@JoelShoe LOL yes on the Quidditch… every school seems to think they invented it. And then DD (completely disinterested in sports) and I were amused when we were on something like the 5th or 6th tour, most of which had been at D3 schools, and the guide mentions that ‘oh, we do have ONE D1 team, can anyone guess?’ and my guess was fencing and then DD said squash, which was the correct answer, and the guide was really surprised that she’d gotten it correct, but we’d both paid just enough attention to the sports part of every other tour to hear that apparently there is only one division for both fencing and squash so if a school has a team for one of those sports it’s in D1.
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
I almost never do this, but I edited the thread title to focus on the main question the OP asked, which is “How did you make the most of your tour?” Let’s try to confine the answers to that. The story-telling about quidditch, etc, while amusing, are more appropriate for one of the “vent about tours” threads.
One of my nieces was a tour guide at USC. She never gave private tours and people could not request them through the admissions office. That said, every so often she might have only one family in her tour group and one time she had just a mother and daughter in her tour group, but that was all by chance. She did give her other cousin a tour of the school on her own time…
We did 6 tours. I found watching and listening to the current student interactions being the most interesting and telling.
At one school the dining area was filled with just sullen looking kids. I watched as a table of girls were smirking at a young lady on the tour. Things like that rub me the wrong way.
We lucked out and never had a bad tour or a bad tour guide. Though we did have one tour guide who walked a little too fast and we were all having trouble keeping up, but otherwise he was a good tour guide! The info sessions were ok. We never had any that were bad, per se. Just a little too long. But, they can’t please everyone. Even in the ones I felt that were too long, we still learned some useful information. My favorite was the info session at UC Davis…we toured in the summer and it was nice to come into a cool air conditioned room after walking around in the heat!
My advice for tours:
-Wear comfortable shoes, you’ll do a lot of walking! Some campuses (especially State U’s) are quite large and spread out
-Bring a water bottle, especially if you’re touring in the summer
-It can’t hurt to wear a hat and sunscreen, again this is a must if you’re touring in the summer
-Bring a camera too. Some campuses are quite scenic and it can be a good way to remember the tour! I took so many pictures when we toured Univ. of San Diego…the ocean views are fantastic and the campus is quite beautiful
-Be aware you may have to pay for parking
-Check ahead of time where you’re supposed to park and where on campus you’re supposed to go for the tour and info session (you don’t want to waste time wandering around lost or park in the wrong place)
-Allow extra time. At one school the place we were supposed to park was a five minute walk from the admissions office…
-When scheduling two tours in one day, make sure you know how long each tour is supposed to be. The tour lengths do vary and you don’t want too feel too rushed or have to leave early. If you know the tour will be very long or you know that you’ll want to spend more time on campus after the official tour, maybe schedule just one tour for that day!
Oh and I forgot don’t be afraid to ask questions!
If you know someone who attends the school, it can’t hurt to ask them if they can show you around!
An aside… best tour I ever saw was our S giving the tour to his grandma the summer after freshman yr. She was visiting from across the country. We were vacationing about 3 hours from campus and S was excited to take GMa to see his school and show her all his favorite spots. Got to hear lots of funny stories that never made it our way in real time. That was a great day!
We were able to get a private tour at a university that wasn’t officially hosting students that day. It was one of the worst tours we had. I wouldn’t recommend even if it’s possible. IMO, sometimes hearing other questions from students/parents leads to some interesting information.
Don’t assume you can’t go see what is not on the tour on your own. Before we visited one college I called to ask if a specific facility was on the tour, and they said “No, but that is open, and we encourage you to go visit it or anywhere else at your convenience.”
(I’m sure dorms might not be in that category but libraries, student centers, even dining halls, it appears to be true)
@momofsenior1 good point!
This will vary by college, so ask in advance. Dorms, for safety and privacy reasons, will rarely allow unaccompanied visitors inside. Access to libraries and/or classroom buildings is restricted on many campuses. Dining halls may allow access if you pay the (generally) overpriced meal fee.
I try to observe where the students congregate and what they’re doing. If no one is the library, I wonder why though I don’t always ask. If no one is in the dining hall I wonder why, not everyone sleeps until 1 in the afternoon and college students are notoriously hungry. If they are gathered together, what are they doing, do they look content, earnest, angry, do they tend to self-segregate. Does the tour guide seem to know anyone and if so, what are their interactions like? One of the schools we visited had a funny incident where there was a caterpillar crossing the walkway and the guide, as well as several other students, protected it from getting stepped on, it was sweet and appealed to my kid, very much something she would do. Sadly, that college is out of the running for other reasons but had the vibe she was looking for. So try to pick up on little things like that, they aren’t something you’ll find on the website. Maybe it isn’t so much what they say and show but how they say and show, if that makes any sense.
At the beginning of April D19 was invited to an Open-House for the department she would be majoring in. It was separate than the normal admitted students day. To me that was really worth while. 4 to 5 students talked and we asked questions. We got to then tour the labs. Then we all got lunch with faculty and current students. I grabbed a couple of the current students and had them talk to my D19. That was great.
The next day we did the normal admitted student day. We were able to skip the tour because did it the day before. But it was a smaller group the day before so we talked a lot to the guide.
