20 questions to ask your college tour guide

By Stephen Friedfeld, PhD

Visiting colleges is about more than scoping out the campus and buying a t-shirt. A college tour is your time to gather as much useful information as possible to assess whether the school is a good fit for your child.

Before the tour, research the school and discuss what’s most important to your child’s college experience. While on the tour, try to get a full picture of various aspects of the college, including academics, financial aid, the social scene and student life.

Here are 20 good questions to pose to your tour guide.

●      What is the average amount of debt students graduate with?

●      What is the average class size for an introductory class and upper level class?

●      Are professors readily available to students?

●      How common is the use of teaching assistants?

●      What types of careers do graduates tend to go into?

●      Are there academic support systems in place, such as tutoring, writing and math centers?

●      What is the prevalence of research on campus?

●      Is it difficult to get a research position with a faculty member as an undergrad?

●      Do many students take advantage of the study abroad opportunities?

●      How strong is the alumni network and how can students get involved with it?

●      Where is your favorite place on-campus to study?

●      What housing options are available?

●      Do students get a significant say in where they live and how does the housing lottery work?

●      Are students allowed to have a car on campus?

●      What percentage of students live on campus and what percentage live off campus?

●      Could you describe some of the campus safety measures?

●      How accessible are campus police?

●      What are some of the most popular events held for students?

●      What do students do for fun? What are the popular hangout spots in the surrounding community?

●      How strong is the presence of Greek life on campus?

●      What are the college’s most popular sports?

●      How would you describe a typical student?

●      What was the biggest surprise of your first year on-campus?

●      Hopefully, these questions provide a good starting point as you and your child visit a variety of colleges and start on the college planning journey.

--

|