My own experience with this lies with a large University that had an official visitors unit that ran campus tours everyday (including thanksgiving, spring and summer breaks). In addition to this there were also specific visit days where student panels, administration and even faculty were on hand to host sessions and answer questions. Each college within the University also ran their own tours and visitation programs for students who were specifically interested in certain majors. I was a member of an engineering student organization that handled tours as well as other visitation programs specific to engineering.
Scheduling a visit
This will vary from school to school. The first thing to do is to look on the admissions website where there will most likely be some information about how that particular school handles visits. If the information is not quite clear the next step would be to call/email them and ask how to schedule a visit. If they have special visit days set up it may be as easy just asking them to register you for it.
If you are trying to visit a large university, be aware that there may be programs run by individual colleges/departments and sometimes student organizations that the general admissions office is not aware of or does not know much about. The best way to find these programs is often to look on that department/college's website or give them a call. Often, individual departments might not have an entire office dedicated to admissions and prospective students, in which case look for something similar to 'undergraduate programs'. The programs run by student organizations can sometimes be difficult to find but generally they will try to get their programs listed with the office of admissions or on their college/departments websites.
What to ask for
When trying to set-up a visit there are a few things to ask for. You may not get them but it doesn't hurt to ask and could help you get a lot more out of your visit.
- Ask to meet with a current student in the major that you're interested in. They may arrange for this student to show you around campus or meet you for lunch or something of the sort. In any case, the student will most likely not be accompanied by faculty or staff which means they spout less marketing rhetoric and gives you a chance to ask questions.
- Ask to sit in for part of a class (preferably a lower level course in the major/department you're interested).
- Ask to see a lab (if you're looking at going into science or engineering) or a studio/performance space (if you're into fine or performing arts)
- Ask to meet a department advisor. Most undergraduate programs have some sort of advising system in place to help students choose the correct classes, balance work load, graduate on time and so on. The advisors are generally faculty in the department who are very familiar with the curriculum and can tell you about special sub-tracks or concentrations that may suit you.
- Ask for an appointment with the financial aid office. Unless you have a swimming pool filled with money, you'll probably want to find out about any scholarships that the school offers. Keep in mind that a lot of individual colleges/departments within a University also offer their own scholarships (more common in larger Universities).
The tour guide (will most likely be a student that either works for the admissions/visitors office or is a member of the student organization that does tours)
- Ask about facilities such as labs, performance spaces, etc. and if they've used them and what their experiences were. Keep in mind that they will be of a specific major and may only have experience with a small subset of the facilities
- Ask about dorms/apartments and what most students do. In some schools the vast majority of students stay in the dorms for all 4 years. At other schools the norm may be 1 or 2 years in the dorms and then rent an apartment near campus.
- Ask about local activities, what they do in their spare time, student organizations, etc.
- Ask what students do during the summer. Some schools are very industry oriented and have very good programs for placing students into internships, some are research oriented and lots of undergrads stay on campus to work for a professor, some are half and half.
- What need-based aid is there? and what are the requirements and forms to apply?
- What merit-based aid is there?
- What percentage of students have loans and scholarships?
- How much debt does the average student graduate with?
- What are good sources of aid that are external to the University
- What is a typical course load?
- What courses does the freshman year entail?
- Given my academic background, would I qualify to skip some courses? or do I need to take some extra ones?
- What happens if my interests change and I want to switch majors? (be careful asking this)
- Can I do a minor in x?
- What types of careers do graduates from this discipline go on to?
- How many students are in this college/department/major?
The don't do list
For parents
- Don't offer the tour guide a tip. They are most likely not allowed to take it, and it's uncommon enough that it may make them uncomfortable.
- Don't ask a question and upon hearing the response turn to your child and say "did you hear that? he/she said this, this and that". One, it annoys your child. Two, it marks you as a helicopter parent and every tour guide/admissions official/faculty member hates talking to helicopter parents.
- Don't ask about outsourcing of jobs. Even the student tour guides can field this question will ease but the answer you get will depend on how annoyed they are with you. This is because losing a job due to outsourcing has more to do with the specific job/industry you choose and your own performance rather than the name of the University and field of study on your degree. Although every University would like to believe that all of their students become top-notch performers after graduation, this is simply not the case.
- Don't talk about your child's test scores and grades and ask if your child is going to get admitted or what their chances are especially at a highly selective University. One, they don't really know. Two, they couldn't tell you anyways. Three, even near perfect test scores and perfect grades from top high schools are getting rejected at top Universities, and it's very stressful for a tour guide/administrator/faculty to keep talking and answering questions after they form the opinion that your child has little chance of getting admitted.
- Don't be a brat
- Don't brag about yourself. These visits have no bearing on admissions decisions so don't try to impress people. The admissions office and tour guides see a LOT of prospective students and it gets annoying when people try to show off constantly.
- Don't let your parents ask or answer questions for you. One of the first things I did when I gave a tour is to ask what majors/disciplines everyone was interested in. If the student gives an answer then I try to throw in extra information or try to arrange for a little extra time at the places related to the fields they were interested in. If a parent answers I wonder if it's a helicopter parent and disregard the response altogether. Even if the student says 'I don't know', it's better than letting the parent answer or not giving an answer. If the tour guide/faculty/whoever perceives that it's not the student that's interested then they lose interest in giving the tour or information session and you get a lot less out of it.
- Don't talk about other schools. It's fine if you mention that you're visiting other schools (because it's to be expected) but don't talk about how this other school does this better or has that program. It annoys the people who are giving their time to show you around and they'll be less likely to give you any information unless you specifically ask for it.
- For disciplines that are known to be very gender skewed (engineering, physical science, nursing, childhood education, etc), Don't ask what the gender ratio is. One, the answer you get will most likely be random (although these statistics are kept track of, most schools don't make them public). Two, it makes you look short sighted (although individual disciplines may be gender skewed, the University as a whole is almost always balanced. No one ever said you had to date someone in your field. although dating prospects may not have been your intention, it's what they're going to assume).
More later.
