<p>Just asked ChoatieKid about the senior photos. He says everyone is included in the senior class photo, but the four-years get their own photo because they’ve gone through it all together from the beginning. He also says that the four-years are, in some ways, treated like a special group; they do get some special recognition.</p>
<p>That’s typically done at most schools i think. I remember Groton even having a photo of legacy seniors. </p>
<p>DC’s school devotes two pages of the yearbook to 4 year seniors. One page has everyone’s photo that was taken when they first stepped on the campus 4 years ago and the other page photos taken in the senior year. The photos are lined up in the same order on both pages so individuals can be matched up and compared. Fun and/or sentimental stuff, but as far as I know that’s all the “special treatment” the 4 year seniors get.</p>
<p>Exeter has two photos as well. The raging controversy every year, however, has to do with the wearing of kilts on fall Andover-Exeter Day. They are loaned out only to the 4-year seniors for the day. Every year, the faculty and administration try to get the students to include all seniors, and every year the students vote to keep it to 4-year seniors only. In the Exonian, even two- or three-year seniors who are not included tend to defend the practice. I think this might be one of those things that bothers adults more than teens.</p>
<p>In the mburg yearbook, the 4 year seniors have a thumbnail of their first year photo on the corner of their senior portrait. It’s really kind of cute to see how they’ve changed.</p>
<p>It seems to be wide spread… but still a downer.</p>
<p>At one school, after two flights, three time zones, rental car and hotel room, DC was paired with a day student, non-athlete, new junior (or whatever they call 11th grade) that literally got lost on campus, taking DC through a dorm of the opposite gender without realizing it until it was way past awkward. Interviewer spent 30 minutes with me talking home state sports teams, and 10 with DC. Two phone calls and three email inquiries to AO with no response resulted in DC pulling the app. I know the veterans here will say Admissions Offices are super busy, don’t have time to read the files etc, but this was inexcusable.</p>
<p>DC called AO at another school and scheduled a tour and interview. Flights, car, hotel booked. Two weeks before the scheduled date AO called and asked if we realized the school would not be in session that week and that “no one will be on campus other than int’l students that did not have anywhere to go for Thanksgiving”. Shame on me for not researching the website and realizing this school has a two-week break for turkey and dressing. School kindly offered a local alum interview option which we accepted (after flights, car and hotel canceled). Same story. Non-athlete day student with nothing in common with DC (including gender). DC chose not to complete the app.</p>
<p>Thankfully these were isolated incidents on our BS journey.</p>
<p>walnuthill: That must have been really discouraging for your child. I hope it all worked out in the end.</p>
<p>At 2 schools we visited, my kid was also paired with day students, which was unfortunate b/c she had dorm questions, which the guide couldn’t address (or answered incorrectly… in one case, telling her that all the dorm rooms were wired for cable tv!!) I know it’s very challenging to pair guides with applicants, trying to find similar interests… but it’s hard for a potential boarder to hear “I don’t really know much about the dorms”.</p>
<p>You do realize that at most schools, the student tour guides are volunteers, and the ones who are available during your appt time are the students who have a free period then. I would hesitate to judge a school by its student guide. </p>
<p>Now judging a school by the behavior of its AOs is different-- they are paid, official representatives of the school.</p>
<p>We had a day student tour guide at Milton, and she was fantastic. Knew everything about the dorms & boarding life etc. So I don’t think that a day student necessarily is a bad match, it’s just that sometimes the tour guides aren’t that great for whatever reason. It’s understandable, but unfortunate because they do make an impression.</p>
<p>Yes, they do make an impression. My kid has been hosting prospective students for the admissions office… not touring, but bringing them along to her classes and chatting them up. I’m the first to say… I hope no one crosses a school off their list based on an experience with a student tour guide or host! 
