<p>Having toured about 20 colleges with both my kids several years back, I’ve found that all presentations say basically the same things:</p>
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<p>Some colleges give better presentations and tours than others; some student’s give better tours than others. Harvard doesn’t put much effort into their presentations or tours because they don’t have to – they are one of the most selective colleges on the planet. If you don’t like what you see, go elsewhere. (Harvard is also a big tourist attraction for many visitors to Boston, so when you tour the school, you are also touring it with thousands of daily visitors with cameras, who are not there looking at the college for their son or daughter. It’s just another stop on the tour of Boston.)</p>
<p>What I found to be helpful is to look beyond the presentations and tours of pretty buildings – after you’ve been on a couple of them, you really never need attend one again! Instead, talk to students on campus and ask them: Are the majority of your classes lectures or small classes? Are you expected to contribute to classroom discussions on a daily basis, or are your classes mostly the professor talking? Is the reading load manageable? On average, how long does a pset take you to complete? If you could change anything about this college, what would it be? If you had to make the decision all over again, would you choose this college? Does the university go out of it’s way to make the campus environment a fun place for students? Are there scheduled events, such as picnics, boat rides, ski trips? Or, are student’s left on their own to find and make their own fun? Personal questions like that are far more telling than what you will learn from any Admissions Office presentation or tour.</p>