Tipping College Tour Guides?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:At the conclusion of our tour of UVA this Spring, our guide shamelessly told us that she was not paid by the University, and that she accepted cash tips and Venmo. It was very awkward. I have been on many college tours and never before tipped or even thought of tipping. .

I was going to post this exact same thing. We just did a tour of UVA two weeks ago and our female guide asked for tips, not once but twice. I was SHOCKED! I did see one family hand her a $20 bill at the end of the tour.

Wow! I would call the school and say something. If they allow this, they need to post on the tour booking page that guides are unpaid and that a gratuity would be appreciated. There should be full disclosure.

Troll. I’m at UVA. It’s a position of honor. It’s very competitive to become one.

This is NOT a troll. The woman who gave us the tour had an impressive/compelling story to tell when she talked about why she chose UVA so I understand why she was chosen as a guide. She was very good. I have been on multiple college tours, including UVA before - we were with our youngest and I have two other children in college. My DH and I were very uncomfortable when she asked for a monetary tip, not once, but twice because it's never happened before.

I am the OP, and not a troll. This happened this March on a tour with DD, who is not my oldest. As such, I have been on many college tours and have never even thought of tipping a student tour guide. This woman plainly stated that she was not paid by UVA and appreciated tips for her time, and if you didn’t have cash, she also accepted payments via Venmo. Everyone in our group was taken aback.

I guess you’re going to have to tell me what’s so horrible about her doing that.

Because in this country college tours are free and open to any and all who sign up. They ate offered by the college/university for free to introduce their school to prospective students. The tour and tour guides are part of the college or university admissions system and have never ever been a mechanism where by those who take a tour must spend any money at all. The entire college process from applications to tuition are already obscenely expensive. We don’t need to tack on another fee for families. College tours are not the place for students to be begging for handouts. If a kid needs money their are multiple other ways to ask their college for a paid gig - they should never hit up the people there for a free tour.

[Anonymous]

We had the same experience at UVA in February. The two female tour guides explicitly said they were unpaid and would accept tips. They also said that their tours were unvetted and unreviewed by the admissions office. The tour guides had lukewarm feelings about UVA, which made us wonder why they were tour guides. We didn’t see anyone from our large tour offer tips to the guides, although maybe we just didn’t see it happen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We had the same experience at UVA in February. The two female tour guides explicitly said they were unpaid and would accept tips. They also said that their tours were unvetted and unreviewed by the admissions office. The tour guides had lukewarm feelings about UVA, which made us wonder why they were tour guides. We didn’t see anyone from our large tour offer tips to the guides, although maybe we just didn’t see it happen.

Were they official tour guides or like… individuals posing as guides and offering independent unauthorized tours? You know, like those taxi drivers who hang out in baggage claim offering to take you into the city for half-price?

[Anonymous]

We met the tour guides at the admissions office. They first went in the building to confer with admissions staff, then returned outside to collect their tour group. We had no reason to suspect they were unofficial guides. After participating in about 20 plus college tours this year, the UVA tour stood out as a notable low point unfortunately. These guides were ambivalent about UVA at best.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We had the same experience at UVA in February. The two female tour guides explicitly said they were unpaid and would accept tips. They also said that their tours were unvetted and unreviewed by the admissions office. The tour guides had lukewarm feelings about UVA, which made us wonder why they were tour guides. We didn’t see anyone from our large tour offer tips to the guides, although maybe we just didn’t see it happen.

Were they official tour guides or like… individuals posing as guides and offering independent unauthorized tours? You know, like those taxi drivers who hang out in baggage claim offering to take you into the city for half-price?

An official tour booked through UVA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We had the same experience at UVA in February. The two female tour guides explicitly said they were unpaid and would accept tips. They also said that their tours were unvetted and unreviewed by the admissions office. The tour guides had lukewarm feelings about UVA, which made us wonder why they were tour guides. We didn’t see anyone from our large tour offer tips to the guides, although maybe we just didn’t see it happen.

I am the second poster who had our guide ask for tips. Also, I mentioned I have done two UVA tours - one five years ago with my oldest DS and the one just a few weeks ago with my youngest. I had visited UVA several times as a tourist and really wanted to love UVA. The tour guide we had five years ago had me walking away hating UVA. He complained about the food, the dorms, the size of his classes. He didn't like ANYTHING about the school. The woman who did our tour earlier this month was much more positive about the school. She did complain about the food when directly asked. But overall, she was very positive. The only negative part of the tour was the soliciting for tips.

And yes, she was an official guide. The school had a large tent setup right outside of the admissions office. We went during FCPS' spring break - there was a huge crowd of people in the tent and we checked in with two people who had laptops making sure we were registered. We were given a group number and about every 5 minutes, a large group was called to start their tour.

The guides at UVA did not wear UVA garb or any type of identification so you couldn't tell who was a guide. We toured some other schools that week and all of our guides were wearing either a nametag or a shirt from the school so you could tell they were part of the admissions office.

[Anonymous]

I was a tour guide at a VA state school. I don't remember if I was paid, and if I was it was a very small amount because we only did a few hours a week max, but I was just so happy to have been chosen to be a tour guide I could have cared less.

Don't tip them. If you want to be flattering write admissions to name the tour guide and compliment them. Yikes.

[Anonymous]

Ugh def no

[Anonymous]

Between last summer and this past spring break, we have gone on about 20 tours and no one asked for tips. That includes UVA although we went there last summer. I did give the U Conn tour guide a compliment afterward and she looked surprised that I was coming up to her afterward until she realized what I was saying.

[Anonymous]

Those who had these recent experiences at UVA should definitely report the behavior. It is tacky and reflects poorly.

[Anonymous]

The selection process for tour guides at most schools is completely ambiguous.

[Anonymous]

Why on earth would you tip a campus tour guide who is either on the paid (whether regular or work-study) admissions staff at the school or is a volunteer? It is not like trying to get a better table at a restaurant!

[Anonymous]

Our UVA tour guide (this month) told us she was was open to tell us anything we wanted to ask. It seemed like she was honest, as her answers were always thoughtful and included both positive and negative views. She did NOT ask for a tip.

For those prompting parents to "report" the UVA tour guide RE tips. I would maybe tame it down a bit - if you want to let the school know, then give them an FYI about some tour guides asking for tips versus reporting a specific guide. I'd table it as an FYI for better communication to the entire guide community if this is frowned upon or if it is ok to perhaps let parents know in advance that it is allowed.

[Anonymous]

no... hard no

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA tour guide literally said they aren't paid and would appreciate tips. All parents ended up tipping.

It's just so UVA. 😞

Yep.