College tours....what questions to ask?

On our preliminary tours, we met with an admissions counselor. They were not able to answer questions like meal plan costs or what you can have in a dorm, but all that was on each college's website. For the most part, I used current info from the year, but it gave us a good starting point to understand costs. For the most part, your questions are good. I'd probably look at their website for some of the questions (like A/C in dorms--on DS's campus, some dorms have it, others don't. But that info is online.)

One thing that struck me was what the counselor said if he or she didn't know the answer. Did they look it up online then and there? Did they tell you where to find the info? Did they shrug it off? To me, that gave an idea of the atmosphere of the school and how willing they were to help if help was needed.

When DS started narrowing down his schools, the second meeting was almost more important. That's when we were talking real numbers and costs. Even then, the estimate was off because DS ended up taking more credits his freshman year. But each school had a budget sheet and the line items were accurate (for us.) DS was an out of state student and we also asked a lot of questions about on campus health care, availability of appointments, nearby ERs, pharmacy's etc. DS ended up getting sick last March and was coughing up blood. He was seen immediately as a walk in, his script was sent to a pharmacy that delivered to his dorm, the clinic nurse gave him Uber and taxi info if he needed the ER after hours, and I found a grocery delivery that delivered kleenex and popsicles. I was really grateful for all of the help and was glad we had asked ahead of time.

We attended the parent orientation over the summer and the school spent a lot of time telling us the resources they had to help out students--from health, exercise, mental health, job placement, escort services, emergency services, etc.  We were also given a pretty detailed list of numbers.  Another thing that really helped was they guided us in how to help our students--as in, here are the resources, have your student call.  I found that helpful for what they expected the students to take care of themselves.  And it's nice for me to know the resources because I could then say, "your dorm fees are off.  Go see XXX and get it taken care of."

Most of that information should be available on the school's website. I had DS go on each college's website, take notes and then we developed further questions from there.

Can they get the classes they need? And can they realistically graduate in four years Some campuses are do impacted that freshman in particular cannot get classes they need and certain majors are so impacted that getting the classes makes it difficult to graduate in four years


Diane

What percentage receives merit aid?

You can probably find this information online and it is more important than the sticker price at private schools. We found very similar sticker prices across the board, but many of the schools DD looked at cut their tuition in half (or more) with merit aid. And that was the norm, not the exception. No one is paying sticker price at the schools we looked at, but you don't know that until you do some digging. (We looked primarily at small, private liberal arts colleges.)

I wouldn't be visiting colleges that don't offer the major I am interested in so I would start by researching the schools and narrow it down based on who offers what you want.

Depending on what your DD is looking for I would try to visit a large state university, a smaller rural school, and a school with an urban campus and if you are able financially a private school. That will give Idea of the type of school that appeals to your dd.

You'll drive everyone on the tour crazy if you ask things that can be found on the website. Here's why: they want to hear what the kid giving the tour has to say. They want to get a feel for the school, assess its personality, judge its fit for their kid. You will find that as you go on these tours, the parents actually don't ask a lot of prepared questions. Most kids are horrified when their parents ask, and most can be answered on the website. I would look up the answers to the ones you have and then let questions come up organically as you tour. For instance, a tour guide may be from halfway across the country. A question like: "why did you choose to come all the way here to college" will yield an interesting answer.

Have a great time! I loved touring schools with my girls. It's a real bonding experience. I'm sad I only have one kid left to take to visit colleges.

With my daughter, she wanted to know what social activities they had on campus and how to get tickets to the football/basketball games (our basketball team was ranked top 5 preseason). My husband and I were mainly interested in the tuition payment information and meal plan (which is important to every college student!). We had no worries with our daughter studying/adjustingas she is a great kid that works hard and is the type that can adjust to any situation! Also, I went to that university and every summer when we visit my parents the kids and I spend all day touring the campus. So it was very familiar to her.

As the others said, many answers can be found on the website or by attending Visit Days and Accepted Student Days. They had panels of students to answer questions and that was very helpful!

Thank you thank you thank you!  At my daughter's university, they have to fill our a health insurance waiver before July 15th to avoid having to pay for insurance through the university.  We did it at freshman orientation last year.  She told me a few days ago to remind her to do it.  I didn't know they had to do it each year.  Well, I forgot about it until I read your post.  So thank you for bringing this up and it reminded me to do that! 

