<p>So I visited Brown to take a tour and info session and was really surprised that at no point did they want you to actually register, sign in, or otherwise tell them you had visited. I was pretty bummed actually. Even schools with tons and tons of visitors (and applicants!) at least have you sign up online (Columbia) or fill out an info card while waiting for the tour to start (Penn). I realize these schools prob don’t track interest either, but Brown was pretty clearly saying we don’t much care about you showing us any love. I gotta admit tho, the tour was awesome! It was led by two sophs and was clearly scripted but in a totally cool and relateable way. I love the campus! The info session wasn’t as good, led by a just-graduated adcomm rep and a reeeeeally uncomfortable senior. Brown is pretty much all about the open curriculum which sounds amazing. </p>
<p>So was this your experience when visiting Brown?</p>
<p>Yes, this was our experience at Brown as well. You definitely got the feeling that they didn’t care whether you were there or not. And I was not that impressed with the tour either. At other schools you actually get to see the insde of the library, cafeteria, and a dorm. At Brown it was just a lot of looking at the outside of buildings. Not really worth the drive to Providence.</p>
<p>That being said, it is still my son’s first choice.</p>
<p>The Brown tour itself isn’t as great as others I’ve been on. However, I would definitely utilize the resource of the tour guides for specific questions you may have - there’s an extensive application process to become one, and they really do know their stuff. Also, feel free to contact people you may know at Brown to get a tour of their dorm and other locations you’re interested in. It was definitely useful for me.</p>
<p>I liked the info session a lot. The people giving it (some seniors and an adcom rep) were pretty knowledgeable and even a little funny. The tour didn’t blow my mind or anything, but it was a decent look around campus. As for not going in buildings, I showed up early and stuck around later just walking around campus and visiting classes so that helped a lot.
What I loved about it wasn’t necessarily the session or the tour, but the general vibe of campus. It did bother me that they weren’t making me sign in or anything so they’re clearly not tracking interest. Ugh…</p>
<p>Coming to Brown for a tour (or any other campus) shows a tiny bit of interest, but it really shows more opportunity. (money and time to travel, proximity etc.) If they could track whether you were in the area and skipped Brown to go to other schools, that MIGHT demonstrate lack of interest, but that is not what anyone does. You sign up on line to be on an interest mailing list; that is much “fairer”. How you express yourself in interviews and essays is a much better indicator of “interest”.</p>
<p>Re going inside buildings: Had the same experience at Harvard, Yale. I believe anyone can go to the Ratty and pay for a meal? (Still true?) Dorm access has to do with security. (And it would be a negative point in my opinion with the current condition of the dorms!) A student by themselves can pretty much wander into and sit in on any large class. I think they still do the half day/day visitations where if you sign up ahead they pair you up with a student to have lunch with, go to a class or 2. Unfortunately the overnight stays in the fall were stopped.</p>
<p>It appears they’ve changed the tour route recently (I noticed while I was walking through campus the other day), however, as a former guide I wanted to throw in my two cents.</p>
<p>First, there are several points in the tour where we could walk inside buildings. I personally avoided all but one any time the weather was good. Going inside buildings always wasted too much time and took away from my ability to answer questions. It was a tradeoff I wasn’t willing to make as a guide and many guides make that same decision. When it was cold, I would spend more time inside the buildings. Second, we do have some specific tours that are all about the inside spaces like the Physical Sciences Tour that tours lab space and the interior of most of our natural sciences departments. Third, during my college search days, I distinctly remember that going into buildings was a unique feature of tours that occurred in freezing cold weather or campuses that frequently had freezing cold weather. Anywhere that had a reasonably long period where you could stay outside was outside for 95%+ of the tour. And finally, the exception to that indoor rule was that most college tours took me inside their library. Quite frankly, this always struck me as some combination of pompous, anachronistic, and/or dumb. The absolute quiet room is not a critical feature of a campus tour. Since current Brown students operate and maintain the script and path of the tour (in partnership with admissions, but the students hold most of the power), my guess is students at Brown have agreed with that sentiment for some time.</p>
<p>We actually really liked the Brown info. session. The admin. officer we had was really funny and bright, and our tour guide was great. We also went on the physical sciences tour, so got to see inside more buildings. </p>
<p>My sense is that the ivy league schools do not go out of their way to offer much to visitors. No water bottles, coffee, T-shirts, or brochures like some other schools. They know you want to be there, so they don’t have to do anything special to reel you in. As for signing in, I don’t recall whether we signed in or not. I suspect they have their methods and do whatever they want!</p>
<p>Aside: Yeah modest, the new route now goes up to Pembroke and ends there. It’s a bit weird to get used to, but it does have the benefit of showing off some very pretty green spaces and buildings like Granoff and SFrank though. And I think it complements the Sciences tour well.</p>
<p>We actually almost didn’t make the tour. The info session was running long and the admissions lady said if you’re taking the tour you’d better leave NOW! Not even so long thanks for coming lol. The tour was really cute though with two guides trying to be funny and pretty much succeeding. I’m gonna apply for sure but that is one loooong supplement.</p>