If they care so little about their tour guides ...

[Stevmom]

What time of year is the best time to tour a college?
I have learned that we can't afford much beyond a CSU in California.
What Calif. State Univ. is the least safe for my child to attend?
Which CSU is the best school for a math major?

[NewHavenCTmom]

I think schools should do a much better job of who they have marketing their product. Makes only good sense to me... but who am I??? Had it not been for your return visit the next day, you would have left with a bad taste in your mouth. Not everyone has the luxury of a 2 day visit and colleges need to realize that.

[Lafalum84]

As a former prospective parent, I understand that the tour guide is your strongest impression of a college, and I feel that colleges should select and train them better. But as a parent of a tour guide, it makes my blood boil when people complain about them as if this were their career. It's not. They're students, just a couple years older than your kid.

At D's school, tour guides are paid well and the selection process is rigorous. I happen to think D would make a terrific tour guide, and she applied for the job, but while she made it to the interview round she wasn't chosen. (Coincidentally, I have never heard of a bad tour guide at her school. They are well paid, it is a sought-after job, and the training is superb and ongoing).

At S's school, on the other hand, tour guides were barely paid. The first tour each week was "volunteer." The second tour was paid at $7/hour, for one hour - although it usually took at least an hour and a half from the time the tour guide showed up at admissions, found out if they were needed that day or not, took the group on the "hour" long tour, then answered questions. Basically, if my son gave 3 tours in a week he'd work 4 1/2 hours and get paid $14. Not even minimum wage. Apparently, the college eventually figured out why they couldn't get tour guides. They began paying for 90 minutes per tour, for all tours.

My son took the job as a tour guide because it was the only on-campus job he could find. He LOVED his college. But he is not the most outgoing person, and he was majoring Economics, while a significant number of students at his college are engineers. I'm sure he did his best. I know he gave tours when he was tired and stressed, and he even gave a few when he felt awful the week before he was diagnosed with mono. I would hate to think that anyone left campus complaining that he was "boring," when he was an underpaid, tired, stressed college kid trying to make a few dollars and help new students out.

[colorado_mom]

"how important is visiting and touring in the selection of a college?" - It's very helpful to visit colleges before applying. but it is often not practical. I'd say it is mandatory to visit a college prior to final selection.

[ucbalumnus]

Originally Posted by Stevmom

What time of year is the best time to tour a college?
I have learned that we can't afford much beyond a CSU in California.

You have checked financial aid estimates with various schools' (including UCs and private schools) net price calculators? You have checked whether the student can qualify for any Automatic Full Tuition / Full Ride Scholarships or other large enough merit scholarships?

Originally Posted by Stevmom

What Calif. State Univ. is the least safe for my child to attend?

"Safe" as in admissions/financial safety, or crime? Note that student parties with large amounts of alcohol at residential universities may be among the riskier places for the crime concern (fights, sexual assaults, etc.), as well as accidental injury or death due to excessive alcohol consumption, so commuting to a local heavily-commuter university may be safer in this respect. But many students who have a choice may not like this option. For other types of crime, you can look up the FBI Uniform Crime Reports, local and university police departments, and crime mapping web sites, although one should be careful with comparisons since there can be reporting differences (particularly for minor crimes) between different police departments.

Originally Posted by Stevmom

Which CSU is the best school for a math major?

Probably one of the more selective ones like SLO or SJ, since the popularity of the math major tends to drop off at less selective universities, so the math department and its course offerings at less selective universities may be more geared to offering remedial math courses and calculus for business majors courses and the like. But you can always go to the web sites and check what the course offerings actually are.

[kelijake1987]

I will be on tour at a campus in the morning and will be pondering the viewpoints expressed here.

I think the OP's point stands though that when a parent is looking at a campus which charges more tuition in a few years than some folks pay for a home, there is an expectation of quality of the student reps and their presentation skills.

It would be like going to a four-star restaurant paying full price, but having the experience of being at a fast food chain.

[MommaJ]

My D would have loved to be a tour guide at her college--she really takes to that sort of thing and would have been a wonderful ambassador for the school. But they don't pay the guides at all. There's was no way she was going to be an unpaid laborer when everyone else in the admissions function gets paid for their contribution. I think when a tour guide is a paying position, it attracts competitive applicants who will take the job seriously and allows a college to chose the best candidates, whereas relying on volunteers turns the process into a crapshoot with a high turnover rate. I can easily see some students signing up to give tours on a lark, then getting tired of it after a few sessions and dropping out or half-assing it thereafter.

[blueiguana]

Wow, so now the analogy is fast food restaurants vs four star because the tuition is high. So you don't expect much from the guides at the state flagship, after-all they're just public and you're only paying $20k, but by golly those elite privates better have you perfectly matched with your idea of a primo tour guide that represents their $60k school properly.

The issue with this, beyond the obvious, is the tour guide one student may find pretentious may totally connect with any number of other students on a tour. Just like college 'one size does not fit all' there's not 'one type' of student at any college. So get together the tour guides for any given university who has a competitive process of selection, they are well trained and well paid. You will find a wide range of students. Some you are going to gravitate towards and connect with, others may be like nails on a chalkboard. It's random selection of the day and the tour as to which one will be your guide. It doesn't mean the program isn't well run, that they're a great or poor guide, or that the school doesn't see that these students represent them. It's all about who you personally connect with, and just like the rest of our lives we are all going to be draw to, and respond positively to, different personalities.

