at least the day after the visit), pick up pamphlets of interest, get a copy of the student newspaper, and pick up pieces from the surrounding city, as well. Your daughter will be able to interpret these things in the future with a different point of view and remember things that may not have stood out right away.</p>
<p>Of course, one day or one class isn't representative of what the student might experience in her years there, so the best thing (though sometimes the most difficult), I think, would be to find a student and/or professor with whom she can continue contact.</p>
<p>Best of hopes!</p>
<p>I usually try to pick up a campus newspaper...seems that the schools don't offer them but if you go by the student union or dining hall you'll find them. Often the articles will give you an extra insight into the issues the students feel are important, things they don't like about the school itself, etc.<br>
For instance, one of the papers we picked up had several articles about the school having a problem with high school and junior high school kids hanging around the campus, acting up, stealing ipods, etc.<br>
Not something they were going to mention on the tour or in the information session but good to know.</p>
<ol>
<li>Go to the college website and print a copy of the campus map.</li>
<li>Circle the Admissions Office.</li>
<li>Circle the closest parking facility.</li>
</ol>
<p>It will come in helpful when you are running late for an info session or an appointment.</p>
<p>((remember to find a restroom before you leave on the tour.)) ;)</p>