Over the past several weekends, I've accompanied my older son on four college visits. Of these, three were Open House days, when the universities' admissions offices were out in full force, eager to impress prospective students and their parents. 
We received interesting freebies ranging from pencils with the university's College Board code number on them, so the student would remember to send their SAT score there, to T-shirts, to water bottles with college logos on the labels.
And we walked. Oh, did we walk! We were warned by a friend who's a recent college graduate that we should put fashion concerns aside on these campus-tour days, and wear comfortable shoes. Good advice.
But these tours did not always impress us as much as the universities might have wanted them to. After registering for the Open House at one school, we received a letter telling us that the day would begin with a continental breakfast and that after parking in any lot, we should proceed to a particular campus building. Mentioning its name would be a dead giveaway; let's just say that it was architecturally unique and could be seen from anywhere on campus, so it was easy to find (not to mention impressive.)
It was a rainy day. Approaching the university, we were directed to a parking lot by campus police. We passed many campus buildings, including the athletic center, on our way to the Unique Building where our day would begin. As we arrived there, students in university rugby shirts directed my son to enter by one door and told me to walk around the building, because parents were to go in another way. (Did I mention that it was a rainy day?)
I found the designated parents' entrance, walked into the grand foyer of the Unique Building, and saw my son waiting there for me. He'd had to pick up his folder with an application and the day's schedule, and of course his name tag. I couldn't go with him to do that?
We were then directed to a lovely room on the right, where a long table with coffee urns awaited us. No breakfast, though. I was chilly, so I happily got myself a cup of coffee, and then we were told to leave that building and head for the athletic center, where the day's events would begin. Remember, we passed that on our way to the Unique Building! So we walked back to the athletic center in the rain and settled down for the opening speeches. We found the rest of the continental breakfast in that location as well.
Later in the day, we went along on a student-led campus tour. It was a rather small campus, and we seemed to be passing the same buildings again and again (kind of like we did in the morning on our roundabout trek to begin our day.) The tour would have taken half the time, we figured, if the student had started at one spot and gone in a single loop from there.
Fortunately, this university is far from my son's first choice, because this parent wonders whether a school that can't get it right on Open House day can do an adequate job of preparing college students for their chosen careers.
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One Response to “The Dreaded Campus Tour”
I applaud you for going with your son during this tour.. It might not be what you expected but the bonding moment you had with you rson is irreplaceable.