Campus Tours
 

One of our close family's friend's daughter will be a senior in high school next year. This girl is awesome and I hope she ends up rushing later on. Anyways, the family is in the process of checking our schools and seeing what each has to offer. I had mention that I loved looking at other school's campus, especially greek row and so they will be inviting me to each of the visits that they make. My question to all of you is: how was your campus tours and the tour guide in general? Was he/she on crack while giving a tour? What did you see? Wanted to see but didn't? Stuff like that..........

When we took our son to tour his "short list" schools, the student tour guides were absolutely excellent. Exceptionally well trained and well versed on their respective campuses.

None of the tours included "Greek Row."

As a campus tour guide, I can offer these tips to get the most out of any tour...

1st, if you set it up with the office of admissions it will probably be better than if you go during a HS visit day (however the visit days probably will offer you a lot more information on other things, particularly major and involvement opportunities). Admissions tour guides do tours more regularly, while on HS visit days, they are often searching for volunteers to deal with the large number of people on campus. Admissions tours will also be WAY more personal.

2nd, if there is something you want to see...ASK TO SEE IT. As a tour guide, I love it when my group asks questions, because often times I may forget to cover something (like student parking) that I normally don't think of as a concern. Particullarly ask about seeing Greek row, and if school is in session a tour of a greek house, b/c most tours are there simply to promote the school, and not individual organizations/systems.

3rd, enjoy yourself, get to know your tour guide and ask about their experiences. If you get them comfortable you'll probably find out a lot more about the school than you would be able to find from other sources. You'll see what the students think of their school, which is a great gauge to how you'll probably feel when you go there.

I second all of this! I was a campus tourguide for several years as well (it's a paid position, actually a pretty big deal to be in among campus, very greek as well).

There's absolutely nothing worse or more boring when you're giving a tour to a group of 1 or 2 families who have absolutely nothing to say! Any tour that I ever gave, I always tried very hard to make it as personal as possible (even on HS visitation days- which I definately agree are not the best times to see the school!- when I had groups of 75 at times just because there were 2000 or more people at the program). ASK QUESTIONS!!!! But don't get TOO personal unless the tourguides offer up the info. Several questions that various tourguides got asked while I was a tourguide:

* A mom asking a male tourguide: "How has your sex life changed since you came to Pitt?"

* What is your GPA (I got this question several times as well)?

* Any question about drugs or alcohol phrased in a personal way- such as asking the tour guide how much he or she drinks, how available drugs are, etc. Getting a bit too personal.

Something else not to do- please DO NOT video the tour..... shots of the buildings and stuff are great, but I had a guy videotape our tour (It was just his son and himself on the tour) to show the rest of the family. Very unnerving to have a camera in your face.

I took a tour of my schools too, and they were okay. They're pretty good if you're still just applying to schools, and can take another indepth tour of the places you're actually accepted. Mine were always pretty small, so I was able to ask as many questions as I could, which made it nice. They always showed me where the museum and the Art History Department were. :)

At my school, tour guides were volunteers--so you definitely got someone enthusiastic about the school, who really wanted to be giving that tour at 9 AM on a Saturday.

I was really impressed with how all of the tour guides could walk backwards, while talking intelligently and not fall on their behinds.

It's a talent.

GeekyP,

UM-Rolla?

Fantastic!!!! Great School!!! There is a LXA Chapter there which is very strong!

For you engineering students!:)

There are a lot of strong chapters there - I think I might have stayed an engineer had I chosen that school instead. Rolla was too boring and too far away - whereas Platteville was too boring but close. :)

The Delt chapter there keeps winning awards. I've met some of the advisors and undergrads, and they really do act like engineers -- with all of the great and not so great conotations implied.

As someone who is stuck on campus giving tours all summer, I have to agree with what everyone here has said. Tours bite when families don't ask questions or even respond to what I say I any way at all (Heaven forbid).

I remember my tour for Beloit (where I am now) quite well. My tour guide showed up late and only briefly showed us part of campus. Then his next class was the class I was going to sit in on, so he asked me to tell the Prof that he'd be late. Quite unnerving for a prospective student to do!

