8 Questions You Can Ask to Improve Your College Tour
8 Questions You Can Ask to Improve Your College Tour
Lina Tate is a junior majoring in Government and International Politics with a double minor in Social Justice and Chinese. She is an on-campus student from Detroit Michigan. Lina has experience with student organizations and research opportunities at Mason.
Lina Tate is a junior majoring in Government and International Politics with a double minor in Social Justice and Chinese. She is an on-campus student from Detroit Michigan. Lina has experience with student organizations and research opportunities at Mason.
Reflecting on my college tour days, I remember spending days exhausting college admission pages looking for every possible piece of information I could find. I spent hours searching for YouTube videos on schools trying to get a gist of what I would experience before taking my tour. Most importantly, I was determined to know the information that I couldn’t find on a college website.
College tour guides are filled with facts about their school. After a tour where you’ve been bombarded with information, the last thing you can think of is a question. Or maybe you feel too embarrassed to ask the question you do have. Now, being on the other side of tours as an Ambassador, I know just how daunting it can be to approach us with questions. However, college tours are one of the few times you get to interact with a student that spends their daily life at the school you might call home.
Therefore, beyond the facts, the essential pieces of information tour guides bring are our day-to-day college life experiences. Whether you’re struggling to find the “right” questions to ask or still processing the information, have no fear! Below I will be leaving you with eight helpful questions to ask on a college tour. Hopefully, with these questions, you can leave your tours feeling awesome.
1. What does a typical day on campus look like?
Each college student will have a different answer to this question. However, asking tour guides this can provide you an example of what a college day comprises of. Unlike high school, where most of the day is scheduled for you, college provides you with the liberty of making the best decisions for yourself. Therefore, this can provide an example of what you might envision your day to look like.
2. How would you describe the student body?
Asking this question is a quick way to provide you with an idea of what the school culture is. The way a student describes their peers says a lot about the environment the school strives to foster. This question can allow you as a prospective student to imagine if the school’s student body is a community you want to join, such as Her Campus!
3. What do students do when they aren’t studying?
Contrary to popular belief, college students don’t spend the whole day with their noses in a textbook. In fact, most of the college experience lives beyond the classroom. College is a great time to try something new and learn something new about yourself. Learning about clubs, organizations, and work opportunities at school can aid in that process.
4. What’s the relationship like between students and staff/faculty?
As students, you will have to interact with professors, a preview of what that relationship looks like can put prospective students and parents at ease. Similar to question 2, knowing the relationship between professors and students can help make the academic transition easier especially for future academic opportunities.
5. What are some examples of “dorm essentials” at your college/university?
On the internet, you’ll have no issues finding a college essential list. Most items will work wherever you go, however, the answer to this question might highlight some quirky or niche item specific to that school. Therefore, if you do decide to go to that school, you are one step closer to feeling apart of the student body.
6. What’s your favorite thing to do off-campus?
Asking college students what they do off campus will provide you some insight as to what the college and neighboring town/city relationship is. As a college student, you’re going to want to venture off-campus and see the rest of the world around you. Having a list of options to pick from to aid in your exploration not only can help you gain a sense of independence but be fun at the same time.
7. What’s one area you think your school could improve upon?
As college tour guides, we’re excited to tell you about all the great things that made us pick the schools we attend. However, asking your tour guide what’s one area the school could improve upon makes the tour that much more honest. No school is perfect, but to have one of its students profess that is authentic.
8. Can I picture myself on this campus?
The last question is more of a reflective question for yourself. After your tour and asking a couple of these questions, take the time to absorb all the information. You may not have the answer to this right away and that home feeling might take a minute to set. But keeping this question in the back of your mind during a tour can help keep you not only engaged but help you imagine yourself on campus in the fall!