<p>Hi everyone,
I am a former tour guide and there are others of us on this website. There were a lot of things that I wish I could have told the people on my tours. So yeah, I thought I would start this threat:</p>
<li><p>Dress appropriately. Do not look like a thug or a baby prostitute. Even if you are just going on a tour, you never know when you will run into your admissions representative. You don’t have to wear a suit, even nice jeans and a collared shirt will do.</p></li>
<li><p>Don’t make out with your significant other while on a tour, even if you are just with a tour guide, you never know when he or she will jokingly mention it in front of the staff.</p></li>
<li><p>Parents: do not speak in ‘we’ language. Don’t go to the desk and say ‘we are interested in applying.’ let your child take the initiative.</p></li>
<li><p>Do not answer your cell phone. If you do have to answer it, excuse yourself from the tour and join up later.</p></li>
<li><p>Students, ask questions</p></li>
<li><p>Never admit that you are only looking at the school as a safety…even if it is true it makes you look arrogant</p></li>
<li><p>Before leaving, shake the tour guides’ hand, ask for his or her email for further questions, introduce yourself again, and make sure you make an impression.</p></li>
<li><p>Write a thank you note to the admissions office and mention your tour guide by name in it. Then, when the admissions office tells the tour guide that they received a note and that it mentioned you, the tour guide has the opportunity to say “why, yes I remember him, what a really great kid”</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Bottom line: none of this will make or break you, but be aware and it will help you in the long run.</p>