When on campus it is not a time to be shy for either the parent or the prospective student. Don’t be afraid to go up and talk to people. Also be aware of time. It can go by quick on those days.
Then depending on the school and if you have a car drive around the area by campus. On one visit it seemed a little dead on campus for a nice spring day on a Saturday afternoon. We left campus and drove around and quickly realized why. The students were already flocking to the off campus houses and started partying.
The one question we always asked on tours of the guide was “how many schools did you apply to?” and “why did you choose this one?”. We got all kinds of answers and in the end I think it helped my daughter understand that the application and decision process is not the same for everyone. There isn’t “one right way” to do this. We even had some tour guides that admitted that the school was not their first choice, but once they got there, they made the most of it and absolutely loved it.
Having now toured many different schools with my two kids, I agree that it can get a bit dry and formulaic after a while. The novelty does wear off after the first few school tours. My first suggestion is to mix different kinds of schools as well as specific department tours (you dig through the web sites to find these sometimes). My kids have a wide range of interests, so we looked at small private, large public, as well as art and tech schools. We visited a large public one morning and then a small art school in the afternoon where they were forging swords and blowing glass in the studios during our tour! At some other colleges, we also did some special interest tours for specific departments like science and film where we got to see students using the labs and soundstages for projects. My second suggestion is when you can, choose a different tour guide than your kid and split up for the tour. You’ll each interact with a different student and learn some different things. In aggregate you learn more about the school and can compare notes later. As a third suggestion, plan something interesting or fun in between some of these tours… in some cases, you might bump into some of the students from the colleges working or congregating at these places. You’re not just evaluating the school, but the community as well. Finally, know your limits. Sometimes, you can’t squeeze everything in. If need be, you can go back another time for an open house, or hopefully an admitted students day and fill in what you missed the first trip.
I also agree that some parts of tours its all same old same old…dorm rooms mostly look the same IMO, campuses all have the blue light system, etc. But, I think it’s helpful for the prospective student to be on campus, look at the dining hall, walk around, etc…to try to envision themselves there. And like many here, the true value to me comes in all of those tidbits that aren’t a standard part of the tour…the Q and A, ( I ask a lot, if no one else is and my son is OK with it, and questions that I can’t find online such as student life questions), the other students, the feelings of camaraderie (or not), the anecdotal things that come out of the admissions presentations, etc. Honestly, its like the stuff that isn’t on the “program” is what’s valuable…I was often spacing out when they were talking about meal swipes or stuff like that, and looking around at the other students and what they were doing, or observing when we would bump into a professor or classmate, how that interaction went, stuff like that! Oh and we also always tried to get a look at the town, whether it was for a lunch before or a coffee break or a dinner, to see what the town was like.
We had a “private” tour at one school because we visited on MLK day and were the only one. Their willingness to set it up for us on a holiday was impressive, and our guide was great…my D and I just asked him questions the whole time about all kinds of stuff! Internships, pot usage (in a legalized state), social life, having a bike vs a skateboard. But this was just luck…he was a very sociable kid and a great communicator. I could see how this could go the other way.
On one tour, my D was the only kid who was super interested in the school and what the tour guide had to say. The tour was D and her Dad and I, a girl and her mom, and two girls from the local area who were touring by themselves. The two girls who from the area, who lived about 10 mins away from the school, were somewhat interested in the tour, though they spent a lot of time talking to each other. The girl who was there with her mom, seemed angry and scowled the whole time and her mom seemed to be walking on eggshells. Our poor tour guide, she was so sweet and very enthusiastic. Of course she really liked my D and H and I, since we were the only ones who were interested and actually wanted to be there. I think that has to be the worst tour we were on. But, my D applied to the school and came pretty close to attending! Try not to let the behavior of other people on the tour bother you or sway your opinion of the school!
Recognize that parents and kids are probably looking at different things! At only one school did they segregate the tour along those lines. So it can be helpful to ask your kid afterwards what he/she noticed because you may also get some insight into what is appealing/disgusting them on tours. Kids are much more likely to pick up on signals that matter in their world!
I always liked to ask if there was one thing the guide could change about the school, what would it be? And I also asked, “what’s the course everyone wants to take but can’t get into?” It’s a little telling about whether students get crowded out of classes, but also gives a sense of how kids tap into intellectual talent on their own campuses.
We also found that grabbing a meal in the dining hall or a coffee in the student center exposed us to student life. Of course, there’s serendipity, but little things, like students offering to explain the dining options, students making a beeline for what was obviously their regular spot, etc., lots of hellos on the way, all were pretty telling.
If there are any recent grads from your kid’s HS it can be helpful to reach out to them…even if they didn’t know them in HS for some 1:1 contact and some private touring. That can be a good way to get into a dorm to visit as well. My son graduated last year but he did this for many people…whether he knew them or not. Clients of my husband would reach out, member from our Temple…friend’s nephew…you get the idea. He was happy to meet up with people and share his love of his school and on occasion got taken out to lunch or dinner. My daughter just finished up her freshman year at another university and she has done the same thing…both when visiting schools and now she is contacted by prospective students that may or may now know her directly.