Making the Most of Your Campus Visits

Are you and your student planning campus visits? Here are some thoughts I have collected in looking back on the many campus tours we have attended with our daughters over the years. Since our daughter, Ronnie, is a tour guide at PhilaU, I asked for her input as well.


Student-guided tours give you a glimpse of life on campus and at most colleges you have options for customizing your campus visits. It takes some planning, but it’s worth the effort. When we visited PhilaU with Ronnie, we arranged for a tour of the Architecture studios and workshops and spent time after our visit having lunch in the nearby neighborhood of Manayunk.

If you visit college websites you are likelt to find an Especially for Parents page. You’ll learn a lot about the campus before you arrive and will be able to help your student plan an informative and enjoyable visit.

Most colleges host open-house events periodically throughout the year, and at large schools that’s sometimes the only way to get to know the campus and its students. At mid-size and smaller colleges you may schedule a family visit, too.

Open-houses are carefully planned to give you and your student a fun, hugely informative and interactive day. It’s a time for showcasing special programs and it’s exciting to be there with so many other prospective students and their families. Faculty is on hand to speak about their departments, research and special interests. You can talk to students already enrolled in the various and learn about financial aid.

During a family visit, you and your student can usually meet with an admissions officer and receive a small-group tour with a student as your guide. One of the things I remember most about our arrival at Philadelphia University was that when Ronnie was talking to the Admissions officer, we could hear her laughter all the way down the hall. When Ronnie is laughing, things are going great.

But, back to YOUR student's big day...

During a family visit, you won’t be involved in an orchestrated full or half-day experience, but you will have the individual attention of the staff. If you schedule during the week and plan ahead, you may be able to make appointments with faculty in your student’s area of interest.

Your students should think about what interests them about their chosen courses of study and ask for tours that focuses on those areas. If your student is interested in science, ask for a tour of the science labs. If you have a design student or engineering student I recommend asking for a tour of the building where all of the industrial workshops and equipment are located.

You and your student should expect a great day, but I would be remiss if I didn't share some cautionary tales.

Ronnie loves introducing families to PhilaU but she says there’s nothing like a parent blooper to put a damper on their student’s campus visit. Parents, please remember that this is a day for your student to take the lead. You are there in a supporting role. Ronnie has some parent Do’s and Don’t’s for campus tours taken from her three years of campus tours-

• Chat with other parents in the group. This gives your student a chance to talk to the
guide without being under your watchful eye.

• Ask the guide what she and her friends like to do on the weekends. Avoid sharing stories
of your own wild college days.

• Ask about the guide’s experiences with housing, classes, activities and faculty.

Avoid personal questions like how much financial aid the guide receives.

• Many students have special needs, but not all of them want a group of strangers to know
about them. Be sensitive to your student’s comfort level with these issues. These issues can be addressed privately.

• Keep your student’s GPA to yourself- whether it is stellar or needing improvement.

I have my own personal list of tips collected from our family’s many years of campus touring. Here are some suggestions that parents sometimes overlook:

• Learn about the college’s (enrollment, academics, meal plans and other vital statistics) before
arriving. Guides focus less on statistics; they want to share experiences of campus life.

• Get there early. With time to spare you can grab a snack or wander around the campus.

• Plan your parking spot ahead of time by using a campus map.

• Look at the bulletin boards to check out the student activities around campus.

A campus tour should be enjoyable for everyone. Be sure to save some time to explore on your own. Find out what is unique to the college campus you are visiting. In summary, relax and have fun and enjoy the day.