College Tours: The Less Serious Side

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College tours are a rite of passage for juniors and seniors in high school and their families as post high school plans are contemplated. While some look forward to these visits, others may be a bit more wary, or like me, teary that 17 years could have passed so quickly. If you’re headed to campus visits this spring and summer, here are a few hints to keep in mind.

1. If it’s a chilly day, follow the Hawaiian tour guide—she is certain to go inside each building on the tour rather than stand outside in the cold.
2. Visitor parking lots are for those without parking karma and a pocket full of quarters. On street parking near city campuses is often closer, easier to find and less expensive than the so-called visitor lots as long as you feed the meter between the information session and your tour.
3. Before being impressed that your child sat right up front in the information session, ask if she remembered her glasses.
4. The school web site, however poorly organized has the college facts—but apparently not all parents are internet savy and will often ask questions like, "how many students go to school here?" Teen eye rolls are appropriate in these situations.
5. Every tour guide is asked, “Why did you choose this college?”
6. If the only two colleges your tour guide applied to were the University of Michigan and Wesleyan, you may realize that your child isn’t the only one who isn’t focusing on a college type.
7. Don’t worry, not everyone steps onto a campus and “just knows” that it is the right or wrong college.
8. Try not to laugh out loud or nudge your child when the tour guide explains that the circulating library isn’t so named because it revolves.
9. Violating all of the campus superstitions—stepping on the plaque in the middle of the quad, walking through the wrought iron gates—is unlikely to amuse your child.
10. As fun as campus tours are, make time for some non-college related fun while traveling with your son or daughter—the days go by too quickly!

Share your college visiting suggestion, faux pas or incident... comment below.