Need Help Planning a College Tour

<p>I'll be taking my sister to visit colleges during the month of August and I need some help.
We only plan to visit SUNY schools and have our list of around 12 schools which we will shorten as we visit these schools.</p>

<p>Here are the schools we plan to visit:</p>

<p>Potsdam
Fredonia
Purchase
Oneonta
Cortland
Plattsburgh
New Paltz
Oswego
Old Westbury</p>

<p>My question is - can we just visit these schools and walk around campus or would it be better to email the admissions office or another office of some sort and ask them if they would be able to give us a campus tour on the day we visit?
I don't know how we should organize this because the campus tours I've been on were all on scheduled dates during the school year, but now since school is out, college's don't usually offer tours.</p>

<p>Any advice is appreciated!
Thanks in advanced! :D</p>

<p>Each college’s admissions website should say when tours are offered (most do offer tours in summer, although not all will have Saturday tours). You can usually sign up online for tours.</p>

<p>I believe Old Westbury is a bit different from the other schools on your list in that it is geared towards older students and not recent hs graduates.</p>

<p>[Visiting</a> & Open Houses at SUNY Plattsburgh](<a href=“http://www.plattsburgh.edu/admissions/visit.php]Visiting”>http://www.plattsburgh.edu/admissions/visit.php)
^here’s the info about tours for Plattsburgh. (register online)</p>

<p><a href=“http://web.plattsburgh.edu/admissions/files/walking-tour-7-1.pdf[/url]”>http://web.plattsburgh.edu/admissions/files/walking-tour-7-1.pdf&lt;/a&gt;
^You can also do a self-guided tour </p>

<p><a href=“http://www.newpaltz.edu/admissions/tours.cfm[/url]”>http://www.newpaltz.edu/admissions/tours.cfm&lt;/a&gt;
^info for New Paltz (sign up for tour online)</p>

<p><a href=“Home | SUNY Oneonta”>http://www.oneonta.edu/development/admissions/visit.asp&lt;/a&gt;
^info for Oneonta (sign up for tour online)</p>

<p>^^^^These three schools also have Virtual Tours on their websites.</p>

<hr>

<p><a href=“http://www.oswego.edu/admissions/visit/index.html[/url]”>http://www.oswego.edu/admissions/visit/index.html&lt;/a&gt;
^Info for Oswego (sign up online)</p>

<p><a href=“http://www2.cortland.edu/admissions/undergraduate/visit/index.dot[/url]”>http://www2.cortland.edu/admissions/undergraduate/visit/index.dot&lt;/a&gt;
^info for Cortland. (register online) They also have a Virtual Tour on their website.</p>

<p><a href=“Search results for  • Purchase College”>Search results for  • Purchase College;
^info for Purchase. (register online)</p>

<p>IMO–It’s best to register for the tours. This allows the admission’s office to have your visit on record (shows interest in the school). However, if you can’t do this, simply send admission’s a short email telling them that you visited the campus and walked around on your own. Let them know what you liked about the campus and ask them any questions you may have about the school.</p>

<p>I visited most if these schools with my d. If you are able to it is best to register for a tour and info session . The first time I went tolook at a school (Plattsburgh) we had to tour alone and it was not very informative !</p>

<p>^That’s why it’s best to officially register to visit the school. </p>

<p>Re: Plattsburgh. There are dates in the link for “Open House” visits. These visits include:</p>

<p>SUNY Plattsburgh’s Open House events involve the entire campus and feature presentations by college officials, Q&A sessions, student-guided tours, and opportunities to meet with faculty and staff.</p>

<p>Wow, that’s a lot of driving! Depending on where you’re from, I would definitely suggest waiting for a tour date before venturing to the opposite end of the state only to find that there’s little to see or learn on your own during the summer…it’s a pretty drive to Plattsburgh and Fredonia, but very long if you don’t get anything out of it!</p>

<p>Is there any way you can wait until school begins? You really get a much better feel for a school when it’s in session and has organized tours scheduled. Seeing classes in session, talking to current students, etc. is invaluable in making a determination about a school. BTW, my son is a student at New Paltz, so if you have any questions about that school I’d be happy to try and help.</p>

<p>I visited plattsburgh, and went during an open house in the fall- it was great. Give the admissions office a ring there. They are nice and I bet they could set something up for you.</p>

<p>If you’re going during the summer, there are usually no Open Houses, so I would strongly recommend going during the fall.</p>

<p>By the way, I’m going to Plattsburgh starting this fall, so if you end up having questions about it, let me know, and I’ll try to answer them for you.</p>