Anonymous wrote:As long as you're taking finances and major into account, I think it's totally valid to choose based on vibe, which is basically what you're talking about.

+1. I feel like OP is trying “level the playing field” for colleges that OP prefers, for whatever reason.

Anonymous wrote:My rising senior has toured a bunch of schools now, and has a clear preference for two. At both schools we had a tour guide who was passionate about the same things my kid is passionate about and talked a lot about those things. We visited other schools that seemed similar on paper but where the tour guide was a nice kid with different interests and could only give vague answers to my kid’s questions, and my kid walked away thinking he might not find “his people” there. But I am wondering how much of this reflects a difference in campus culture and how much is just luck.

What has been people’s experiences?

Having a good tour guide helps

At the school my kid ultimately is attending (and was likely their "top choice" from the start, but they applied to 2 higher ranked schools they said were their top choices), I could see from the start of the tour that my kid loved the campus. It definately helped that both tours we ended up with a Chem ENg tour guide (my kid's major). Helped them see that yes, it was a good fit for them. Also helped that for 2nd tour date, I arranged a tour with a current senior engineering major (there were no Engineering tours that day) and I accidentally hit the jackpot with a BME major (so similar to ChemE) whose EC align 1000% with my own kid's ECs. After that I knew this was the school (kid didn't get into the "top 2 choices, Rejected and WL at them")

So at this School, there are always at least 3 tour guides (sometime more). There is always one STEM/Eng, one PreMed and one LA something (not STEM ) and the school lets you select which guide to go with. So the university knows that it helps to have a tour guide that can actually answer your questions and that your kid can see themselves fitting in better. One of the tours sent 95% of the kids with the two engineering guides (one was also premed), and about 5% with the LA guide.

As long as you're taking finances and major into account, I think it's totally valid to choose based on vibe, which is basically what you're talking about.

Sometimes our kid would give a random reason for wanting to apply or deciding not to apply. The same was true when it came to deciding on where he was going. In the end, whatever that "gut" reaction was ended up playing out in a way that we felt was a good decision. Where he eventually ended up was where he felt the most comfortable and fit him. So while it may not feel scientific - just as with many decisions - sometimes those subconscious reactions are based on something deeper that is hard to describe.

the tour guide was great, they weren't your typical guide that makes sure to touch on this and that. They really spoke form the heart and shared their experience. Turns out my kid met the tour guide later and they were exactly as they were on the tour. a good quality person.

Yep. In the same boat.
The tour guide makes a massive impression on these 16/17 year old kids and it’s frustrating to watch as a parent!

One of the best things that my parent ever did for me during colleges tours was ask a current student from the department I was interested in to lunch with us.

After the main tour, we were walking around and went to the building of the department I was interested in. A student was there, we started talking with the student and my parent offered to take them to lunch with us.

The student was up for a free lunch out. During lunch the student shared some really great information about their experience in the department that was helpful in my decision making.

If people have the opportunity, I would definitely recommend it. A college student's experience can vary depending on their major and just because a college is great, it doesn't mean that specific department is good (or vice versa).

Way back in 1995 I toured a college with my mom and she wouldn't let me apply there because the student tour guide was still drunk from partying the night before.

Same thing with overnight visits when I was visiting colleges back in the day.

Since we're sharing, we had an experience where the AO presenting at the info session before the tour of a SLAC was so weird and off-putting and condescending that none of us wanted to be there. That said, the tour guide seemed quite nice and likeable, so the school became more appealing after the tour.

It’s been a huge factor in both my kids take on “vibe” of school, silly as it is. In most cases it’s the only student they’re going to directly interact with so it makes sense

Our tour guide at one school was such a bad match for my kid that they completely ruled out the school citing things they easily overlooked at other schools.

A friend told me that her child ranked colleges based on how much she liked the tour guides. So funny to see that it was not just her kid!

Similar experience. If possible, try to do virtual information sessions with student panels or individual students that have similar interests as your kid to level the playing field.

My rising senior has toured a bunch of schools now, and has a clear preference for two. At both schools we had a tour guide who was passionate about the same things my kid is passionate about and talked a lot about those things. We visited other schools that seemed similar on paper but where the tour guide was a nice kid with different interests and could only give vague answers to my kid’s questions, and my kid walked away thinking he might not find “his people” there. But I am wondering how much of this reflects a difference in campus culture and how much is just luck.

What has been people’s experiences?