<p>That would be my older brother :)!</p>
<p>LOL, Kelsmom!</p>
<p>As my favorite professional school teacher said, the only dumb question is the one you don't ask. So the biggest mistake in a college tour is not to ask some question that is important to you.</p>
<p>The point I was trying to make, which obviously was misinterpreted, is that she wasn't a dumb girl. She was just nervous and this came out in the questions she asked on tours.</p>
<p>Nervousness can do very strange things. </p>
<p>On the first day of a class in grad school, we had to go around the room and say our names and give a little background.
One girl was very nervous. When it came to her turn, she said, "My name is..." and FORGOT HER NAME (for just a few seconds). She turned BRIGHT red. Everyone kind of chuckled nervously until she regained her senses and told us who she was. </p>
<p>Now THAT's what I'd call being nervous.</p>
<p>The UC Davis water guy was probably joking, eh? I have the same problem - people often can't tell the difference between when I'm joking and when I'm serious.</p>
<p>Edit: And perhaps the girl who asked if the dorm rooms were coed was actually asking about the dorm buildings, and slipped her tongue? Actually, I do think a few schools have coed dorms (for upperclassmen who request them).</p>
<p>No, she actually did mean rooms---the tour guide asked her to clarify her question.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I have heard variations of this one on many tours. The guide always says the same thing at every school tour I have been on. There are always those that will drink, but we have plenty of other activities for those that are not interested in this. Our campus does not allow those under 21 to drink. Nobody has to participate in drinking if they don't want to do so, and there are plenty of other things to do on campus.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Does that mean I've been doing it wrong all this time? Because whenever anyone asks, I give them that spiel but with a difference: I tell them that there is indeed underage drinking. I do put a bit of positive spin on it, though.</p>
<p>At a LAC, we had a parent asked if they offered business and accounting courses.</p>
<p>unregistered, I share that problem of people not sure if I'm joking or not. On the Brown tour, when a science-major tourguide pointed to a sophomore dorm, I asked "Does the roof slump?" I thought HE had a sense of humor since every time he passed a row of portraits, he walked the row, pointing and saying, "Dead white guy, another dead white guy..."</p>
<p>However, he took me seriously and stopped his tour to study the roof. My S eyeballed me to "cease and desist," which I did. So I guess <em>I</em> asked the dumbest question on that tour.</p>
<p>"At GWU, she asked if the dorm rooms were coed."</p>
<p>Why is that dumb? Some schools have co-ed rooms (not buildings, rooms) for upperclassmen who request them.</p>
<p>The worst at a tour I was on was when someone asked the tour guide what state the stones used to build the buildings were from, then corrected him when he guessed.</p>
<p>She asked the question in a freshman dorm on GWU's annexed campus, which is only freshman housing.</p>
<p>I agree that sometimes the tour guide doesn't realize we're joking. While touring the new rec center at the University of Georgia, the tourguide pointed out the football stadium nearby. I asked, "So, you have football here?" *It was a joke. * He sincerely replied, "Yes, m'am, we do."</p>
<p>I suppose it's better than the opposite though; assuming a person is joking when they really aren't.</p>
<p>^^you're serious, right?</p>
<p>Well, I mean, sometimes it's really obvious and then its ok, but it's really best to err on the side of caution and assume the person is serious. Or maybe the guy was just messing with you on the roof thing, and YOU didn't get it, :)</p>
<p>As far as the football thing goes, as long as you (MaryTN) weren't wearing a UGA football shirt or something I'd assume you were serious as well. A lot of people, especially people not from the area who don't follow sports, don't know much about the teams.</p>
<p>"^^you're serious, right?"</p>
<p>He was joking, chuy. ;)</p>
<p>It's especially difficult with text, I suppose...</p>
<p>The sheets question wasn't so dumb. I know of at least one college where maids change everyone's sheets weekly as long as the beds are not lofted. If the beds are lofted, maids merely leave a change of sheets on the bed.</p>
<p>Drinking isn't a dumb question, either. When I was on campus tours, several tour guides talked (apparently honestly) about the extent of drinking on campus. I recall one saying that most students, even those who were underage, drank on weekends, often to excess. She went on to say the RAs didn't bust students for alcohol violations unless the students were obnoxiously drunk or destroying property.</p>
<p>Campus security will also often give honest answers about drinking and drugs.</p>
<p>We just returned from orientation at U of Mich and over and over were told that frosh should not bring cars. One very insistent Dad indicated that his S NEEDED a car and was going to have S bring the car. The housing spokesperson, with a very straight face, said that would be fine as long as he brought a parking space with him! Shut the Dad up pretty quickly.</p>
<p>This would fall under the "didn't think before she asked" catagory. A girl asked the tourguide what time classes started in the a.m. and when the tg told her at 8:00, the girl asked: </p>
<p>"Wow does that give you enough time to eat?" </p>
<p>Rather than reminding the girl that a) she could proably avoid many 8:00 am classes is she chose to and that b) the amount of time the girl had in the morning was entirely up to when she got up the tg segued into "Well, I'm glad you asked because on those rushed mornings there is a the grab and go cafeteria you see here on the left... the girl saved face and the tour moved right along.</p>
<p>Oh...and in defense of the football question, some schools have football stadiums but lost their teams due to Title IV restrictions.</p>