I’m sure you have this resource, but in case others are interested in Forestry, it lists the schools which are SAF accredited along with degree programs; if a student is interested in going into the profession, the SAF accreditation is key, and not all collegiate forestry courses or degrees meet that standard.
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One famous family that she told us about - but keeping that private. 
Most families that fall within the “famous” scope have private tours with an officer from the admission’s office vs joining the school tours. This “famous” person did join a standard tour might not have been noticed by most (business not entertainer), but my daughter recognized the person right away and she said so did several of the parents on the tour. She felt bad as some parents approached the person to “talk shop” during the tour and not after it was done and she could tell the person was uncomfortable and just wanted to listen/tour with their child.
Her stories are more around overly engaged parents that insist on walking up front vs letting the kids (even though they ask parents to trail behind), students that obviously don’t want to be there and dumb questions like “tell us about the business major” when the school (LAC) does not have a business major and when a parent says “Bobby has a question for you” vs Bobby speaking up and asking the question.
Overall, she loves being a tour guide and meeting people. She is not allowed to accept any gifts and happily will chat at a coffee shop after a tour - just can’t let a family pay for her coffee. She also adds a note to the admission file for any applicant that reaches out to her after the tour via her school email (provided) to ask additional questions or ask to be matched with a student with similar interests to ask more questions- great way to show interest.
I always keep my eye on this thread and hope she is not the bad tour guide that causes people to take the school off their list 
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Yeah, this is a problem, but if schools want to solve this? Easiest way: Give the tour guides microphones.
I’ve now been on close to 50 college tours over the past several years, and that’s the best way to get the parents to be willing to fall back—otherwise they (and I’ll be fully honest here, I) feel like they’re going to miss something they’d like to hear.
(Or train your tour guides to project. The single best tour I’ve ever been on for kids up front, parents in back? Colgate, with a tour guide who knew how to project their voice to fill a space, even outdoors.)
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Oh, we would have loved some microphones on guides. I didn’t hear a single thing our Vanderbilt tour guide said. He was terrible.
Yes to microphones. Also, another idea (that some schools do) is to have potential students tour with one guide, parents with another.
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Vassar did a really, really good job with this as well. Big group, but our tour guide was loud, engaging, and we could hear everything even when outdoors and standing in the back. BU gives the tour guides mics which is needed on the city streets.
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Yeah…beyond the competitiveness some feel on the tour (actually witnessed a high 5 between parent and child after asking what they thought was a good question?) there is also a reality that the parents don’t hear as well as the kids do, especially as the generations have expanded. Lots of 50 and 60 year old parents on the tours now.
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They did this for D19’s admitted students day, but not for the initial tour. I don’t think any of the colleges we visited did this. I can see possible advantages but also disadvantages, with over-engaged parents possibly even more dominant if it’s a parent only group. I liked being with D on the tours and being able to see in real time what she thought of what we were seeing, especially as we had quite different reactions to certain things.
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I get it, but the kids open up more when the parents aren’t around.
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Often the good forestry programs are found where paper companies have a presence and fund programs. Georgia Pacific puts a lot of money into programs in, duh, Georgia and Washington state. Mosinee and other Wisconsin paper companies ( like Kimberly Clark) put money into UW-Stevens Point (and I think one of the other UW branches). A kid I was a nanny for went to Hampshire for undergrad, but then got a masters at CSU-Ft Collins and works for the state forestry department (I’ve seen him interviewed on TV).
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At Florida Tech, which is not terribly big but the admin buildings are across a 4 lane major street (and there are some grad student dorms and recreation field there too), they use a trolley car for the overview tour. Don’t remember if there was a microphone, but I could hear everything I needed to (which was just ‘this is the library, this is the radio station, this is a dorm, classroom, athletic facility, dining hall’). We could easily walk to the specific classrooms or museum or see the (gorgeous) outdoor pool when the big tour ended.
It also kept the group together and kept the pace. The trolleys are for students during the day too, but most don’t use them and just walk from building to building.
Yeah, this is a problem, but if schools want to solve this? Easiest way: Give the tour guides microphones.
Couldn’t agree more. When we were touring, I didn’t want to be up front in tour groups as I wanted my student to take the lead on our visits, yet any time the group was larger than about 10 people it was impossible to hear what the guide was saying for those of us that trailed along in the rear.
I wasn’t there to ask questions, but I sure wanted to hear the guide answer the questions that were posed to them (as well as hear the questions themselves), and to hear what was being described on the tour as we walked. I remember one college, it was cold and windy and we were in a large group and there was a group of us parents towards the rear who kept asking each other: what did they say…? Did you hear what…?. And we all just kept shrugging and eventually rolling our eyes; none of us could hear anything and we were just ambling around.
