Does anyone have a spreadsheet or something you liked that helped keep track of likes/dislikes or some way to help remember what was seen on tours?
Any specific questions prospective students should ask?
Things to pay attention to as they walk around campus?
Questions that were not asked that you thought of later?
Any and all advice would be appreciated 
I’m afraid I don’t have a spreadsheet, or specific question ideas. I think the questions that will be helpful might vary greatly depending on the student and their interests.
But, my big recommendation that I wish we’d done with our older son was to have your kid take notes right after the tour/info session to later on help him write his “why do I want to attend this school” essay. In our case, by the time my son sat down to write essays (in some cases a year after the tour), he’d forgotten most/all of the details, and what he mostly had left were “impressions” and feelings he’d had about the school. Those were certainly based on detailed observations he’d made at the time, but he couldn’t remember them!
So, I’d recommend writing down some things right after the tour. What was emphasized in the info session (and especially, what did they say makes that school unique and stand out among its peers)? What was emphasized by the tour guide? What buildings/areas of campus did your kid particularly like? Was it the beautiful new arts center (write down its name), the state of the art science building, the student-run coffee shop, or a little out of the way nook on campus with adirondack chairs? Did you explore the area around campus or stop by a place for coffee, boba, lunch, ice cream? What was it’s name? Did your child sit in on a class, or speak with anyone other than the tour guide - write down their name/name of the class. What topics were discussed in the class?
Your kid will be soooo glad to have all of these details at hand for the schools they decide to apply to -it will make the essay writing so much easier and will produce much better essays with a lot more interesting detail. These notes are also great to have on hand if your kid does an admissions interview.
Our kids had an old fashioned little notebook. They wrote their impressions down after visiting each school.
Ditto. Have them take notes after tours to reflect on later. Mine would write the description of the tour guide to help recall feelings and impressions too.
It depends on your kids. Mine balked even at chatting about the tours and info sessions more than for ~5 minutes or so in the car afterward and would have considered taking notes or keeping a spreadsheet way more involved than they wanted. They wouldn’t have even wanted to read one I kept for them later. But other kids may be cool with it.
My overall impression is tours before admissions are overrated. We did a ton of tours for the first kid to at least try and narrow down whether they wanted big, middle or small, urban, suburban or rural, etc. It was useful in determining he didn’t want urban and applied to no urban schools. Beyond that he felt a lot of the schools blended together and most of the info was redundant. I enjoyed it more than he did. Having sat in many info sessions, most of them said the same things even when telling you what supposedly made their school unique (it was comical how not-unique their unique things were).
Almost everything can be found on school or third party websites and most schools have elaborate virtual tours now. So if your kids legitimately wants to travel and walk around on the tours, awesome, but if they are doing so because you nudged them I suggest letting it go. The reality is you’ll have a chance to tour or attended accepted student events after acceptance but before commitment and those tours are way more satisfying and relevant because the kids know it’s a choice they have the power to make and usually are laser focused on a couple schools at most by then. And it’s more fun to tour something without the "would I get in here’ over their heads.
(FWIW, my third kid, a HS junior, has banned all tours. He wants to do zero of them before acceptance and so far refuses to commit after acceptance. He tagged along on a few when he was much younger but has zero interest in touring before he applies now.)
On that note, if you do tour, I suggest steering away from the reaches as much as possible and focusing on matches and safeties. It’s hard to get excited by safeties when they’ve toured amazing reach campuses and the point should be to find achievable schools they can get enthusiastic about.
All that said, from my dozens of former tours, I’d suggest a couple things. First, try to plan around eating in one of the school’s cafeteria’s if possible. In the summer and during breaks college breaks this may not be possible but it’s always worth asking and pretty much every college will let parents and prospective students pay to eat in their cafeterias when open. Not the food court with chain fast food on the bigger campuses, but the real food they would get with a meal plan.
Second, ask about transportation options. Even if you plan to let your kid take a car, not every college will let Freshman bring them. And colleges are wildly uneven about providing group transportation options to/from major transportation options and have inconsistent access to Uber, etc. When we were touring NE LAC’s, so many of them proactively mentioned providing buses to NYC or the airport that we took it for granted. So when #1 went to Bowdoin it was surprising when the campus provided absolutely nothing and he had trouble finding Uber-like options from campus (not enough volume to reliably originate from Brunswick; getting back was easier). He eventually ended up with friends who could give him rides to/from their nearest airport but Freshman year was rough.
Good luck.
We never discussed the colleges with our kids following visits unless they initiated the conversation! And even with that…we only responded to what they said and asked.
But they took written notes to refer to. Both indicated that this helped them.
After each tour, my daughter took notes on her phone about what she liked and didn’t like and what really stood out. Over dinner that night, she would share her thoughts. (She needed a little bit of time to process). This helped in writing the “why us” essays later.
This was our tour process:
General tour in the morning
Lunch in a university dining court
Major/college specific tour in the afternoon
Things our D payed attention to:
Did students look happy? Were there groups of students sitting together at lunch, walking to class, and smiling?
