Open House vs Campus Tour (Barnard College)

Hi everyone! I’m a HS junior and my dream school at the moment is Barnard. This summer my mom and I toured it (along with Columbia), and I fell even more in love with the school.
I’ve been looking at their October 14th Open House, but I wanna see if it’s worth going, especially since I just toured the school in July.
I’m sure there’s lots of more information at the Open House, and I’m pretty sure they also let us view a class.
Once again, Barnard is my top school, so if there’s anything I could gain from the Open House, please let me know! I just don’t want it to be a day filled with information that I already knew.

Where do you live?

New Jersey, I don’t live far from NYC

I’m sure there will be some overlap with your summer visit but since you are near by, I would encourage you to go. In our experience at other schools, there are more students available to talk to at Open Houses and being able to sit in on a class is very valuable.

@drivera1 , my son and I have visited a few campuses more than once. We learned additional information at each visit, but I’m not sure I would deem it vital information.

Because my son is highly interested in the universities we visited multiple times, I felt it was worth the time to visit more than once. Two weeks ago, we attended an open house type visit at a school we’d early had a guided tour. The open house gave us an opportunity to speak with the dean of the specific school where my son would major.

If you and your parent have the time and there is no extra expense that would be difficult for your family, I don’t see any harm in visiting again.

I think you should go as you are nearby. You can always learn something new, and if you get there and decide you have heard enough at some point… you can simply leave early. It’s not as if there’s nothing else to do while you are in Manhattan.

Definitely go since you live fairly close.

Barnard also considers the applicant’s level of interest so attending would help with that.

I think a second visit is worth it, even if all the information presented would be the same. Your mood, the weather, the season, the particular people you run into, all color your experience. If you visit twice and still feel excited about the school, it just confirms your earlier perception and is valuable for that reason alone.

I’d also point out that when you visit a campus in July – it is when school is not in session, so there is not much opportunity to meet current students. With a fall visit you will get a much better sense of the campus vibe at a time when students are around and actively engaged. In fact, my daughter refused to visit colleges over summer months for exactly that reason – she did all of her pre-application college visits during September & October.

Looking at the agenda, the open house certainly offers more than the usual college tour. If you are already certain about applying to Barnard, it probably won’t make a difference - but if either you or your parents are not yet convinced that it’s a good fit, then attending the various info sessions and seeing the neighborhood “in season” and the school “in full swing” will definitely help. And, if they are nervous about the “big city”, then staying until the evening, grabbing dinner somewhere on Broadway and then walking the Columbia campus at night before eventually going back across the Hudson will put everyone’s mind at ease.

My daughter had been able to audit two different courses in the fall - and that was an important experience. She picked two subjects that she had taken AP classes in - and she realized that she was able to follow each lecture. (It also opened her eyes to how differently college courses a conducted than what she knew from High School.)

But…, don’t expect to have much/any interaction with students or faculty while you are there, other than any assigned guides. Everyone will be focused on their day, their courses, their places to be, their next place to be. It’s not that they’re rude; chances most people won’t even realize you’re NOT a student and that you’re hoping for a conversation.