Almost every move you make during elite college admissions season should have a competitive edge, with a few exceptions. Despite what some highly selective colleges say to the contrary, they do care about Demonstrated Interest. After all, why wouldn’t they want to admit students who are enthusiastic about attending? One of the most effective ways to demonstrate your interest is to participate in a college tour guided by a student ambassador. Admissions officers love to see that you’ve made the effort to trek to campus in your free time. Only families who mean business take this step!

Once you arrive on campus, sign in for your tour and any accompanying information sessions or programming. Otherwise, your prospective school will not record your attendance, and all the time you spend demonstrating your interest will go to waste. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s return to our opening thought: every move you make should have a competitive edge. However, we mentioned there are some exceptions to this rule. What are they? The questions you ask on your tour. These aren’t worth stressing over!

Colleges Aren’t Paying Attention to the Questions You Ask on Your Campus Tour

You’ve traveled long and far (or short and leisurely) to your future campus, signed in for your tour, and now what? Stop stressing! The hard part is over. Colleges don’t care what you ask on your tour so much as that you attend one in the first place. There are no secret channels of communication between your tour guide and admissions officers tracking who asks what. Moreover, your tour guide (who is probably an undergraduate) won’t give you the unique insight into campus life that you think they will. At most, they’ll regurgitate the administration’s talking points. And anyway, who is to say that everything they tell you is correct?

Some families go into their tours to glean top-notch material for the “Why College” essay on their application. But the information you’ll get on your tour is exactly the sort of low-hanging fruit rhetoric you don’t want to include in your college essays! So don’t attend your tour with hidden agendas — it will just backfire.

Here are Twenty Genuine Questions to Ask on Your College Tour

1. Which dining hall has the best food for vegetarians? Ask away! 
2. Where do students go to unwind during their free time? 
3. How far is the nearest cafe with great vibes where students go to work in their free time?
4. Which campus events are the most fun, and which are the most well-attended?
5. Are there many job recruiting fairs on campus?
6. What was the first thing that surprised you when you arrived on campus?
7. What do you think outsiders get wrong about student life at this school?
8. Does the housing get better with each year you spend on campus?
9. Did you find it easy to make friends when you arrived?
10. What are the mental health support resources like? Do students face stigma for using them?
11. How strong is the advising or mentoring system on campus?
12. What’s the arts scene like?
13. Do students actually care about things like sports and school spirit?
14. How engaged are alumni on campus? Is there a strong network for recent graduates to tap into?
15. Do many undergraduates conduct research? Is it easy to access funding?
16. Where can LGBTQ students find community on campus?
17. What’s your favorite place on campus?
18. What advice would you give to an incoming first-year?
19. How popular are study abroad programs here?
20. What’s something you wished you had known before coming here?

Turn to Ivy Coach for Insider Information That Will Make You a Highly Competitive Applicant

College tour guides are briefed at the beginning of each season with bland responses to common questions using rhetoric from the school’s marketing brochure. Ivy Coach, on the other hand, will give you and your child the scoop on the things that colleges don’t expect you to know. Perhaps your prospective school has a particular affinity with the entertainment industry. Maybe it prefers students who apply as electrical engineers instead of mechanical engineers. Perhaps the admissions office is only looking for students who have an appreciation for Jesuit traditions. Who knows? We do.

If you would like to optimize your child’s odds of admission to a highly selective college, fill out our complimentary consultation form, and we’ll contact you.