What did the facilities look like - maker spaces, labs, shops and did freshman and undergrads have access to those things.
My favorite question to hear answered as a parent was why the tour guide picked their school and what they could change if they could.
My kids both did most of their research before ever seeing campus. They started out with genuine interest in most of the colleges they visited. I think ultimately, they chose their schools based on the vibe they got while visiting, except for a couple they were not able to visit before applying. For those schools, they were interested based on what they read about in Fiske guide or on niche, for example. If they got in, they would visit if they were still really interested. One of my kids did a first visit after acceptance.
My kids didn’t ask questions on tours. I did though, lol. Both paid attention to things like notice boards in communal areas. What activities were going on? Was the student union busy? Were there decent communal areas in the dorms? (Not sure prospies can visit dorms right now though.) They both wanted to see as much of campus as possible. Who is walking around, who seems to be happy? Were admissions staff friendly? They cared if the campus looked nice and well kept. They cared if people seemed to be talking to each other and hanging out. We always visited dining halls and campus cafes and we always made a point of eating on campus whenever possible.
Colleges were memorable or not. If it wasn’t memorable after a week or so, my kids didn’t even think about applying.
Some were memorable for the wrong reasons:
Good impressions were formed at others where my kids did apply:
I don’t know if there are critical questions to ask. Your kid will know what they care about. My daughter always wanted to see the library. My son wanted to see gym facilities. Both wanted to see students unions and dining areas. After tours ended, we often went back to those places to look more in depth. I think the number one factor for both my kids was if they felt that people were friendly.
When we did college tours with D20, a lot of work was done before we ever hit the campuses. That became invaluable during the actual tours.
D20 had a list of things she wanted in a college: small student body (no more than 3000 students), well-defined aesthetically pleasing campus, walkable to outside amenities (non-chain restaurants, shops, cultural activities, etc), responsive professors, updated science facilities, strong study abroad program.
We had our own parent list: affordable to the budget, easy to travel to (each family all probably have different definition of this).
She created her college tour list around her list of what she wanted in a college. When she visited schools, she already had a clear idea of what she wanted and it helped to see whether a school offered what she wanted, or if it didn’t - what it offered that she hadn’t thought about previously.
One family here recorded notes (audio) as they left each school. That would have worked well for us.
My favorite question was always “what are the classes that are so popular that it’s hard to get into them?” It can be an interesting insight into quite a bit – from how registration works and how hard it can be to get classes – to how word travels about good profs and how broadly students pursue interests beyond their major. The answers were really all over the place but always revealing.
If it’s possible, have your kid attend a class or shadow a student for a half day. There were notable differences in how kids interacted before and after class (as well as in it) and while it’s always a bit random, it also makes it possible to ask about the norm. One school went way up the list when DS (without a STEM interest) attended an organic chem class and discovered a prof who explained things really well, very engaged students who were comfortable asking questions, and, in spite on not being super selective, students who were very bright and engaged. If this shadowing can include a meal in the dining hall or coffee in the student union, all the better.
Fwiw, enjoy this. It’s really fun to spend time with your kid and see what they want their future to be.
We have a family google doc with information about schools. Adding a column for thought on the tour would have been a good idea.
During the early visits it is helpful to see if you kiddo can articulate what they likes and didn’t like so you can narrow down or expand the list based on those traits. For example, my daughter didn’t like campuses that were mixed into the city. The Fiske guide includes information like this in their descriptions. The guide also has lists of schools that are similar which can be helpful in narrowing or expanding the college list.
If your child isn’t inclined to pin down what they did or didn’t like, you might be able to pick up patterns. I noticed that my older did not like schools if we visited on a slow day or when they weren’t in session. My daughter was influenced by the other students and families on the tour. I still don’t know how representative tours groups are of students who apply and students who end up attending. A swing through the library and dining hall might help counter or support a poor impression made by a tour group.
One of the things we did on the tour trip was tell our son he was going to be the lead person for all things (instead of husband charging ahead to be in charge), we would be in back to help if needed. We did this for everything (we flew up, took a train part way back, and also rented a car). So we had him lead us to find the plane gate, the train depot, the subway line, and had him check us into the hotels (which the employees were really nice about). He had to check our tour schedule and figure out when we should leave to get there in time.
This was great because I think it’s easy to have the person in charge take care of everything and not pay attention, then how are you supposed to learn?
It also gave us some idea of where he was in being able to take care of these things.
We did a few things with college tours (in no particular order):
–Before we scheduled any visit we did do some of basic research (ex. size, academics,location, available majors made sense). We were stunned at times to find people on a college visit who were surprised the school did not have their intended major, that it was so urban etc.
–We made appointments in advance at each school we visited.
–During the tours we always looked for the way students were interacting with one another, if students generally looked happy, if we saw professors interacting with students etc.
