<p>Brown, MIT</p>
<p>I guess we have been lucky with tour guides. We havenât had a single bad one. A few were obviously new to the job and seemed a bit nervous, but still did fine.</p>
<p>What surprised me was the schools that had the admissions interviews run by student interns. I thought the interview was a possibly important piece of the application. All our interviews were arranged well ahead, so it was not a case of having to find someone at the last minute. All the interviews my daughter did with actual admissions counselors went very well. Two of the student interviews went pretty well, but she still felt they were not as in depth. Three of the student interviews were somewhat to very unpleasant and D felt that if anything, they had hurt her chances.</p>
<p>Well I would like to post an agreement with the last dozen or so posters about tour guides and overnight hosts. </p>
<p>From a business point of view, there appears to be a major, preventable, disconnect of logic over in the admissions office. </p>
<p>We have received many stunning (expensive) brochures in the mail, colleges pay the College Board Big Money to rent lists of names, plus tours and presentations, media networking, etc. Yet the tour guides and hosts â who actually have the physical presence with the potential consumers â have little to no vetting or training. And this happens at Big Name colleges who have plenty of access to Business professors as well as paid consultants! Maybe those Top Ranked US News Colleges know they that can fill their freshman class anyway, so who cares what you think?</p>
<p>My understanding is that some student hosts volunteer for this to get single rooms, and since upperclassmen already have single rooms, you are going to get an underclassman with much less knowledge, and maybe the wrong motivation. Previous posters say that this is, of all things, a volunteer position. Do colleges have âvolunteerâ Marketing Directors? Not likely.</p>
<p>These jobs should be categorized as paid Work Study for the business and communication majors. There should be a serious interview process for them, training, expectations and evaluations/mentoring. This would in turn be very valuable for their future careers from so many perspectives.</p>
<p>What is the incredible cost to colleges when people then use word of mouth or the internet to negatively influence multiple potential consumers? Many of these colleges are showing their complete marketing naivete by putting so much effort into brochures, and yet completely missing the boat when an actual, serious, potential consumer is on their home turf.</p>
<p>Personally, I think it says something about a college when they âdo it rightâ by having knowledgeable and friendly guides and hosts. Doesnât that speak to how their Admission Department sees their role â and you the potential student?</p>
<p>âFâ in Business for them.</p>
<p>I would suggest that we let this thread get back to itâs original intent - quick posts about impressions of schools after visiting. There have been many other threads about the importance of visits/tour guides etc.</p>
<p>I couldnât agree more with 1bie792. Colleges are wasting huge amounts of money and effort in promoting their schools if their tour guides are poorly chosen or undertrained.</p>
<p>My high school senior daughter had two friends that visited a highly respected LAC in the upper midwest this fall for a weekend in the dorm with a couple of students. Her friends are white, one is a skinny blonde. (yes this is relevant). They were paired with two black girls. One of them told the visitors âJust because this is college, it doesnât mean there arenât any cliques like high school. The skinny blonde c***s here still think theyâre better than us.â And the visitors couldnât sleep because one of the guides was in the midst of a pregnancy scare and talked loudly on the phone to her boyfriend all night.</p>
<p>And, several years ago, I was visiting another upper midwestern LAC with my son and we were eating lunch with two tour guides from the football team. They asked my son what other colleges he was considering. He named another LAC. The two guides looked at each other knowingly and said something like âDonât you know what that college is all about? Most of the students there are gayâ. ie the guides came off like a couple of cretins. And the room we toured in the dorm was floor to ceiling with beer cases and pictures were on the wall that probably shouldnât be included in a tour.</p>
<p>^Just to play devilâs advocate, there is a small chance that your son might have found his own friends if he went there and really liked it. The problem is we get these close up snapshots of college life via the tour guide, the dorm room, the unedited comments of a few students, and our kids make their choices based on that (which is the point of this whole thread â to remind ourselves of the arbitrary ways people cross perfectly good schools off their list). I guess maybe we should all take the first hand impressions with a big grain of salt.</p>
<p>I think there are many kids out there like my D. Her criteria where a SLAC with top academics (especially Bio) and where she could play sports. There are a lot of schools on that list. Therefore, a negative admissions experience at Amherst and Dartmouth gives a reason to cross them off as there are 12 other similar colleges without negative admissions experience. She agreed that the admissions tour was a poor reason to cross them off, but felt she had to âsomehowâ eliminate schools.</p>
<p>Lafalum84- funny you should mention Providence College. 30 years ago I took one step onto the campus and just knew it was the place for me. PCâs tour guides used to be (and still may be) members of the Friars Club, a highly selective and sought after key club. They were always dressed in sharp winter white blazers and black pants/skirts. And trained well on how to give a tour nd respond to questions. My tour was in the rain and the Friars Club had these funny double umbrellas that both my dad and I could fit under. </p>
<p>The campus definitely canât compare with some other schools - half of it used to be a hospital for the mentally ill - but I guess it worked for me.</p>
<p>Ours would have been St Louis U. </p>
<p>They had a big visit day last fall. They asked who traveled the furthest and there were people from each coast. </p>
<p>The presentation was good but there just wasnât enough of it. Certainly not worth a special trip.</p>
<p>I could see through that issue but my son couldnât. Our tour guide was pretty good - but couldnât make up for the presentation.</p>
