<p>We appreciate a good visitors page, including information on how to get to campus by public transportation. Don't just send us to the massive, confusing website of your government transportation agency. It would me take a week to figure out the bus routes.</p>
<p>Clear parking instructions are important. A discount at (or at least a list of) local hotels would help, too.</p>
<p>A convenient way to observe classes would be great. Some schools offer a list of lectures that can be observed without an appointment. Even a videotape of a typical lecture, with peeks at the audience reactions, would be helpful. There's no reason this kind of thing can't be available on the internet.</p>
<p>On their website, Vanderbilt has a great video of their admissions director addressing many of the FAQs that he answers every day. I love the attitude he has of, "we'd like to think that applicants are mature enough to read and follow the guidelines." That tells me a lot about the school's values. Other schools have allowed PBS or another media outlet to report on a typical admission session. These are so enlightening - why wouldn't all schools want their applicants to know what is important?</p>
<p>I would love to see common app schools band together and create a process of admission waves, where a senior can apply to 3 schools at a time, starting on November 1 and with a new deadline every 6-8 weeks. Since Harvard, Princeton and Virginia will be reassessing their strategies this year, it seems like a good time for a trial. The sooner the a student gets an admission, the easier life is for everybody, and there won't be a need for kids to apply to 10+ schools. The process is just too confusing and arbitrary these days.</p>
<p>Quote from Zamzam: "My guide at Northeastern in particular was very vocal about which dorms were popular, which dorms were underrated, where you can get the best food, etc. Too often I feel that I'm being fed the same information that I had previously researched on the web site: student tour guides are not very effective if they are not offering their advice as current students of the university."</p>
<p>I had a chance to talk to prospies at a reception for my alma mater last week. It seemed the biggest question was "which dorm is best?" While I wanted to tell them that you'll be lucky to get into the dorms if you don't send in your license packet the day you get it, I also wanted to let them know which dorms to avoid from a parent perspective. It's kind of hard, though, when the director of housing is standing right next to you. A few times I was able to describe what the different halls were like and which ones to avoid, but this information could easily be discovered during a campus tour on a weekend. Just walk around the halls after 9 p.m., and you'll know where you'll want to live. If the college has a party rep, then walk around the dorms on a weeknight. Will my kid have to go to the library to study every night? Will my kid actually do that, or will he be distracted by the noise and "fun"? Important questions that most tour guides and reps are unwillingly to answer--and some will even lie.</p>
<p>I don't know anybody who liked info sessions. I think that the question on everybody's mind is "how is this school different from all other who have the same demographics, (e.g LAC, rural with enrollment of # and gpa/scores of #)" and "what do I need to do to get in." I think that the first question really could be answered in the info sessions, (all you need to do is look at the books that tell you opinions to know that the info is out there..._) and the second question, while not impossible to answer, certainly can be addressed more honestly. </p>
<p>I really liked those schools that made you feel that they cared to talk to those applying (Colgate was great, Yale clearly could care less about those visiting, they made you feel lucky that they even bothered to provide a tour guide....) Williams' brochure was really funny and kept me looking through it. Amherst's admissions office personnel were always friendly and gracious, unlike some other schools, where they seemed bitter and overwhelmed. These small things made a difference for me in the application process.</p>
<p>Those little things are significant. The Amherst adm. office staff was just lovely and welcoming, really charming. Williams staff we found a bit aloof, but quite polite, same with Pomona. There were 2 quite young people behind the welcome desk at Tufts (students?) and they were a little callous the way young people can be who haven't learned kindness. On the other hand, our tour guide at Tufts was wonderful... he more than made up for the jerky kid at the reception desk. Dan, the guide was a tall thin kid from Spain (I think). I don't remember his name, unfortunately. You guys should give that kid a giant gift basket. Terrific guide. Probably the very best of any tour guide we had at any college. It was absoultely pouring rain and we'd traveled clear across the country, but that kid made Tufts look fantastic... not just by what he said, but just his cleverness and humor and infectious energy and his very charming humility.</p>