My tours of Harvard and UWEauClaire were WAY worse. At the Harvard tour, my guide kept asking me questions about what I did in high school, what my grades were like, etc. and I couldn't ask any questions of my own! When I did, they were ignored. At UWEC, the guide was nice, but just really really bland. I don't expect to be entertained every second of the tour, but the guide could at least have pretended to like going to their school!

But Beloit College tour guides rock! If your friend is ever in WI, send her over here and I will personally give her her tour! And it *will* be awesome! :cool:

Right now all the incoming freshman are coming for orientation and registration. Some (about half) are here w/ at least one parent. It annoys the piss out of me. College is a time of "breaking free" or at least gaining some semblance of personal independence. If these parents don't trust their kids to make wise decisions, or if they don't trust the university to advise their kids, then maybe they oughta just consider keeping them home at some 2 year school. Even though I'm not a tour guide I've been asked (and I've heard) some stupid questions and comments. I hate when parents who even went to one week of ( any) college walk around campus like they know f*cking everything. I'm so thankful my parents didn't insist on coming to my orientation. Somehow I've done just fine :)

Swissmiss,

First, are you talking about orientation, or a campus tour for high school students who are considering coming to (name that school)? The latter is what I think this thread is meant to be about.

I gotta tell you that if you're talking about campus tours, it really ticks me off. As a parent, I have EVERY RIGHT to be comfortable with the school I am sending my 17 or 18 year old off to -- in terms of academics, attitude, social life, safety and other things. That's especially true if I'm paying for it.

As for trust and being grown up and ready to make their own decisions -- read the risk management thread and tell me that all of the 18-20+ years olds are old enough to make their own decisions and take care of themselves. Obviously, some (I'll even say most) are, but a lot of others aren't. Besides, those tours can happen anywhere from the end of sophomore to end of senior year in high school. Some of those kids are 16 and 17.

If you ever become a parent, you also may realize that you want to have a mental picture of the place that your offspring is spending his/her time. It's a way of staying close and being comfortable. You don't just magically cut the cord emotionally when that 18th birthday comes along.

It's entirely possible that a parent who has a college degree just might know a bit more about what questions to ask than someone with absolutely no experience in higher learning. Hey, when our oldest daughter changed schools/major and went out of state (to my and Mrs. DeltAlums Alma Mater), her orientation and class scheduling was the day before classes began, and she had a lot of trouble with a certain department. Because I know the chairperson of the department and the Dean of the Honors College (at the time I was President of the Colorado Chapter of the Alumni Association), she was able to set up a schedule and got all of her previous courses accepted -- something the Asst. Director of the school wasn't going to do. In fact, he wasn't going to accept any of them. So, she would have spent the first week of the quarter just trying to get registered for classes, and it would have taken four more years to graduate instead of two. I know she was pretty happy that I was there.

Finally, the tour guides who have answered above are saying that tours are terrible if the participants don't ask questions -- and you're taking parents who do to task. I'm sure some parents ask dumb questions or act inappropriately -- but so do some students. But wait, what's the old line about their are no dumb questions? Only dumb answers? Maybe you see parents who don't have a college degree and are really anxious to understand what their student will be doing for those next several years.

A little comfort for them is not too much to ask and expect.

Putting the soap box back in mothballs now...and feeling a lot calmer.

I'm pretty sure that she's not talking about tours, at least I hope not, probably more talking about freshman orientations over the summer. Either way I agree it's a pretty negative attitude and it's a good thing she's not a tourguide or counselor :)

I was a Freshman Peer Counselor for Pitt- we basically ran the orientation programs. What she's talking about I can definately see. The kids come for usually 2 or 3 days- sometimes parents come with them, sometimes they don't. There's a lot of programming for the parents set up, so that the students can meet with their advisors (which the school prefers to do w/o initial parent involvement- that way Susie the Science mind doesn't have her parents there saying, oh, my daughter's going to be a lawyer. While the girl has no desire to do that- i've seen it!), take their placement test, and get to know some other students socially.