</p>
<p>I actually think it is a matter of training. If all tour guides were trained in a specific way, the gender/boarding status/athlete/artist aspect might be moot. It would make for a more consistent experience for potential applicants. I am actually surprised that there isn’t more “quality control” over this kind of thing. At the school my child attends, kids are given separate tours to the parents. When we split up to go our different ways, the AO said to the student tour guide, “ok, so do the normal tour and we will meet back here at…”. Obviously there is some methodology to the tour. Even with an all-volunteer staff, surely there could be a bit of training? It surprises me that some of these stories are experiences had at the “top” schools…I can’t see how such an experience would have made it MY “top” choice… School admissions is a business and , despite what you read here on CC, you have PLENTY of choices. </p>
<p>Between my 2 kids, I must have toured over a dozen BS. We always had good tours even when the student tour guide was not the best match for S or D. They always displayed tremendous school pride which was a good indication that they truly liked their school.
There was one slight turn off at a school during a tour. Our very polite tour guides held the door open for the headmaster and she did not thank them or say hello to any of us as we waited for her to pass through the door. It was a strange moment and made all of us, including tour guides, feel a bit embarrassed. S was accepted to that school but did not want to return for revisit day. I was surprised because we all had a really pleasant experience in the AO and one of the coaches took S to a team meeting and lunch. Overall, this school was a good match but S never pinpointed why he took the school off the list. ( this was a few years ago so don’t try to figure out the school. I’ll never tell) [-( </p>
<p>I’m a little prickly when it comes to courtesy, so I would have felt like the tour took a slight turn, too. </p>
<p>My biggest pet peeve is when students ridicule or fail to recognize proper etiquette. After an athletic event, I took a group of kids ( girls and boys) out to dinner. When I arrived at the table (after parking the car), my son and two other boys stood up and my son held my chair. Some girls eye-rolled and giggled while two other boys remained seated. When one girl got up to leave the table the boys stood up again… and again more eye-rolling. One girl even said, Please stop- you don’t have to do that! I just sat there thinking, Oh, yes they do…</p>
<p>Another time, we took K1 and two friends out to brunch. He later told me that he warned them: If you want my mother to ask for the check… just look at your cellphone at the table. :)</p>
<p>I bring this up because on one tour our guide kept checking his phone and K2 kept getting the door… and I was NOT happy. Was it a total deal breaker? No. But I still wasn’t happy… </p>
<p>At our school, the student tour guides get chosen because they happen to have free periods and they volunteer. The training is minimal to nil, and we’ve gotten migraines from banging our heads on the desk after overhearing some of the things our student guides say. While some of the guides are fantastic, I’ve never understood how the admissions office can be satisfied with so many poorly trained guides acting as ambassadors for the school, but with plenty of visitors and a limited pool of available students I guess you work with what you’ve got.</p>
<p>@PhotographerMom: Love that you are fostering “old school” values in your kids. When I was in in my college singing group (all male) and we visited women’s colleges, I insisted that guys at my table to stand until the women were seated. There was some eye-rolling at first, but once they saw that it was appreciated by our hosts, I no longer had to remind them.</p>
<p>As for tour guides, I do realize that the students are volunteers. But would a museum send visitors on a tour with a docent who had poor manners or was not knowledgeable? I agree with those above who suggest that there should be a certain level of training. I would go so far as to suggest that the Admissions office screen for kids whose personalities are more suited to be “best foot forward” spokespeople for the school.</p>
<p>FWIW, best tour guide this time around was at Lawrenceville…a VERY well spoken, well informed Senior boy.</p>
<p>@Albion: yes - to a certain extent. But at a lot of schools the tour guides are a “club”. Seems to me that they sign up so that they get to put that they are student guides on college apps. So – for that privilege, seems to me they can be required to do a 45 minute “training tour” before being unleashed on applicants. I can tell you that if I were an admissions person, I would worry that my hard recruiting work was being undone in 45 minutes! But, I do fall more in the @PhotographerMom camp on this sort of thing…</p>
<p>At my DS’s school, being a guide is definitely a privilege. You have to apply, and go through some training.</p>
<p>PhotoMom, i have a lovely daughter that your K2 may be interested in. ;)</p>
<p>@PhotographerMom When my brother is looking at his phone under the table my mom says, “Starboy, it worries me that you’re looking down at your crotch and smiling.” If he wasn’t smiling before, he is then!</p>