Open House or Campus Tours (college)

[LisaR]

I have noticed that many of the universities around here offer open houses in November and March and campus tours the rest of the time. Is there a preference?

 

[christineann]

Some advantages of going to open house weekends are that you not only get the campus tour, you also get to meet many professors and gather brochures from the various academic departments, clubs and other organizations. The schools we visited during open house weekends also had break-out sessions (20-30 minutes or so) that you could choose from, including financial aid, sports, housing, honors, extracurriculars and student employment. During open house weekends, both of my kids met the professors who became their academic advisers in their chosen majors shortly after they enrolled.

We found the open houses to be very informative and planned our college visits on open house weekends whenever possible.

The open house weekends are also a lot of fun!

 

[LisaR]

Thanks! Sounds fun. We will definitely try and plan around some of them.

 

[golfgal]

Most of the colleges around here have a weekend deal over the teacher convention days off. Prospective students can choose to spend the night in a dorm even. They are VERY busy days so if you are just going to get a feel for the campus they are great. If you want a more personal tour, go another weekend. I think the big tours are just fine but not everyone likes them.

 

[tvguy]

I think you should do both for any colleges you are serious about.
The Open House gives you access to many of the resources of the college all at once.
The campus visit gives you a chance to see what the campus is really like during normal times. Gives you a chance to eat in the dining hall to see what the everyday food is like. All the students are there, generally the students flee the campus during open house.

 

[disneyfan007]

I would also recommend doing both. At the school my son is now attending, we went to an open house type thing to get a general feel of the campus and then he later went back for an individual tour with a guide, a sit down with the coach and lunch in the dining hall. He then later went back for an overnighter with the cross country team which he now runs on. This was an excellent opportunity to see how he would gel with fellow teammates. He did this with several schools and found the one that is the best fit for him.

 

[Amy]

If it's a college that's very competitive to get into, you might want to do more than one open house and campus tour. The college my DS20 is currently attending actually keeps track of how often prospective students visit to determine how serious they are about the school - someone told me that if you live within a certain distance of the school (like a 2-hr drive) and only visit once or not at all, your application automatically goes into the reject pile.

 

[js]

If it's a college that's very competitive to get into, you might want to do more than one open house and campus tour. The college my DS20 is currently attending actually keeps track of how often prospective students visit to determine how serious they are about the school - someone told me that if you live within a certain distance of the school (like a 2-hr drive) and only visit once or not at all, your application automatically goes into the reject pile.

I see you are from PA. We have started our college search (dd is a junior) and we have/will be visiting some schools in PA.
In PA, we have visited:
Lehigh
Villanova
And will be visiting Lafayette, Univ. of PA

We have visited Quinnipiac in CT and Fordham in NY.
We have visits next month for Univ of DE and have a few other schools that we will see when Spring Open Houses come out.
PA has some great schools.
All our schools have been over 2 hours away (except Fordham, which isn't on the top of the list) but I have never heard of applications not being looked at if you only attend one open house.
I work for a private college and will definately be asking head of admissions about this since that is something we need to know (even though the schools are all over 2 hours). I was told by our head of admissions though to do the Interview even if it is not mandatory to show you have extra interest in the school.
My dd will be taking her SAT in January. Anyone else?
Great Thread for all of us beginning the college search with our children.

 

[MrsPete]

Open Houses are best for a first visit because the school'll roll out ALL the things that a prospective freshman (and his parents) want to see. They'll have information about various majors, food service, campus security, dorms . . . it'll all be on display for you at once.

Then, if you like the Open House, go back for a less-hectic visit and see what a typical day is like.

 

[tripletots]

My DS 19 visited open houses in March of his junior year. Then the schools he really like he visited again his senior year in November. He also toured some campuses over the summer prior to his senior year.

 

[js]

My DS 19 visited open houses in March of his junior year. Then the schools he really like he visited again his senior year in November. He also toured some campuses over the summer prior to his senior year.

Thank you. Were all the schools over 2 hours away.
It is a full day when we go to see any school (with one exception).
I can't imagine doing it all again but I guess we will have to if that is what is required. She wants to be "done" by summer and just have her essay to work on over summer and senior year. She is in a private college prep HS, being tutored for SAT since Labor day weekend and will take the SAT first time in January. I guess we will just go back to her top 5 schools again during summer, which we can do.
Thank you all very much.

 

[allison443]

We did a combination of both, both were helpful in different ways. I always felt it was helpful to visit on a regular school day...actually see the kids who go there, eat in the dining hall, pick up a copy of the school newspaper, etc. Just to get a feel for the atmosphere. But weekend visits were also good because we visited one school that really was a "suitcase school" with a large percentage of kids going home for the weekend and my dd didn't want that.

 

[allison443]

Thank you. Were all the schools over 2 hours away.
It is a full day when we go to see any school (with one exception).
I can't imagine doing it all again but I guess we will have to if that is what is required. She wants to be "done" by summer and just have her essay to work on over summer and senior year. She is in a private college prep HS, being tutored for SAT since Labor day weekend and will take the SAT first time in January. I guess we will just go back to her top 5 schools again during summer, which we can do.
Thank you all very much.

I didn't really like visiting in the summer..you get a good look at the campus but not a lot of people are around, kwim? Does your dd's high school have a spring break or Easter break? We found that the colleges' breaks didn't coincide with high school, so when my dd was off we visited colleges that were in session. Since a few of yours are in PA you could stay overnight somewhere and get a feel for the town, etc. Good luck, sounds like you are getting a good start on the process!

 

[agnes!]

OP - Here are some relevant threads about HS senior year, college, apps, financial aid - lots of good discussions, timelines...don't automatically discard an older thread - like say the 2009 one. I *know* that we wouldn't be as far along with DD's college-application process if it hadn't been for the DIS. Enjoy!

High School Class of 2011 http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2535270&page=14

Fall 2010 - Is your child going off to college this fall? http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2381828&page=85

College loans, Fafsa and enrollment questions http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2581924&page=5

Anybody else have a teen going off to college in August, 2009? http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2232066&page=120


agnes!

 

[Robinrs]

My son (a junior) and I are going to an open house of a local Christian college here. It's two days with an overnight stay, dinner, breakfast and then a chance to sit in on a real class. The only problem is he'll have to take off school to do it! I agree, it's better to see how the school is while it's going on but to do this on a Thursday and Friday is a bit much!