I think she's talking about the parents who come to these things with their kids and don't let them out of their sight. There's been parents that wanted to sit next to their kid while they were taking a placement exam, and she threw an absolute isht fit when we told her that no one else was allowed in the room. There's parents that make sure they're absolutely glued to their kid the entire time- the kid doesn't get a chance to meet other students, speak up for themselves, etc. It's one thing to show an interest and involvement in your child's education, it's another thing entirely to hamper their independence and social deveopment (which of course, you're not doing, DeltAlum!)

There are some parents and kids who really do need to at least LOOSEN the apron strings.

The tour guides at GMU were absolutely wonderful when I went for an Open House weekend. A lot of my questions were answered in the opening presentation held for all the students in the morning, but the guides did a great job of answering additional questions. We were in fairly small groups for the campus tour. They started with the Johnson Center (what we call the 'black hole'... it's where EVERYTHING is- food, friends, bookstore, movie theater, computer store, admissions, etc. You go in and never come out!) then moved on to Student Union II, the freshman dorms (with a room to look at), the Aquatic Center and gym, then over to Student Union I. There really isn't much else to Mason except the library, but no one wanted to see that. The thing that really struck me about the school as a whole and made me decide to go there was that everyone was nice! I went to Va Tech, JMU, Radford, and those people acted like you were interrupting their valuable time. The guides at GMU get an A+ from me :)

You're right. There are obnoxious parents on the sidelines at sports events, and "stage parents" in the arts and simply over-protective parents as well.

It's the attitude and language that ticked me off.

And, until you are a parent, there are some things that you (meaning the universal you) probably won't understand.

In Swissmiss's defense...

Overbearing, obnoxious parents are everywhere. This summer, I'm working with kids in a program where they take classes and live in college dorms. I understand the concern one has when leaving their 16 year old in a program for 3-7 weeks, but many parents were over the top (add to that their constant grilling us--the RAs--over our college GPA, SAT scores and activities, and reminding us of all the overblown recognition their child has--National Honor Society, anyone?). A lot of it is good-hearted concern, but more often than not, it is pompousness and arrogance.

DeltAlum, there is a difference between being comfortable with your child's school choice and being overbearing to the point where it makes others completely uncomfortable, and to the point where it makes you look arrogant. I can honestly say that my parents--who were paying full freight for a costly education--let me lead and ask the questions during college tours. Essentially, they wanted to know that the programs I wanted were good, the dorms were okay, and whether or not I would need a car or bike to get around. They may have been paying for it, but it was MY EDUCATION, and they are sensible enough people, experienced in college life after having attended college themselves and sending my older sister to school, to understand that I would be the one doing the homework, using the gyms, and eating the food. They weren't the types to throw their weight around as far as what they knew about college--that would be pure arrogance, in my opinion.

As I said above, if she's talking about orientation, I don't have a problem with anything except the attitude and language. If she's talking about campus tours -- those are meant for parents as well as prospective students.

The thread was originally about campus tours.

I agree with you on your example of several days or weeks in some kind of special program.

We put our son and a young girl friend (not girlfriend, although they had dated) on an airplane to a theatre workshop at Tasis American School in England for six weeks the summer between his freshman and sophomore year in high school. That was a leap of faith. We're not overbearing when it comes to things like that.

BUT

It's important to point out again, though, that some of these kids aren't particularly mature -- or trustworthy. There is no way to know which kind of kid any given parent has without getting to know the kid over some length of time. The parents have known them all of their lives.

I know that some parents really are over the top. We knew a family who sent their son off to Interlocken (Arts school in upper Michigan) and then were so paranoid they moved there themselves.

I don't think most parents -- and certainly not "half" of us are that bad, though.

Thank you Munchkin

And no Deltalum, I'm not a parent. Nor do I intend to be for a long time. I was not even talking about parents like you. I was talking about those parents who are "overbearing stage parents". When you've been stopped by a parent (she actually yanked on my backpack) and asked how many times on average you go out drinking in a week, you do tend to become negative. So please don't thrash me!

Ours have been good--over the past 3 years, we've toured most of the large colleges and universities in Georgia plus Auburn and Birmingham Southern.I commend the guides we've had because they handled the obnoxious parents smoothly.