Our summer tours get the same tour as the "school year" tour. If anything the summer tours are more apt to have access to labs and building interiors during the summer where they can't go because it would disrupt classes during the spring/fall.
 Tours during the year might see a few more students walking through the student center or going across campus but IMO, it isn't really enough difference to take the time off from his hs to go unless the fashion sense of other students is important to him.

The majority of these questions should be answered on the schools website. Before you go on the tour read the website thoroughly. Request  materials from housing and admissions. Read it. Then with that knowledge under your belt start compiling your list of questions that weren't answered in other venues. Yes, you will be judged for asking questions that were much more easily answered before you arrive by simply reading. Someone will wonder if your student has learned to do the most basic reading and research.

Listen to the tour guide, others that address the tour, and take notes if you need. Then you can ask thoughtful informed questions and not just a grocery list of items fired off.

If the school's website is scanty with little information and they don't provide printed materials ask yourself if that school is capable of preparing a student for the future!

Be aware the school may not have good/accurate info on OFF campus issues such as housing availability. That is a city issue so research about housing in the greater city.

I think the real difference is the tour days vs. official visit days.  Most campuses will offer tours at least once a week, but they will have formal visit days (or weekends) every quarter or so.  We scoped out several schools via tours, but went to the visit days for the ones we were most interested in for a more thorough overview.

The school DD is attending we actually visited twice.  The first time we did a Saturday tour-only visit. We really liked the campus and thought it was a good fit, so we signed up for their official visit day, with an overnight visit, a few months later.

The one question we asked the tour guide was what type of dorm room did they live in as a freshman and what did they think of that room type. (Asked while we were walking between buildings, not while the tour guide was talking about anything else.)
The school that ds is going to has several different types of dorm rooms for freshmen so we were able to make a more informed decision about the room type to apply for (and we found out thks week that he got his first choice!)

Why did they choose to go to this university and are they happy with their decision? What's the best or worst thing ?

We've visted a lot of schools in the past year. I agree, look up as much as you can on the website before you go. Really, when you first start looking, just getting a feel for the school and asking your child, " can you see yourself living here for 4 years" will tell you a lot. Every school is different. The advice to visit a variety of colleges and universities is right on if you're just starting out and not sure what your child prefers. A Big university where you're in large lecture hall classes vs a small college where you might have only 12 in a class and know the professors by first names and maybe even get to know their families are very different experiences. Urban campus vs rural small college? What does your child like? How far away does he want to be? These are questions to consider yourself.

You'll want to find out either on the website or by asking: What percentage of students graduate in 4 years?
How difficult is it to get into courses you need to graduate in 4 years?

What is it like on campus over the weekend? (Do most people stay or is it a suitcase campus ?). If your child is far from home it would stink to have the whole school empty out every Friday.

If your child likes to play sports but isn't likely to be on a sports scholarship or to make the varsity team, ask about whether there are intramural sports programs they can participate in.



Ask about travel abroad opportunities and what is needed to qualify. One school we looked at not only paid the fee for freshmen to get a passport, they also sent all honors students for a semester abroad at an affiliated school at no extra cost beyond their usual tuition. At another school, international relations seemed to be the major focus, and travel abroad was so heavily pushed that it seemed nearly everyone traveled a lot (except for some majors whose course load couldn't be accommodated in the overseas programs.). When we got a tour guide alone, she admitted that if you're not someone with the finances to travel a lot and have to stay on the domestic campus all the time, you feel like a second class citizen.

For the major of interest, what do their graduates do? How likely are they to get jobs or into grad school after graduation?

Have fun looking at schools. It can be stressful, but it's fun seeing all the different campuses.

DD will be a senior this year. We've toured about 6 schools over the last year and are looking at several more over the summer including a second visit to her first choice school for a program specific tour/meeting with an admissions rep from the department.

Aside from the good advice above, one thing we've done at every school we've toured is read the posts on YikYak when we're there. If you're not familiar with it, the app is huge on college campuses. (People post anonymously, posts are up-voted or down voted or commented on by other users within the geofenced area). This works better when school is in session because the app is more active. It gives a great feel for the tenor of the school and we've learned about campus-wide issues a couple schools were having that of course aren't mentioned on the tours. While we're there, DD will post that she's touring the school/the program she's looking at and should she pick that school. The answers have been interesting, amusing and even informative.