<p>When I was an undergrad, I gave personalized tours to prospective students interested in my department. They'd usually talk to a professor for 30 minutes or so beforehand, so they could ask me any questions they felt uncomfortable asking them during my 60-90 minute tour of our department's facilities and all the stuff I know they tend to hide on the general tour.</p>
<p>When I visited the school I wound up going to, I got to sit in on a class, and afterwards the professor talked to my dad and myself for well over half an hour. He was actually one of the reasons I went to that school for undergrad (though I wound up getting an 89% twice in his classes :mad: ).</p>
<p>The profs at D's school are great about answering e-mails. Find out who the profs are, and send an e-mail with questions. Whether or not they answer will be an indicator for you.</p>
<p>When I visited one college that had a program I was particularly interested in, I sort of wandered into the office and chatted with the secretary to see if I could get more information (I was looking for a booklet, perhaps).</p>
<p>The head of the program saw me and my parents outside and welcomed us into her office. I should mention that this is the head of a famous program at a famous, non-Ivy League university.</p>
<p>It's funny that she took me in without having any idea what my qualifications were, and even funnier when I saw her jaw drop when I mentioned a summer program I did. (I had no idea that the summer program I did was so special). It was perhaps even more telling that, at the end of the conversation, she said, "Well, if you are so accomplished, why don't you apply to Harvard?" I don't think she got the fact that I liked her institution a lot more than I did the big H.</p>
<p>So this conversation didn't lead me to change my mind about my academic plans-- the class I sat in on at Chicago sold me a lot more than that conversation did-- but the school was my second choice, a school I would have been very happy to attend had I applied and been admitted.</p>
<p>H & I are both college professors and have taught at a number of different institutions--small LACs, small state universities & big state universities. My experience has been that most colleges expect faculty to participate in recruitment activities. Therefore, it is not at all unreasonable for them to meet with prospective students. Of course, it is always better to set up a meeting beforeheand because faculty are busy, travel, it might be mid-term time so visiting a class isn't feasible, etc. </p>
<p>Everyone I know would be happy to speak to an interested student and his/her family.</p>
<p>I was an engineering prof for many years and one of the primary reasons was that I loved being around students. Yes we are busy but not so busy that we cannot spend some time with prospective students visiting the university. When our son was on his college search he talked with 4 prof, two were scheduled sessions and two were totally impromptu as were were wandering around the computer science department before the formal visit session started. At Case where we had one of the impromptu meetings, the prof even invited us to a department picnic outside Olin(?) Hall that afternoon!</p>
<p>By all means wander about the department you are intending to major in. Even if you do not have the opportunity to talk with a faculty member, the bulletin boards/poster board/awards displays are interesting and informative.</p>
<p>We looked mostly at small LACs and my son sat in on a class and/or met with a professor at every one. (Kids should definitely attend a class when they visit.) The one larger school he visited was on one of those "visit days," and all major departments had open houses where the kids could meet the professors.</p>