<p>My D applied to and was accepted at ISU (Illinois State University). Their recruiter is at her school today and she stopped by to discuss merit aid and a couple other questions she had. While trying to sell her on his school over the other smaller schools she's been accepted at, he said, "Our lecture halls hold up to 400 students which is good because if you don't want to be called on, or didn't finish the work, you can hide out in the back of the room. But in a smaller school it's "active learning". You'll be in a smaller class and get called on."! Really? My daughter couldn't believe it. She called me during lunch and said, "Personally, I prefer a class that will motivate me to try harder". </p>
<p>I'm just floored that a recruiter who is visiting a college prep school would be so idiotic. First rule of sales, know your customer! Guess we can cross that school off our list.</p>
<p>When I was looking at colleges myself, my stepsister and I took a trip together, me to see Duke and she to see UNC-Chapel Hill. We went on each other’s tours. </p>
<p>The guide at CH skipped the library completely - waved at it as we passed - so she could stand in the stadium/gym for a full half hour discussing the basketball ticket lottery process for students. We both crossed it off right then.</p>
<p>Wow is right! What cracks me up is that one of the things my D was asking about was whether or not they have an Honors program. Not exactly the kind of question a kid asks who is just trying to earn a piece of paper.</p>
<p>I’m relieved we can cross ISU off the list though. I was not impressed. I saw more $ going into their fancy new work out facility than to education. And my niece, who is on the dance team there, has no coach. She said many sports teams are without coaches. They also have a shortage of dorms. </p>
<p>@OHMomof2 - I’m not surprised UNC would tout theirs sports over academics. What a shame some of these schools have forgotten what they’re there for.</p>
<p>It is a shame that some individuals representing our institutions of higher education don’t take their positions more seriously. Between misguided recruiters and the dominance of the Greek system on our campuses, one wonders where we are headed with education in this country. Really a pity - UNC Chapel Hill and ISU are terrific institutions.</p>
<p>^^ Sometimes comes down to just a student volunteer with minimal training doing the tour which is subject to the particular guide’s own interests and personality. Hopefully people doing the tour realize this and don’t think that student is representative of all of the students on campus and in fact, isn’t an expert on all areas and will tend to stick to what they think they know or care more about (ex: sports vs library).</p>
<p>One would expect a higher level of professionalism from a paid recruiter from the U (assuming that’s what the person was in the OP’s case). Maybe that recruiter was a slacker in college and just assumes ‘slackability’ is what would appeal to students.</p>
<p>A paid recruiter should never say such a thing. However, if the university is a good fit and financially acceptable it is a shame to drop it from consideration because of a single person’s stupid remarks.</p>
<p>Of course a tour guide is a student. But you’d think they’d get some training and an outline of what buildings must be included on every tour, and perhaps ought to know that a full half hour of a tour that is only an hour long in total should not be spent in the gym…not even touring the gym, not discussing sports opportunities, simply outlining a complicated ticket-buying policy. Seriously, she was like “on Wednesday mornings we line up at 4AM for 7 hours (class? what class? was all I was thinking) and then we get our lottery numbers and then on Friday we take them to the office to exchange for tickets which is another 2 hour line…blah blah blah”.</p>
<p>I will say CH had an amazing basketball team in 1983, the summer we toured. Michael Jordan was on the team and they’d won the NCAA championship the winter before. Perhaps she was responding to intense interest on the part of previous tour groups.</p>
<p>For me, it just felt like all anyone cared about there was basketball. In truth that may have been why my stepsister wanted to look at it :D</p>
<p>Not a great statement for someone whose job is to sell a program. Not a great statement when the typical answer could be a lot less … honest. </p>
<p>To his or her credit, this recruiter is giving the answer that many students who are attracted by the large academic factories aka universities do … hope for! What percentage of the US graduating high school class do you think is looking forward to a Socratic method of teaching with all the required interactions and preparation to class? How much does such classes preclude devoting more time to the typical activities on campus? </p>
<p>I do agree that the answer given may have been honest. But I don’t give any credit to the recruiter who failed to understand what the student was looking for from his school. As for my D, the size of ISU is a little out of her comfort zone. She was asking about their Honors Program and shared that the schools on the top of her list are smaller. His answer was to sell her on slacking off? He’s was talking to a student who is asking about an Honors program. Does that sound like someone wanting to hide in the back of the room because she didn’t do her work? She was also asking about scholarships and expressing concern over how to pay for school. Does this sound like someone who is not invested in her own education? All he did was to reinforce her decision to attend a smaller school that is more interested in providing a solid education over a piece of paper with the word degree on it. </p>
<p>I suppose I should be grateful for his honesty, it made it easy for my D to cross them off her list.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t recommend eliminating a school from a student’s list based solely on a student given campus tour or a recruiting rep’s visit. Presumably, the student has done sufficient research of the school to have them on their list in the first place and if that’s the case, then they should know enough about the school to know whether or not their college criteria are going to be met.</p>
<p>I think it’s an attempt to turn real weaknesses into apparent strengths. Most people would consider a 400 person class to be a big drawback, but this guy decided to turn it into a selling point.</p>
<p>Xiggi is absolutely correct. I have heard literally scores of high school students over the years tell me that one thing they definitely want in a school is the ability to blend into their surroundings and not be put on the spot. Big lecture halls definitely have a market among a sizeable percentage of college-bound secondary school students.</p>
I’ll offer a different perspective - most campus libraries aren’t all that different from each other. Who actually cares how ‘many volumes’ they have (which is really just a bragging item for the college - not a point practically relevant to most students)? Sure, some buildings are fancier that others but is that aspect really important? Many students won’t spend much time, if any, in a library anyway. The advent of the internet has obviated much of the need to physically go to a library. If a student is interested in ‘study areas’ then various study areas, which usually includes the library, should be shown. A key question for the tour guide would be to ask ‘where do most students study?’ but the answer is usually variable - in the dorm rooms, in a study area in the dorm building, in the main library, in particular smaller subject-specific libraries other than the main one, etc.</p>
<p>OTOH, many (but not all) students ARE interested in the workout facilities, availability of sports participation, etc. and this is an area that does vary from campus to campus. There’s a good reason why so many campuses spend a lot of money on the sports facilities - many students are interested in them and it can make/break the decision for many students.</p>
<p>The best bet is to show both but not go overboard on time with either one.</p>
<p>I know nothing about ISU, but most Honors programs at the bigger schools have small and interactive classes. Stupid recruiter, but don’t throw out the baby with the bath water. My D’s honors program also dorms all the honors freshman together. She is in heaven.</p>