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<p>Right. I crossed off schools because of a general poor impressionâand the tour guide, as the only student I had extended contact with at most of the schools, certainly played a role in that. I know the tour guides are not indicative of the entire student body; however, I figure that at most places the kids who get the tour guide jobs are a self-selecting group, fairly happy with their school. If the tour guide really turns me off, and the tour guide really really loves his/her school environment, it stands to reason I might not like that environment. The reasoning may be spotty, but when youâre trying to narrow down a list itâs the best you can do. (Just like how top colleges must choose between many exceptional candidates with very high scores and grades. How do they do it? A rudimentary impression.)</p>
<p>We toured several universities this past summer away from our home state of Maryland. We limited the schools to those in the northeast/NY/PA with neuroscience undergrad programs and those in urban/town environments. Here are my sonâs (and his fatherâs) impressions:</p>
<p>Cornell - he loved it; tour guide was knowledgeable and professional and admissions person was quite accommodating/I liked it - he applied ED (#1 choice) and did not get in. Son no longer likes Cornell.</p>
<p>Rochester - he did not like the âfeelâ of the campus nor the architecture/I thought it was nice but maybe not as urban as my son would like - he did not apply</p>
<p>Northeastern - toured NEU same day as BU. He did not care for the campus/I thought it was nice. Both of us were underwhelmed by the info session and the overwhelming focus on co-op. Sounded like a one-trick pony. He did not apply.</p>
<p>BU - he really loved BU, tour was good (but not great) but the info session guy was outstanding. I liked it but he liked it more than me. Then again, Boston is a nice palce to go to school. It was his #2. He has applied RD and is awaiting a decision.</p>
<p>Pitt - he liked it fine; tour and info session were good and professional. I grew up near Pitt and root for them in sports so Iâm biased. It was his #4. He applied, got into their Honors College, and we are seeing if he gets any scholarship money or not.</p>
<p>NYU - he loves Manhattan so this was an early favorite. However, the info session and tour gave him a less than great impression. If we have to hear one more time Lady Gaga went there ⊠I was fine with it but not overly impressed considering the cost and little fin aid most get. It was his #3. He applied RD and is waiting to hear a decision.</p>
<p>Summary - the info sessions/tours were influential to moving the âlikeâ meter some one way or another but no big changes due to them. They eliminated a couple of schools that were on the edge to start with and shifted rankings a bit. He will attend Honors Day at Pitt which will give him a second look and another chance for the school to shine or fail.</p>
<p>Hope this helps a bit.</p>
<p>Wayyyyy back I posted Dâs impressions. I think I forgot to say that we were really turned off by the presentation by the admissions counselor at Muhlenberg. It was incredibly boring and not very specific to their school. lots of general info on applying to college. a complete waste of time in our view. She also didnât like the campus, so ended up not applying.
Long time readers of this thread are familiar with why she didnât like Susquehanna (which I loved)âŠthe smelly gingko trees!!</p>
<p>I posted earlier on a couple of schools that my D crossed off the list immediately. Well, now we are visiting âthe programsâ within the schools in more detail and we are finding a huge difference between the admissions people and the program people. In one case, the admissions people were great but the people running her specific program were surely and clearly unhappy. So, I think that it is important that if you are applying for a specific program like nursing, architecture, some of the engineering and business programs that you go beyond admissions and meet with the dept chair and supporting cast. It can ake all the difference. One school that was high on her list dropped quickly off her list depsite their national recognition and presitge. Another less prestigous program rose up to #1 or #2 becasue they were more innovative and were âtrying harderâ. Just a thought.</p>
<p>momofboston - thatâs sage advice. When we revsiit our âfinalistsâ, thatâs what weâll do, visit the program people.</p>
<p>Northwestern. The tour guide was neither smart nor fit being there in that caliber of schools. But she is in. S does not want to be with students like that.</p>
<p>Crossed off Dâs list
Texas - just did not like the vibe
Austin College- too small</p>
<p>MomofBoston: Very true. After you are accepted, a student will never deal with the admissions staff again. The admissions staff may be nice, well-spoken and give great presentations, but they will be completely irrelevant. </p>
<p>What matters most are the profs in your department. Most accepted student days give students a chance to meet the people in their department. Take full advantage of it.</p>
<p>A small amount of insight can be found by the ratemyprofessors.com website. Look for comments about professors in relevant departments. I found at one university, the overall professor rating was not great, but most of the low ranked professors were in engineering, while the liberal arts profs were rated highly. Beware of comments about how easy a class was, and look to useful comments.</p>
<p>Grinnell and WUSTL</p>
<p>Iâm not a parent but I just saw this and had to commentâŠ</p>
<p>Iâm an international so I wonât get to visit any schools! Iâll just have to rely on anecdotal evidence!</p>
<p>I had to comment on the above post. Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL) moved up to a clear #1 on Dâs list after the visit. It is an incredibly beautiful campus, with an open and friendly atmosphere. They seem to have captured the best of both worlds in terms of being large enough for an abundance of research opportunities (including with the Med School which is ranked 4th in the nation), while being small enough to have some of the benefits one would find at a larger LAC. People at the Department level stopped what they were doing to chat with us. This was followed-up by an email from the Department Chair! Students may change easily between majors, and double-major or minor in countless areas offered by any of the Schools on campus. The flexibility was incredibly appealing to my daughter (I think it would be to most).</p>