It was a hopeless situation, and to be clear: I don’t blame the tour guide! When they’re tasked with taking around groups of 20-50 people, that’s not a situation where they can ensure that everyone is able to hear what they’re saying, nor hear the dialogue of questions and answers. Schools should provide microphones, and have guides repeat the question to the group before answering.
But if I were to go even farther (and I understand the barriers here, this is a pipe dream) I think an ideal solution would be for the schools to provide ear pieces (as they do to tour groups in museums and the like) so that people could listen to what the guide is saying, without having it amplified in the buildings, so it doesn’t disrupt the students and faculty.
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I only occasionally jump into this thread, and the one from which it deviates/originates, because I am firmly in the camp of not making a big deal, either way, about the tours and who led them. I think it’s an overreaction to do so. My life is replete with examples of people, places and experiences that didn’t look super shiny at first glance and wound up being home runs. That perspective certainly didn’t stop my kids from overreacting, but what are you gonna do?
I’m also not one to care whether other people love or do not love the school my kids attended. I wasn’t consulted on any of the architectural choices made at any of them, so I don’t take it personally when someone has a negative reaction. But, oh man, sometimes I am really surprised by relative tastes. One of the more recent takes on a particular campus that recruited my soccer player pretty hard - so we spent a lot of time there and wanted to like it - is a hard one to process, particularly relative to their other impressions. So, yes, a lid for every pot. Good way to put it.
That all said, I continue to be flummoxed by the general tendency of people to be perplexed, at best, and put off, at worst, by Andrus Field. I mean, when it’s not in use, it’s just a big green space. Who doesn’t like a big grass field on a college campus? I really don’t get what is so off-putting about that. But then the real rub is that, when it is in use, it’s to me (and I’m not alone) one of Wes’ coolest and relatively unique features. Anybody can (and Wes does) cut out a field somewhere off campus. But when Wesleyan is hosting a home football or baseball game on Andrus, it is about as charming and collegiate and ideal as any I’ve experienced. You are surrounded by nice campus buildings, there are tents and food everywhere, people are mixing and walking around, and you are right in the heart of campus, not off in some field complex that is not connected to anything other than a parking lot. Blows me away, but there you have it.
ETA: I lol’d at the high five story. I was always so amused at how people tried to cultivate an image while participating in these tours. Dress, questions, nodding excessively and smirking at various times, etc. Like, who do you think you’re impressing? This kid is going to forget he/she ever saw your face the very moment the tour ends, and has no input for admissions.
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We did this on all tours where there were multiple guides. It worked out well. We compared notes afterwards and could ask as many questions as we wanted without worrying about embarrassing our daughter.
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There was one school (I’m not sure I should name it) where the dress of a number of people on the tour actually was one of the factors that turned my D off it. “I don’t want to be at a school with all these preppy kids” (please note that I am not dissing preppy kids here! Just reporting)
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My favorite are the adults trying to make fun of the school they’re touring by wearing other schools merch on the tour. I admit I do laugh, but maybe not the kind they were looking for!
Edited to add, I didn’t realize I couldn’t say t-roll without the dash. TIL!
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Why is that? I remember typing it once (not directing it anyone, just typing it in a neutral context) and it was treated as a swear word.
That’s what I meant. It’s a swear word here. TIL.
My daughter was a tour guide and got one of the Obama daughters on her tour. Neither parent was there maybe because it would have cause commotion. My daughter was fairly sure it was Valerie Jarrett who accompanied her.
We did one tour that Michael J Fox and his wife were on. He only did the beginning and then left probably because -although he was in better shape than now- it was still too strenuos. Everyone was careful not to bother them but they heard us talking about going to Wash u the folleomg week and Tracy Pollen came up to me and asked if we were flying there or driving ( we had said we lived in Chicago)
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I’m sitting here wearing a ‘Griz’ sweatshirt watching Utah v Oklahoma State game - three schools I’ve never even visited. I got the sweatshirt at an overstock sale and it’s always been one of my favorites (comfy) and it happened to be on the top of the pile today when I was heading out to the Y and it was colder than I expected.
Oh, and I’m drinking out of a Syracuse YETI cup because someone left it on a lacrosse field and my brother gave it to me from the lost and found. I wouldn’t think twice about bringing it on a tour as it is my favorite water bottle because it has a good handle and I take it everywhere. Go ‘Cuse’ (it is blue, not Orange).
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