<p>I just finished a set of tours this week, along with a bunch of others this year, and here are my thoughts:
First, Claremont McKenna was our BEST tour of over 20, even though it was during their spring break. Guides make or break these things, and this was the best guide. I saw a range from small LACs to huge state schools, public to private, north to south, east to west, and really, the tour guides are a huge part of the experience. Our three best tour guides ever were actually freshmen.
Please, please, PLEASE have enough tour guides so that your group isn’t more than 20. Because of spring break, all the schools I saw this week had preregistration, and did have an idea of how many people would be there, yet one school only had three guides for about 150 people. We couldn’t hear her and there was also so much construction going on, making it even worse.
If you’re going to go on and on and on about one particular program (like engineering), make sure that SOMEONE in the group actually cares about it.
On that same note, I echo what someone above said – don’t have us fill out forms and/or ask our interests if you’re not going to show us those things.
Dorm rooms. Show us. Feel free to put it at the end so people can opt out, but that’s actually really important to some of us.
Another school gave us a “voucher” for a free meal . . . turns out it was only for $1 off. Huge turnoff.
The school that gave us a coupon for 20% off one item in the store – you are awesome!!<br>
Be honest. You can tell us what you like least and still support your school.</p>
<p>I think it was at BU - they had a model dorm room which they showed and it was decorated by Bed Bath & Beyond - a win-win I thought for me to see a room and them to promote their dorm stuff. Obviously it was not lived in but it was much better than not showing a room at all.</p>
<p>kiddie–the last dorm tour we had we saw the tour guide’s room. We couldn’t actually get INTO the room because it was such a MESS. My DD felt right at home there :D.</p>
<p>I’ve seen model dorm rooms and I’ve seen tour guides’ (messy) dorm rooms, but the worst was the dorm room I saw on my own college tour years ago–a narrow cinderblock cell with bunkbeds in an alcove. Boy, was I relieved that I didn’t have to go to THAT school!</p>
<p>We had one tour guide show us her room. Her roomie was there and that side of the room was immaculate. The tour guide’s side was a disaster. Couldn’t even see the floor for the piles of discarded clothing etc. I guess it was amusing, but I felt bad for the roommate.</p>
<p>Marsian–I think if there are few students on campus on a weekend, I would want to know that. Some campuses really empty out and prospies should know that.</p>
<p>As I think back, Caltech was by far our best. Tour conducted by CS major. I thought she was awesome brilliant, with talk and walking backwards. I don’t think I was shown a dorm room, but maybe son was. The focus was on attending classes over two days. </p>
<p>Oxy was great. The admissions gave us lunch vouchers (they have a lot to be proud of in regard to food), and called a prof to meet with son ASAP.</p>
<p>Worst was at CMU. Guide from business school, no chance to see rooms, and prof in the worm’s minor so upset about time change, oh boy. I often wonder, what if?</p>
<p>hahahahaha… I mean, do some schools just have no clue what they are doing? Give a free meal, or don’t. But don’t give $1 off. That is hilariously insulting.</p>
<p>I think most colleges save the free meals for the accepted student events. They have too many people coming through the regular tours. </p>
<p>A 20% off coupon for the college store just make sense - they are still going to make a nice profit on sweatshirts. I toured Georgetown with my son and a friend of mine. My friend said don’t buy a sweatshirt because you won’t want to wear it if you don’t get admitted. That turned out to be very useful advice.</p>
<p>My kids enjoyed buying t-shirts at schools that they liked. I see no reason you couldn’t wear a t-shirt of a school you enjoyed visiting, much as you might wear a t-shirt of a vacation spot you enjoyed. Indeed, the picture of my son that’s on my FB has him wearing a t-shirt from Brown - a school he never visited, but a dear friend and her daughter did, and they brought him back a t-shirt for fun. No, our family has no affiliation with Brown. (shrug) Whatever, it’s a t-shirt.</p>
<p>One of mine prizes her t-shirt from Harvard, but someone else left it here after a sleepover. She did take that tour, however, early in her search and a “we’re in the neighborhood” decision. And, she was affected by the number of wannabes in the tour group. After that, we tried to compromise between the potentially most crowded days in admissions and breaks (when fewer students would be around.)</p>
<p>Burry - I don’t know what UNC’s typical policy is, but on March 29 they offered the student meal at the dining room near Ram’s Head - not the dining room by the pit. Parent’s had to pay and the dining room where the meal was offered was a bit out of the way.</p>