Summertime campus tour and information session at Vanderbilt - what to expect?

[Hoggirl]

Dh will be driving ds to Duke for his TIP class in July. Nashville is on the way, so we scheduled a campus tour/information session as we may not get that way again. This will the campus visit of any kind for ds. He is a bit young to be doing this (just finished 9th grade), but, as I said, we may not pass that way again. What will it be like? Anything they should do before or after arriving? How many folks are usually at sessions like these and will that number be higher or lower than average since it is summer?

 

Thanks for any insights.

[Jane in NC]

It all depends on timing. Summer tour groups usually consist of families although we have been on May tours with high school counselors. We have even had the good fortune of a private tour on a quiet day. Usually the tours are student led and, if the tour guide is effective, manages to get a few words in with each student participant as the group walks from building to building.

 

Many schools include a general financial aid chat as part of the information session. This is usually given by someone in admissions who can answer specific questions you may have on standardized testing, AP, etc.

 

At this point, the college thing may seem distant to your student, but our theory was that getting a feel for a campus at an earlier age was not a bad idea. Our son knew his intended major around 10th grade, so starting in 11th his visits included meeting professors in his field. Because he had to work around faculty schedules, he often left the tours or scheduled events for these chats.

 

Have fun!

Edited June 16, 2011 by Jane in NC

[JFSinIL]

Don't be late - when we did a summer tour the room was packed and late folks had to stand in the back. It was very warm walking the campus (duh - Nashville in summer), mostly outside, did not get to go into much. And, after this morning session (2-hours, if I recall) ended, no pass for a free lunch. I mean, of all the school's visited, Vanderbilt was the ONLY one that was too cheap to hand out a pass so we could take a free sample of the food they feed the students. It is like, they are such a big, prestigious school they don't need to try and impress/woe us (true, so true!)

 

That said, it is a lovely campus, great school, and ds would have gone if he had gotten in (great financial aid, too!)

 

Oh - parking lot for admissions not very large, but there is street parking. You just may have to walk a ways so allow enough time to park and get to the room to nab seats!

 

The Vanderbilt admissions lady was the one person of all our visits who also pointed out that , all things (GPA, course load, etc.) being equal, the student from an underrepresented state or area like one of the Dakotas would get in over yet another kid from the Chicago suburbs. And that since V. started using the Common Application the acceptance rate had gone way down!

Edited June 16, 2011 by JFSinIL

[debbiec]

It's a very unseasonably hot summer here in Nashville (10 degrees above the norms) ~ dress appropriately! Parking is a pain in the neck at Vandy~ figure that out ahead of time. Hopefully they are telling you exactly where to park. Trafiic is bad over there in the early mornings and mid-late afternoons. Plan accordingly.

[Hoggirl]

I don't think there was any indication of where to park. I will go look again. The confirmation went to ds's e-mail, so perhaps there is guidance in there. Their tour is 1:00 - 3:15, so it will be hot. But, I imagine no hotter than we are here in Arkansas right now.

[RENEEinVA]

We just went to UNC over spring break and it was crazy busy! There must have been 5 tours scheduled the day we were there. We drove around for 15 minutes looking for a parking spot. We visited William & Mary last summer and it wasn't nearly as busy. It was much more casual and relaxed and there were plenty of parking spots.:)

 

If it is really hot outside, the tour guides usually give you water for the walking portion. You should definitely try to arrive a few minutes early because sometimes there are no seats available. We have been on 5 tours so far (I think it's good to start at the beginning of high school) and they have all been pretty much the same: introduction by admissions employee, information about the school, admissions requirements/recommendations, question & answers, tour.