Open House List

mycousinvinny · July 7

Are there any web sites that list open house dates?

thumper1 · July 7

Open house dates for what?

ProfessorPlum168 · July 7

I doubt if there’s any website for that. I’ve never seen one. You’re better off just going to the website of each school you’re interested in and find out.

I have no clue which area you are interested in, but in California I can tell you UC-Berkeley more or less has one on October 19, and they will have one usually the 3rd weekend in April. Most UC schools will have an open house on the first, second or third Saturday in April, as will a lot of other schools.

thumper1 · July 7

@mycousinvinny

Why are you looking for open houses? Why don’t you just go to whatever colleges you want to see, and do a tour...or just self guide yourself around? That way...you can go any time the admissions office and schools are open.

ProfessorPlum168 · July 7

An open house does give you the ability to go inside a dorm, which is something that a typical college tour would not offer. However, it also makes sense to do an appointment-based tour as well, since some schools use tours as a basis for gauging interest.

Johnny523 · July 7

Every tour we've done has taken us into a dorm.

ProfessorPlum168 · July 7

It was a staged dorm. I guarantee you won’t be able to go into an actual dorm and see a student’s dorm unless it was an open house.

thumper1 · July 7

@Johnny523

Most colleges do not take you to a dorm room that is housing current students. Some colleges have one “sample” dorm room set up.

Even during open house days, visiting students are not taken into dorm rooms where students are living at most colleges.

This is a privacy issue.

Johnny523 · July 7

What's the difference if the room is staged? At every school we've toured, it has been in a dorm where students are actively living so you can see everything you need to see. What are you expecting to get from seeing a room that is actually being lived in that you won't get from seeing a staged room?

ProfessorPlum168 · July 8

A staged room will look like nirvana compared to a real room, free of clutter. The staged room will almost never be a triple, for example.

When we moved into my kid’s dorm, mind you, the very first tenant ever in that room, everything looked so good. A few months later there was no place to walk.

onthewestfence · July 8

YMMV. When we took a scheduled tour in the Claremont Consortium last month, Pomona didn't but Harvey Mudd showed real dorm rooms. The tour guide lives in a 5-bedroom suite with a living area, full kitchen, and a shared bathroom for at least seven students since some (non-freshmen) had singles.

thumper1 · July 8

We also toured one of the Claremont schools and the only reason we saw an inhabited dorm room was that the tour guide knew the occupant and asked.

At University of Richmond, I think...the staged room was really nice, and was actually an advertisement for Bed Bath and Beyond who provided all the decor. But other than the stuff...it was a real room.

We also saw a real room at Chapman...but it was the room belonging to the tour guide.

mycousinvinny · July 8

@thumper1
The posting is regarding open houses for colleges. I asked the question since I am trying to coordinate a couple of visits and an open house would make it easier.

thumper1 · July 8

@mycousinvinny

Honestly...it will be a LOT easier to coordinate tours and info sessions with the admissions office than it will be to coordinate open houses at multiple schools.

Most colleges have info sessions and tours at least every weekday, and some on Saturdays too. You could really pick any days...and make those appointments.

We toured 7 colleges in 10 days with absolutely no difficult scheduling and coordinating. If we had tried to do one houses at even a few...it would have been much more difficult.

Is there some reason why you prefer an open house to a scheduled tour and info session?

mycousinvinny · July 8

@thumper1
I plan on scheduling tours through admissions but just thought an open house would be easier. I just started the process and have visited a few schools informally.

thumper1 · July 9

Open houses are not offered frequently at most colleges. Where my kids went to college...there were a couple of open houses for potential applicants held in the fall. And there were maybe a couple in the spring.

Frankly, I think you will get a better view of a college doing the tour, and info sessions. You can also request department specific tours at some colleges (e.g engineering, music, etc).

This would be a good way to personalize your touring experience. The open houses are designed to move a large number of people around.

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