[Marsian]

One of our best tour guides was a freshman in only her second month of college! She gave us a personal tour, was very well-informed and proud of her school, and talked to our son about his interests. That college started out low on his list and ended up very high, all because of the tour. The personal attention was wonderful, and he received it from every person he talked to that day, not only the guide, but also the admissions officer, two professors, and a few students who ate lunch with us.

The only tour guide we've had who really put us off was the one who told us nonchalantly, in answer to a parent's question, that there was an after-hours EMS service, and that they dealt with a lot of alcohol poisoning. My child immediately looked at me and made a cutting motion across the throat. That university was out! At least we found out early in the process. I was grateful that the tour guide had been so poorly trained.

[Lafalum84]

Marsian, EVERY college has ambulance runs dealing with alcohol poisoning. If that's your criteria, then have your kid stay home and go to CC. At least your tour guide was honest. A "well-trained" tour guide would have glossed it over with the standard, "Yes, there are alcohol and drugs here, just as there are on all campuses, but you don't have to do them to have fun and you won't be left out if you don't. I don't do those things, and I love this school and have lots of friends." If I had a nickel for every time I heard that line during the times I took my two kids college hunting (one at small, highly competitive LACs and one at large state-flagship Univs)....

the tour guide one student may find pretentious may totally connect with any number of other students on a tour. Just like college 'one size does not fit all' there's not 'one type' of student at any college. So get together the tour guides for any given university who has a competitive process of selection, they are well trained and well paid. You will find a wide range of students. Some you are going to gravitate towards and connect with, others may be like nails on a chalkboard. It's random selection of the day and the tour as to which one will be your guide. It doesn't mean the program isn't well run, that they're a great or poor guide, or that the school doesn't see that these students represent them. It's all about who you personally connect with, and just like the rest of our lives we are all going to be draw to, and respond positively to, different personalities.

AMEN!

[rushedmom]

I wish the tour guide at the university my D is now attending would have been honest about the food... lol I would have picked the lower cost food plan.

But to the orginal OP, I am sorry you had a bad tour guide. I think the best thing is to have a list of questions that you want answered before the tour starts. Some will most likely be covered in the tour if they are not then you need to ask..(or your student should ask) D and I tag teamed it sort of I would ask the safety, medical and mom types of questions and she would ask campus life and accademic questions


We had one tour where the guide mumbled answers and was not personable. While it was off putting we looked at the campus as a whole. It was a very expensive private school and its reputation would far out weigh the tour guide...

[SteveMA]

For the most part our tour guides have been good to excellent. I do wish more schools tried to match tour guides to the visiting student's interests though. We've had a lot of tour guides that were say art majors for our STEM kids. The WORST tour guide was at a CC favorite school, so bad that my normally passive son walked into the admissions office after the tour and told them to take his name off their lists because he would NEVER go to that school.

What HAS turned us off of a couple schools were the admissions counselors themselves. One school messed up DD's application so badly there was no WAY she would attend that school. These are people that are regular employees of the college and their main sales force. It would be the same in the business world, if the sales people for a company were that bad, there is no way I would do business with that company.

[GolfFather]

Once your student arrives on campus, unless they're working there, they'll never set foot into the admissions office again.

Ha, that’s funny. I’ve said the exact same thing to my D.
There is one intriguing college choice my D would (should) consider.
But we have met the head of admissions twice at college fairs and let’s just say she is not the most dynamic person in the world.
Which is a shame because I think her school has a lot to offer and I wonder how many other families take the school off their list because of her.
And, just as you say, I’ve tried to convince my D that once actually at the school, she’ll never talk to this woman again.

how important is visiting and touring in the selection of a college? What in particular would you be looking for? How would you account for the possibility that some aspect is not what it seems on first glance?

Yes, visiting a college is not a fool-proof methodology.
One cannot completely learn all things about an institution in just a few hours.
But I agree, and have experienced, that there is usually a certain “vibe” one can feel while visiting … a sense that “I can picture myself here.”
The funny thing is, my D and I seem to have, so far, completely agreed on the “vibeness” of each school we’ve visited.

What time of year is the best time to tour a college?

When it is most convenient for you and your family.
That is the most important thing IMHO.
The less stress, the better.
You’ll hear a lot about “don’t go in the summer” (no students there). “Don’t go in the winter” (too cold). “Don’t go during bad weather.” Etc.
All those might be factors but I say – go when you feel most comfortable.

[Marsian]

Marsian, EVERY college has ambulance runs dealing with alcohol poisoning. If that's your criteria, then have your kid stay home and go to CC. At least your tour guide was honest.

Lafalum84, the child who nixed the "alcohol poisoning" school is now at a large state university, absolutely happy and thriving. She does not drink, but she is with a lot of other highly motivated, high achieving students who don't drink either, and they are very supportive of one another. We have since learned that the university I was talking about has a particularly bad reputation for alcohol, and, as I said before, I was glad that the guide was poorly trained enough to say that to the parents! Sometimes a poorly-trained guide can be a good thing.

[Ordinaryparent]

I completely agree that admissions offices must invest in tour guide selection and training, as they are so much more influential than the attractive but generic flyers that are mailed out. Our worst experience was in Johns Hopkins, where the guide, just pointed to each building and rattled off how much it cost JHU to build them. (no exaggeration). It was very difficult to get our D. to look at their programs after that. The best was in Williams, where the guide was greeted, and waved at by so many people on campus, that "we are a close knit community" came alive. My D. who was not looking at rural schools became open to them in general because of the representation of life there. The tour in NYU was also very good, with the fast talking, go-getter type, media studies major representing the university very well.