–At a number of colleges we were able to eat in the cafeteria which was a good way to try the food and see students interact in a relaxed atmosphere. (That said my S ended up at a college voted as having the worst college food one year LOL). On occasion my (more outgoing) D left me and asked to join table of students and got to chat with them – this could go badly I guess but both times she did it she had a really nice experience.
–In general, we let the kids ask all the questions during the information session/tours (I’m sure there were one or two exceptions if H or I felt something important was missed).
–I got a plastic file cabinet and we kept the information we got (brochures, notes etc.) in it with a file folder for each college. If a college was eliminated we tossed the contents of that file. I’d suggest you use some kind of filing system to help you to stay organized.
–After each tour we immediately jotted down some notes – this proved helpful when my kids wrote the “why this college” essays.
–H and I NEVER gave our opinion of a college until our child gave his/her opinion first. We always wanted to hear their gut reaction to a college.
– MY biggest piece of advice is to enjoy the time together. Try to mix in a dinner out or something fun when possible. This is likely to be the last big road trip you will take with your child. I felt that by going on these tours I learned a lot about each of my kids – what was important to them, the way their mind worked etc.
I have a D22 so this is all very fresh for us, although weird with COVID.
I did make a spreadsheet, but it was not for college tours. It was just for evaluating colleges and deciding if they were worth investigating further. It had stuff like cost of attendance, location, preferred major available, size of the school, etc.
When we visited schools it was all about the vibe. We didn’t have major questions for the tour guides that couldn’t be answered by an admissions person later. We just soaked in the vibes. We definitely did not take notes, but we did talk about the schools like you would talk about a movie you watched together. What did you think? I liked the location, etc.
We didn’t ask questions at all on the tours….except at one school. We were in a high rise woman’s dorm, and my husband asked where the sprinkler system was (there wasn’t one). The funny thing…the father next to us was a firefighter…and he was wondering the same thing. The poor tour guide was just flummoxed.
And this was not long after the Seton Hall fire.
Still…it was our kid’s second choice college. My husband just told her that he would make it clear that she would not be living in that dorm. That was in 2005. I believe the building was either renovated or town down.
I’ve kept a spreadsheet for my D19 and for my S23. After each tour, regardless of their overall impression I asked them to give 3 positives and 3 negatives about each school. Sometimes the responses were just superficial but occasionally something would come out that really helped define her list.
Notes are a must - to capture the Feeling and Impression!
We try to always do a student led tour, see the cafeteria, see campus during the day and at night! Hehehe, so may streotypes broken with this one! Do students look happy - are they utilizing the common spaces, what is the gewneral mood? We also checked music school building/practice rooms/performance venues, because of my D23 intrest in flute performance minor/major/certificate. She asks a LOT of questions during tours, so we are responsible for just taking photos mostly. We do combine our notes.
There was only one time, on NYU tour, where guide asked everyone NOT to take photos, which was a bit rediculous, because it was a huge group marching streets on New York.
Once D23 figured out she does not want a rural location, or a small size school - we slashed several LACs/rural setting colleges off the list.
Seriously, notes!
@coastal2024 if your student likes the idea of notes then go for it, but if they don’t it’s fine. My D22 applied to 5 schools and has been accepted to 4 (still waiting on the 5th, but I’m sure she will be accepted). They were all safeties/targets, but good fits that she chose. We visited all of them for the vibe check, and just chatted casually about them afterwards. It became apparent right after our first visit that she just loved her #1 school.
On my spreadsheet I eliminated schools that would not work for whatever reason (cost, lack of major, etc). The visits to some of the remaining vetted schools that were left were really helpful for us. There were a few that got eliminated pretty quickly due to the wrong vibe. For her #1, she just felt like she found her people when she visited. We visited it twice before she was accepted (it’s about 4 hrs away) and are due to go back in two weeks for an accepted students day to make sure those vibes with the other accepted students still feel right, but I’m sure they will.
Mine also visited her top choice more than once. She ended up doing a summer program before senior year which totally sealed the deal.
We had a general spreadsheet for the schools S19 was considering and that spreadsheet included the Spring break dates so that we could avoid them if possible when visiting. We also had an itinerary for college trips we made his junior and senior year, but no notes. I read all the advice on here, but S19 just wasn’t interested in doing a lot of what people recommended - like visiting classes, eating in the dining halls, etc. - so we mostly just did the info sessions and tours and tried to look around the neighborhood. The trip we made during his junior year was mostly to help him define what kind of school he was looking for - large, small, urban, rural, etc. The senior year trip was focused on schools where he had already been accepted. We provided a lot of input in putting together the list of candidate schools, but once we were on the road, we followed his lead, and he actually did experience that “aha” moment when he realized he had found his school. There’s always a lot of debate on CC regarding the usefulness of the info sessions. We are in the camp that found them helpful even when they were terrible, as it was interesting to see how the schools presented themselves. Same with the tours. We did also meet with the coaches for his sport at some schools, and that was very helpful in an unexpected way, as the coaches could talk about their schools from a different perspective. I imagine that a meeting with a professor could serve the same function - they know their departments but they also know the school overall.