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We're planning a day trip tomorrow to visit a couple of small LA schools a couple of hours from here. As much as I've looked at their websites, I still missed the line on one of them that said to please schedule group information sessions in advance. Great, we're planning to be there tomorrow morning! They say nothing about scheduling the campus tours so if we do that first, then just show up for the information session, will we be commiting a big no-no? If S is really interested in this school, I know we'll be back again for an interview and more detailed information.

By Texas137 (Texas137) on Sunday, April 04, 2004 - 08:31 pm: Edit

just show up, aplogetically admit that you did not pre-schedule, and ask if it's okay to particpate. The worst that can happen is they'll say they don't have any more room.

By Interesteddad (Interesteddad) on Sunday, April 04, 2004 - 08:32 pm: Edit

I wouldn't worry about it. We just showed up for most campus visits because we were more or less wandering up and down the East Coast by car and there was really no way to know exactly when we would be arriving.

They probably ask you to schedule in advance so that they know whether or not to even hold an information session that morning. This time of year, they'll be holding them!

It's important to always keep the nature of the transaction in mind. You are the customer. They are trying to sell you their product. It's not fundamentally different than buying a car.

By Choff (Choff) on Sunday, April 04, 2004 - 08:51 pm: Edit

Great. Thanks for the reassurance!

By Garland (Garland) on Sunday, April 04, 2004 - 08:54 pm: Edit

we had one school give us a problem about that (UMich four years ago, the room was overflowing, but in the end, they let us in.) No problem anywhere else.

By Bookiemom (Bookiemom) on Sunday, April 04, 2004 - 09:11 pm: Edit

I was told at one school that all tours were full (it was an audition day with lots of high school seniors there). We went to the campus tour center to pick up info and just sort of blended into the tour group that was just leaving with no problem. That tour guide was excellent and my D is in college there now! Serendipity!

By Coureur (Coureur) on Sunday, April 04, 2004 - 09:59 pm: Edit

We had bandits join the tour in progress at nearly every college tour we did. At Princeton and Berkeley the tour group had nearly doubled in size by time we finished. No one cared.

By Kathiep (Kathiep) on Sunday, April 04, 2004 - 10:18 pm: Edit

At an open house college visit we jumped from one tour group to another because ours was doing a lousy job. We felt so sneaky but then the new tour guide took us right to the building we had just seen and went back to all the other buildings we had seen! We ended up doing the rest of the tour on our own and jumping into different groups if we saw a guide talking. The guides probably referred to us as the crazy Mom and daughter combo.

By Dadofsam (Dadofsam) on Tuesday, April 06, 2004 - 02:36 pm: Edit

We visited a college (CWRU) that was supposed to be closed due to the blackout last summer. However, that day was our only chance. No problem; some admissions folks were there anyway and gave the presentations and tours to whomever showed up.
The only possible problem with not having a reservation is for campus tours that use a bus.