Anonymous wrote:We were turned off by the University of Richmond tour. It felt like a back-up school for many and the AO spoke about the difficulties in integrating transgender students into a formerly single sex school. While my DS appreciated the honesty, he was not interested in learning about this particular issue in lieu of a more hearty discussion of academics. Tour guide glossed over the fraternity question and made it sound as if few students participate (something we know not to be true). Also didn't appreciate the traffic on the one way in/one way out road through a lovely residential neighborhood. DS elected not to apply even though the AO sent an fee waiver.

I think you have got to be editorializing. No admissions officer is going to spend precious minutes talking about what the school doesn't do well. I have no doubt that's what you think you heard, but it's unlikely that was actually what was said.

We were turned off by the University of Richmond tour. It felt like a back-up school for many and the AO spoke about the difficulties in integrating transgender students into a formerly single sex school. While my DS appreciated the honesty, he was not interested in learning about this particular issue in lieu of a more hearty discussion of academics. Tour guide glossed over the fraternity question and made it sound as if few students participate (something we know not to be true). Also didn't appreciate the traffic on the one way in/one way out road through a lovely residential neighborhood. DS elected not to apply even though the AO sent an fee waiver.

Anonymous wrote:UVA, don’t understand all the hype

You need to do more than the crowded 90 min tour. Remember it’s a public school and it doesn’t track internet because UVAdoesn’t have the resources to throw a lot at tracking interest or running tours. If you go, remember it’s a World UNESCO site and plan well out in advance what you want to tour:the Rotinda, Poe’s room, the lawn, the grad schools, if your child is interested, the museums. Go to the particular college your child is interested (we called ahead to head of department to set up a private interview and tour of the College); tour the career center; take the historical tours; go to the mall for dinner; go to the corner for lunch: ask students from your kids’ high school to take them out and show them the town or stay overnight in their room. Don’t just buzz in and expect to get everything from a 90 min tour. With public school you need to be more resourceful and not be sponges. They don’t need you. You need them

Anonymous wrote:How early is too early to visit schools? I have a 9th grader and am contemplating *somewhat* planning our vacations for the next few years around potential schools to visit. I know it’s early, but DC is definitely leaning towards a general area of study (humanities related rather than science/STEM). So thought it might be a good idea to check out schools of different sizes and locations before we narrow the field down. Would it be worth it to do an official tour this early on, or would you recommend just doing casual visit/walk around campus?

If me, I would do casual visits of a range of schools (e.g., size, locale, etc). Grab coffee/cocoa/bubble tea after each visit - or at the meal later that day - and ask your DC for their one word impressions. If you can, get them to write it down. If not, you do it later. Then pull them out when you brainstorm lists/plan tours for end sophomore year, etc. Your DC may still have similar ideas, but may now think they are more into a rural LAC and less into an urban setting.

GL and have fun! We had to go through this in COVID - we made it work, but full on tours rather than sneaking around campus are much better!

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Anonymous wrote:Drexel. Huge disappointment. Embarrassingly bad valley girl-type guide. Questions couldn’t be answered. Congested walks. Unpleasant. Uninformative. Got in car and went home. DD did not apply

Interesting the influence a bad tour guide can have. We were so impressed with Drexel. I was expecting something gritty or even sketchy and I didn't get that vibe at all. Our tour guides were enthusiastic and took the time to answer all of our questions. I loved the different architecture, from the Italian Renaissance-style main building to the engineering building designed by I.M. Pei. The College of Media Arts and Design and the College of Business were also impressive. The co-op concept is unique and would be great for a student interested in getting work experience. I'm not 100% sure that is my kid, but he put it on his list of schools he wants to apply to.

+1 I was really pleasantly surprised about Drexel. We found the staff and students very friendly and we enjoyed the tour.

Anonymous wrote:Sarah Lawrence. Barely saw any students (on a weekday in the fall). The grounds and the buildings looked shoddy. Saw one classroom that just looked like a crappy small room with a cheap table in the middle.

Not that this mattered, but they have no bookstore with merch. It’s all online only.

DD was prepared to love it and it came right off her list.

I live in Manhattan but originally from Midwest and had a HS classmate who attended Sarah Lawrence. I had all these romantic ideas about the school that were shredded when a friend quipped, "Oh, Sarah Lawrence? They're the goth kids hanging out at the Cross County Mall." I can't get the image out of my mind.

Duke. Tour guide took seriously and answered a question about hair dryers requiring two sockets, but couldn't answer my kid's question about theater on campus.

Swarthmore. In fairness, it poured the whole time we were there, so that didn't help... but it was just so depressing seeming. The kids seemed depressed, the buildings seemed depressed, the town seemed depressed.