My only criticism would be--hey, you Auburn tour guides! Don't pressure your group into going on top of the tallest building on campus when it's forty below, windy, and rainy!

Poor Carnation! Was that the day I met you? If it was...BRR!! It was SO COLD!

I went to the top of the highest building at Auburn when it was about 500 degrees outside!

Hey, where did you get that college picture of me?

Swissmiss,

No problem. I won't trash you when you stop stereotyping parents and their college aged kids whom you've never met and know nothing about...

One of those parents could have been me if I didn't have kids I could be confident about.

Yep! That's why TigerFan and I had stand-up hair, no makeup left, and our teeth were still chattering!

It was SOOOOOOO cold that day! I almost froze to death waiting for you!;)

I rule! :D

I really miss giving campus tours. :(

But in the original spirit of the thread... I had a good tour guide. I would hope that most tour guides are knowledgable about the campus, but it doesn't happen sometimes. But if your tour guide is new, take pity on them... I was a wreck my first tour by myself, or even the first tour that I assisted with. I am still incredibly nervous when I do the large groups at Open House (because no one hears me anyway). On that note, Open Houses are God awful. Please go on a long weekend and take a day off work, or if the school offers weekend tours, sign up for one of those. I promise you will be much happier with your tour and you will get a more personal experience.

And definitely arrange it through the school. The admissions counselors, believe it or not, are much more knowledgable about the school than some dude you know from high school. ;) And in past experience, they'll probably speak pretty negatively about the school. I love Florida Tech, but there are some things that really irritate me about the place. But the thing I realized is that the things that irritate me are things that all schools do. Most school's financial aid offices are not the best, and all schools are really damn expensive, even if you get a scholarship. I mean, it's good to get a realistic view of a school, but you have to realize that some problems are universal amongst colleges. Think carefully about any negative comments before accepting them as a true negative against an university.

For the 2 schools at the top of my list (Wheelock College and Emerson College) I attended an admissions tour while I was applying, and then I attended the "Accepted Students" day after. The Accepted Students day was a LOT more relaxed and "fun" than the admissions tour for both schools.

Both of the schools had the traditional informative meeting complete with brochure and pamphlet hand-outs, followed by tours of the campus and residence halls, and then little question and answer periods in the foyer of the student union.

At Wheelock, the Accepted Students day had a brief reception, in-depth tours of the campus and residence halls, sample "classes," and a lunch w/ some of the professors. Parents and potential students stayed together. The tour guide was AWESOME and we actually exchanged email adresses because she knew I was torn between schools and wanted to know where I ended up.

At Emerson, the Accepted Students day split the parents and students up for separate events. The students went to sample "classes" by intended major, and then went to a departmentalized student panel for a question and answer period in one of the theaters. The student panel was cool because there were NO faculty or staff in the room so everyone could be really candid. The parents had seminars to go to like "Financial Aid," or "Parent Perspectives." Then they had department overviews which talked about their child's major, etc.
The student tour guides were AMAZING. Emerson students are known for being a little strange...my group guide named us the lost boys (we were all girls, HE was a boy) and named himself Wendy. We were all theater people so we sang "we have a mother, at last we have a mother!" as we walked through Boston Common. It was fun.
After all that, the parents and potential students met back up for a lunch in the Park Plaza Hotel. Current students and Alumni circulated and talked with everyone. I had so much fun, and ended up going to Emerson! :)

Much as I love you darlin' that's just a little bit geeky lol.

I think having a tour guide that was a female want to be would have thrown me.

I don't talk to you for something like 3 months and that's what I get? You call me a geek? haha

It makes more sense if you understand that Emerson is a PERFORMING ARTS/COMMUNICATIONS SCHOOL. My tour guide was a Musical Theater major, and happened to have the score to Peter Pan The Musical in his head for one reason or another. He had been humming "I've Gotta Crow" for a while, so when it came to the chorus part a bunch of the girls in the group made the "crow" noise (you know what I'm talking about if you've seen the show) and he laughed. The "Lost Boy" thing went from there. Plus, it was funny because we were the only all girl tour group.

So James, you get a big :p