Visiting college campuses with a planned visit?

[FourOaks]

This may also be a bit of a strange question, but it's something I've been wondering.

 

Can a family just stop by and walk all around a campus, go in and out of buildings and generally peruse the area without anyone from the college actually being aware of it?

 

Back when I was in college there was nothing that would have kept people off the campus, out of walking into buildings or even into the lobby areas of dorm rooms (not even dorm floors themselves). I realize that was eons ago and security may be different now.

 

Our family goes on vacation and at times we are very near or could make our way to some of the colleges that my daughter/s may be interested in. My oldest is just going to be in 9th, so I don't think it's time yet to have any real scheduled visits, but if we are near a college it sure would be nice to stop and check it out.

 

Any thoughts or experiences?

[creekland]

Yes, most colleges allow you to just walk around and there's nothing stopping you from signing up for general [group] information sessions and tours also (not exactly a planned visit with sitting in on a class, etc, but with more info than just walking around). There are people who enjoy visiting college even without high school aged students (just want to see Harvard or Penn State or whatever just as a tourist attraction).

 

Whether or not you can get into buildings will depend upon how secure the college feels those buildings need to be. You won't be able to visit labs. You might be able to see where larger classes are held - emphasis on might. Libraries are generally open - as are dining halls (but you need to pay to eat, of course).

 

I've yet to see a dorm recently WITHOUT extra security requiring an identification card to get in. In the old days, that was only true in more urban areas with higher crime. Now it's everywhere.

[Candid]

Normally this should not be a problem, but it may vary from school to school. However, if you poke about in guidebooks (travel) or the internet you may find that they have specific directions for where to park and may even offer tours for regular folks not just possible candidates for admission.

 

However, if it is really a sure thing that your child is interested in the school, I'd go for the formal tour. Some schools do keep track of this stuff to assess interest.

[EmilyK]

I had the same question as the OP. Is there an age that seems too early, and you'll get odd looks (maybe I shouldn't care)? I say this because my parents did it -- when we were on vacation starting in about 8th grade we would just visit schools in whatever area we were vacationing in. I don't know that they thought I would even be interested in some of the schools -- but it was educational in an overall sense about what colleges were like, and some of the differences, and just interesting from a tourist perspective. But I could tell at times people thought it was odd to look until you were a junior. Of course, it was 30 years ago! Times may have changed.

 

The plus was I had seen a lot by the time I was applying to college and then I didn't have to do tons of trips that year.

 

What's the best way to handle if you want to play it by ear until you're there? Just go to the main office and say you are interested in a campus tour?

 

When I was back for my college reunion I did sneak into my dorm but I wouldn't try that somewhere else.

[mooooom]

we got sent parking passes in advance for many schools. Otherwise I don't think it would be a problem. We always wandered in and out of buildings before and/or after tours and no one ever stopped us - I think the nicer schools were ones where people stopped to ask if they could help us find what we were looking for... I don't know why you wouldn't want to take a tour while you were there though - you can usually sign up online and rarely ever need to talk to someone.

[Barbara H]

I recently took a campus tour of Notre Dame and the rest of the tour group consisted of two couples over the age of 60 and two young parents with a two year old. So, not one person in the mix who was actively searching for a college at this moment. Granted Notre Dame is right off the highway and gets interest as a Catholic school and a football school, but they were perfectly fine with different ages on the tour.

 

Just walking around is fine too. If you want to join a tour group just call admissions and tell them you have a 9th grader and know it is early but you are passing through the area and see if they have openings. While I wouldn't make it an intensive focus to visit a bunch of schools, I do think it is great for younger kids to get on campuses for camps or concerts or whatever.

 

For students who are juniors or seniors, I would strongly suggest that you formally arrange the visit with admissions rather than just driving by. Many colleges do consider "demonstrated interest" as a factor in admissions so if you just wander around on your own they will never know you were there.

[FourOaks]

Thanks for the responses ladies. I think we may be near a place of interest the first week of September. Maybe we could stop by. I realize that may be a very bad time though, so possibly not able to jump in on any tours.

 

Still, I'm happy to hear that it may not be so very odd. We would have a 9th grader, 2 7th graders and a 7 year old with us -- so definitely people would notice that we are a family unit.

[wapiti]

Check the college's website for visitor information. They may offer suggestions as well as tour times. You can probably find a campus map as well. Think about anything specific you might like to see (e.g., a lecture hall?)

Edited February 4, 2015 by wapiti

[FaithManor]

Yes, most colleges allow you to just walk around and there's nothing stopping you from signing up for general [group] information sessions and tours also (not exactly a planned visit with sitting in on a class, etc, but with more info than just walking around). There are people who enjoy visiting college even without high school aged students (just want to see Harvard or Penn State or whatever just as a tourist attraction).

 

Whether or not you can get into buildings will depend upon how secure the college feels those buildings need to be. You won't be able to visit labs. You might be able to see where larger classes are held - emphasis on might. Libraries are generally open - as are dining halls (but you need to pay to eat, of course).

 

I've yet to see a dorm recently WITHOUT extra security requiring an identification card to get in. In the old days, that was only true in more urban areas with higher crime. Now it's everywhere.

 

 

This has been our experience as well. A couple of uni's on dd's long-list were on the way home from one of her "must see" tours but we didn't really have time to do the all-day student tour thing. We were able to spend a couple of hours on campus doing just enough for her to get an idea whether or not she wanted to come back. A couple were real no-no's.....one because she got to talking to a group of students along with a teaching assistant in the library and discovered that their chemistry department was "all bluff, no action" so to speak. The other one had an absolutely insane lay-out and did not allow any non-music majors or minors into the music hall to use ANY practice pianos for any reason. Dd is a very, VERY accomplished pianist and would wilt if she lived away from a piano. So, that was ruled out without having to travel and do the all day prospective student event.

 

However, at both of the those schools, there wasn't any way to observe classes because that has to be arranged ahead of time.

 

Faith