UChicago. Both tour guides went on and on about how they were rejected from all of the ivys and so went there as a backup, but now they were so happy. Also, the dorm rooms they showed were single room, tiny, cinder block.

Anonymous wrote:How early is too early to visit schools? I have a 9th grader and am contemplating *somewhat* planning our vacations for the next few years around potential schools to visit. I know it’s early, but DC is definitely leaning towards a general area of study (humanities related rather than science/STEM). So thought it might be a good idea to check out schools of different sizes and locations before we narrow the field down. Would it be worth it to do an official tour this early on, or would you recommend just doing casual visit/walk around campus?

Beware going to an empty school in the summer (or a place where summer weather is bad). It's also not necessary to travel far to try a few different types of schools (e.g. UMD vs. GWU vs. American covers bases for big state school, urban school, suburban school).

I think it's fine to tack on a casual visit to a school near where you're already going. But I wouldn't plan a trip around a distant reach school.

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Anonymous wrote:Wake Forest - we toured it four years ago with our junior and freshman at the time. Both absolutely HATED it and wanted to leave before the tour was even over. They didn't like the vibe and I think the tour guide didn't help. The buildings we toured seemed run down and dingy. We couldn't get out of there fast enough.

We didn’t like Wake Forest at all.

Based on the rave reviews on the other thread I was going to put it on our visit list.

You still should, no school should be eliminated based on some anonymous dcum poster’s opinion,

How early is too early to visit schools? I have a 9th grader and am contemplating *somewhat* planning our vacations for the next few years around potential schools to visit. I know it’s early, but DC is definitely leaning towards a general area of study (humanities related rather than science/STEM). So thought it might be a good idea to check out schools of different sizes and locations before we narrow the field down. Would it be worth it to do an official tour this early on, or would you recommend just doing casual visit/walk around campus?

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Anonymous wrote:I didn't go to WVU for a tour, but we went so my husband could go to a game there and take our older daughter (the little one was a toddler at the time)

I agree with the assessment of the area - so run down. We eventually found the mall outside of town, but it was a very disappointing visit.

My husband went back with our then-teen a couple years later and some drunk townie who was probably our age was mouthing off to my daughter who was minding her own business. It was so bad that even the home fans (my family was there supporting the opposing team, but not obnoxiously) were telling the woman to shut her mouth and sit her behind down. I know it took everything in my husband, who is ex-military, not to grab that chick by the throat.

Yeah those townies really tell you what it’s like to be a student on campus. Same thing could’ve happened at Fenway if you were wearing Yankees garb. Bet you wouldn’t blame it on Harvard or BU.

+1
Same with Johns Hopkins, UChicago, Yale, etc. Every school has its own townies.

It does not reflect well on the school when a fan that is a grown woman gets tanked at a game and decides to scream at and loudly insult a 13 year old unprovoked

And how many townies go to games at the 3 schools you mention?

Look, I was sharing the impression our family has of the area based on a few visits. I think the surrounding area is pretty depressing. I just added the story because that further turned us off to the area. It isn’t a school we will be pursuing.

You took your 13 yo on college tours? Honestly, I think you’re just being purposely obtuse because it was West Virginia and that woman fed into some preconceived stereotype you already had. It wasn’t like you were ever going to actually let your snowflake attend WVU, amirite?!

The 13 year old could be a younger sibling. My 14 yo has been on a lot of college tours because we go as a family.

This was us too. We took our 13 year old too on the college tours because the whole family went on the college road trip.

UVA, don’t understand all the hype

It’s so strange to hear how many tour guides are poor representatives. Isn’t there usually a screening process? You would think those types would be weeded out

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Anonymous wrote:Can we just stop with the threads that drag tour guides. Students are allowed to have a bad day. They sign up for tour duty and then life sometimes happens in the meantime.

Show some grace. Maybe we can just cut this thread?

I appreciate the feedback of the tours.

But the guides really do make or break my child's impression of a college. I loved one school but my daughter is totally uninterested because the tour guide was really crappy. She wasn't excited about being in college there and really had nothing exciting to share. It didn't immediately cut the college from the list, but it's a hard sell when it seems like the guides aren't even excited to be there.

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Anonymous wrote:Wake Forest - we toured it four years ago with our junior and freshman at the time. Both absolutely HATED it and wanted to leave before the tour was even over. They didn't like the vibe and I think the tour guide didn't help. The buildings we toured seemed run down and dingy. We couldn't get out of there fast enough.

We didn’t like Wake Forest at all.

Based on the rave reviews on the other thread I was going to put it on our visit list.

Remember that everyone has different opinions.

I personally disliked VT and Duke. Others love them.

Agreed. We had a horrible tour guide at Duke, completely turned us off.