<p>I would wear a “Million Dollar Donor” shirt.</p>
<p>MOWC wins the thread!</p>
<p>Nice jeans and a polo shirt or sweater are fine for men, but not slob-t-shirt level.
I do have to confess that S worn a “Brown” t-shirt (gotten for him by a family friend) to the tour at Brandeis. I didn’t see what he was wearing til we were there (as we were all wearing colds) and my eyes rolled out of my head at him. “What were you thinking??” But honestly, since it was just a tour / info session and we were in a crowd, I really don’t think it mattered.</p>
<p>The first thing that popped into my head after reading the title was Don’t wear dark socks and sandals!!! My dad did that all the time when I was a kid and it embarrassed the heck out of us. But who knows, maybe that’s “in” now.</p>
<p>“Parents only tend to make themselves noticeable through their behavior, not how they dress.” Wiser words never spoken. On each of our college visits at info sessions, there was always ONE dad (happened to be dads, could’ve as easily been moms), who relentlessly questioned the presenters about how their school stacked up to school A, B or C, the school the dad had attended and always in a way that showed how impressed the dad was with himself for attending the other school. It was a little awkward when asked like “Why should my s/d choose your school over Blah? What do you offer that is in any way equal to Blah? Where is your school on the prestigious school ranking chart? You know Blah is # 1.” There is surely a polite way to ask these questions but some people really have no tact. </p>
<p>It sounds like you’re in for a very exciting week! Good luck!</p>
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<p>Obviously, there must be plenty of people wearing shorts in Montreal and Toronto. You will also see plenty of people wearing shorts and sandals in Madrid, Paris, and Brussels. How many are tourists will never be known, but what is certain is that the “locals” won’t hesitate to judge it according to their own taste and expectations. For instance, nothing precludes hordes of tourists to enter into a church with shorts, but locals might not find it very appropriate. </p>
<p>The question was not really if it is appropriate to wear shorts when visiting a city (or be a tourist) but more about how comfortable one would be during a college visit where an OFFICIAL function might take place (in this case an interview.) It seems to me that a person would be more comfortable not wearing shorts and be prepared for the unexpected.</p>
<p>Oh well! Perhaps we should remember that the daughter of Concerneddad went through an interview at Whitman accompanied by her award-winning … Great Dane. I don’t think it would have mattered if the dad had shorts or long pants. :)</p>
<p>LOL, nice thread shawbridge! H wore whatever was clean on his 9 college, 7 day road trip. No one noticed. Well, no one who mattered. I cringe when my H packs all his clothes for a week long trip in an overnight bag. But, so long as he is clean, I can’t complain.</p>
<p>I have family in Canada and have spent quite a bit of time there, people definitely wear shorts in the summer there. We were vacationing with my family and my niece toured a few schools, not dressed up at all. She got into all of them and is attending one now, I would definitely NOT say people dress up more in Canada.</p>
<p>I agree with everyone that says as long as you don’t wear gym clothes, you’re fine.</p>
<p>I would like to expand on maman’s statement. HOW do men pack for a week long trip in an overnight bag? H does the same and he always looks clean and neat.<br>
Also, I think the important way for a dad to dress is in such a way as to not embarass his daughter. That should be his only concern.</p>
<p>Nobody cares what you wear, but do not – under any circumstances – stand up during the info Q&A and ask how many Nobel Prize winners are on the faculty. Your precious Biffy or Buffy will die, on the spot, of terminal shame.</p>
<p>If I were doing it again, I would dress for hiking: shorts, a t-shirt or polo shirt, and athletic shoes. All college tours are hot and hilly.</p>
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<p>Oh, so you’ve met my husband! His hearing’s not so great, so he’s always the one to ask the quesiton the guide just answered.</p>
<p>Guide: This is the computer lab. Students can print 1000 pages a year for free.</p>
<p>Husband: Oh, computers. That reminds me, is there a charge for printing?</p>
<p>Lol, Missiepie. But seriously, hearing loss or not, some of these Guides talk SO fast!</p>
<p>I think more important than what you wear is how you act. </p>
<p>Parent clothing and actions probably make not a hoot of difference to the college. But your kid will appreciate some freedom from parents. We really liked it when there were multiple tourguides. DS could hang up friend (if the school intrigued him) and ask questions up there. We parents hung back and asked questions of the other tour guides. That way we got several points of view to compare later… and less teen embarassment.</p>
<p>Speaking of embarrassment I was attending an info session not too long ago and I, as an adult, would be embarrassed if I were this poor kid. His parents kept asking about pre-med, med schools, MCAT…</p>
<p>Otoh, D had some real questions about quiet dorms/hours and what would happen if a roommate had her boyfriend stay over and she had H do the dirty work for her by asking the questions, so she could roll her eyes and sigh “oh dad” but she got what she needed.</p>
<p>After D had already been accepted to BC, we went to the accepted students’ day for their honors students. (After 4/1 she narrowed her acceptances to three, and BC was one of them.) Anyway, there was this family there and 3/4 of them were wearing Cornell shirts. My D and I were like what the heck???</p>
<p>Thanks for all the advice. Fortunately I don’t think I’ve ever worn shorts, dark socks and sandals at the same time. In my day job, I’m a consultant whom corporations pay a fair bit of money to listen to me speak or get my advice. I’m not a shopper and don’t really care about clothes. My normal weekend summer attire is cargo shorts and Keens but in my work, I’ve found that if I don’t wear clothes that match people’s expectations, they spend time wondering about me and it dilutes the message. So, I kind of figured out what they need to see (things have to look expensive, although I’ve eased off a bit on this in the last few years). As a result, I’ve become sensitive to implicit norms of dressing. Khakis and golf shirts are easy. No embarrassing t-shirts. </p>
<p>I went on one tour at New College with ShawD this spring (and I think I wore khakis and a golf shirt). I asked questions that I think helped give her a good feeling for the school. I asked the admissions rep to explain how the system of narratives instead of grades worked in practice. I asked whether and how kids got into to grad and professional schools. We took our guide to lunch at the vegetarian coffee shop and I asked her whether the school was more hookup or long-term dating oriented. I was expecting my daughter to die of embarrassment but the girl seemed pleased by the question and gave us an extremely thoughtful answer that ShawD found valuable. So far, not so bad on the embarrassment front.</p>
<p>I like all the suggestions, but a proper hat is where it is.</p>
<p>you will know what to wear. but we went to all ranges of schools and we were dressed better than most. i was very suprised. You daughters clothes are more important for the. interview.</p>
<p>FWIW, I’m pretty sure I will continue to wear: a polo shirt, your basic khaki or blue shorts, white socks & adidas sneakers. And a baseball-like cap, from some tourist place we’ve been to.</p>
<p>I say this with some certainty since these are the only summer-appropriate casual clothes I own.</p>
<p>As for not embarrassing S, I’m not sure that is possible, but he identified one measure that would help; last tour he told my wife to not ask any more questions, or say anything. At all. Probably if we stayed nowhere near him and pretended we didn’t even know him that might also help. Though no guarantees.</p>
<p>Interviews, etc, they will be interviewing him, not me.</p>
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<p>What a fun thread. Coming to it late so my suggestion for short shorts, dark socks with sandals, tee shirt with goofy slogan, large binder for copious note taking is obviously no longer needed. Shoot. Sorry I couldn’t help.<br>
(On a more serious note, kudos to the OP for asking the question…obviously a great Dad.)</p>