Universities Weblog

They're walking marketing brochures, those campus tour guides, echoing the positive spins on life in the classrooms, cafeterias, libraries and dorms. They're well trained, too, as this New York Times piece demonstrates.

Here's a bit:

[D]espite all the money that colleges and universities spend on brochures, Web sites and other marketing efforts, high school students and their parents often base their impressions of an institution on the young man or woman who has led them around campus for 45 minutes.

"We know that the campus tour has the biggest impact on whether a student decides to apply to Tufts or not," said Kerrin Damon, its assistant director of admissions.

Ms. Damon said the university had done surveys, querying those who enroll and those who do not, as well as students who visited Tufts and decided not to apply. Historically, the campus tour, which is given all year but draws heavily throughout the summer, is cited as the biggest influence on students' decisions, she said.

As a result, Tufts, and most other colleges and universities, invest considerable time and effort in training their tour guides and preparing them for the delicate situations that can arise.

You can find the article here.

Did you enjoy this article?