Potential student tour guides

[WilCoDawg]

Do y’all know who is in charge of giving interested students campus tours? I live in the Nashville area and have spoken to numerous hs kids over the past 4-5 years that have toured our lovely campus. The majority of what I hear is “our tour was pretty awful”. This is from kids who don’t know each other, went to different schools in the metro area, and have no connection to one another.

This is a pretty embarrassing situation and is possibly an explanation why so few kids go there from here. There’s already a stigma here with MSU, and having pisspoor tours isnt going to improve our recruiting in this area.

 

[PK Dawg]

**** Nashville and kids

 

[MStateU]

That’s our football stadium. That’s where we win football games. Y’all wouldn’t know anything about that though….moving along.

 

[SteelCurtain74]

They must have not taken them by the Carnegie Hall of college baseball. That would have sealed the deal, just ask Braden Montgomery. Oh wait.....my bad.

 

[Pookieray]

Maybe try to identify what was "awful" about the tour. Yes, State has a beautiful campus but not everyone wants just a beautiful setting. Maybe they are looking for nightlife or entertainment. My daughter loved it there, but she is also pretty low key and just liked the sporting events and hanging out with friends. That's not everyone's cup of tea!

 

[anon1735416121]

I think you’ve been talking to kids who toured Vanderbilt.

 

[Duke Humphrey]

Do y’all know who is in charge of giving interested students campus tours? I live in the Nashville area and have spoken to numerous hs kids over the past 4-5 years that have toured our lovely campus. The majority of what I hear is “our tour was pretty awful”. This is from kids who don’t know each other, went to different schools in the metro area, and have no connection to one another.

This is a pretty embarrassing situation and is possibly an explanation why so few kids go there from here. There’s already a stigma here with MSU, and having pisspoor tours isnt going to improve our recruiting in this area.

I’d be interested to know more. I’ve talked to some who haven’t had a great experience, and others who have had a wonderful experience. I don’t think tours are done by geographic area, but I could be wrong. We have obviously been doing something right the last few years as our enrollment has grown.

 

[Coast_Dawg]

I toured fall two years ago with my niece and my brother. She loves State but couldn’t care any less about sports. The majority of the main speech was about how great it is to be a student in the SEC. For her, that meant nothing. Then when we were given a tour of the campus, instead of having a student in a relatable major to hers (ChemE), it was biology major. The young girl didn’t know much about any of the buildings surrounding the drill field. She walked us to the library and then pointed out the Swalm because she thought it was something to do with chemistry. She finished up by taking us through McCool to show us how it had been updated.

I’m not sure what is causing enrollment to be up but they did a poor job selling the school to me and I graduated from there.

 

[Dawghouse]

Do y’all know who is in charge of giving interested students campus tours? I live in the Nashville area and have spoken to numerous hs kids over the past 4-5 years that have toured our lovely campus. The majority of what I hear is “our tour was pretty awful”. This is from kids who don’t know each other, went to different schools in the metro area, and have no connection to one another.

This is a pretty embarrassing situation and is possibly an explanation why so few kids go there from here. There’s already a stigma here with MSU, and having pisspoor tours isnt going to improve our recruiting in this area.

Can confirm. We didn't do many tours because my kid had it down to 2 schools but I went on the tour to MSU with him and it was boring as hell. I ended up doing more of the tour for my son than the tour guide. They seemed disinterested. It was when school wasn't in session so they were probably unhappy they had to be there.

 

[Ptolemy]

Hate to hear some of you had this experience. I happen to know someone in the admissions office who is in charge of the Roadrunners (volunteer student recruiters/tour guides). She would love to hear about your experiences and she asked I share her email. I was a Roadrunner during my time at State, and we took great pride in giving our campus tours. Hopefully these were some individual incidents of students having an off day. Anyway, her email is [email protected]

 

[horshack.sixpack]

Do y’all know who is in charge of giving interested students campus tours? I live in the Nashville area and have spoken to numerous hs kids over the past 4-5 years that have toured our lovely campus. The majority of what I hear is “our tour was pretty awful”. This is from kids who don’t know each other, went to different schools in the metro area, and have no connection to one another.

This is a pretty embarrassing situation and is possibly an explanation why so few kids go there from here. There’s already a stigma here with MSU, and having pisspoor tours isnt going to improve our recruiting in this area.

When the last of my kids toured in 2015, the MSU tour was ok, but Alabama’s was the best of any. I no longer recall details of why but I do recall a noticeable difference.

 

[Maroon13]

I think you’ve been talking to kids who toured Vanderbilt.

Belmont is nicer than Vanderbilt and other sec schools. If we are just talking walking tours here.

 

[WilCoDawg]

I toured fall two years ago with my niece and my brother. She loves State but couldn’t care any less about sports. The majority of the main speech was about how great it is to be a student in the SEC. For her, that meant nothing. Then when we were given a tour of the campus, instead of having a student in a relatable major to hers (ChemE), it was biology major. The young girl didn’t know much about any of the buildings surrounding the drill field. She walked us to the library and then pointed out the Swalm because she thought it was something to do with chemistry. She finished up by taking us through McCool to show us how it had been updated.

I’m not sure what is causing enrollment to be up but they did a poor job selling the school to me and I graduated from there.

This is the going theme of what I’ve heard. The guides didn’t know anything about anything. The last gal mentioned how she wanted to see the dorms and sorority row which the guide didn’t even take her group by any of them. Seems the living situation would be high on the list such as “and this is where you would be living” and “these are the Greek houses that you may party at”.

This has been confirmed by the parents accompanying the kids. Every time I get “the campus is beautiful” and then how great the tours at other schools was like Bama or ole Miss.

 

[WilCoDawg]

I think you’ve been talking to kids who toured Vanderbilt.

Vandy was of no interest to these kids. They were all looking at other SEC schools in close proximity.

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

They must have not taken them by the Carnegie Hall of college baseball. That would have sealed the deal, just ask Braden Montgomery. Oh wait.....my bad.

 

[greenbean.sixpack]

We toured TA&M (the best), UGA (second best), the barn (pretty good), MSU (ok) and DSU (terrible).

 

[kphall11]

When the last of my kids toured in 2015, the MSU tour was ok, but Alabama’s was the best of any. I no longer recall details of why but I do recall a noticeable difference.

The tours are led by capstone men and women which is one of the most sought after positions on campus and hard to land one of the spots. Very prestigious.

 

[eckie1]

When the last of my kids toured in 2015, the MSU tour was ok, but Alabama’s was the best of any. I no longer recall details of why but I do recall a noticeable difference.

It was the lollipops laced with blow and wrapped with $100 bills, if I had to guess.***

 

[Dawghouse]

This was our tour, and I will say we were there while there were still COVID requirements so that may have impacted some things (May 2022). There shouldn't have been COVID requirements by May of 22, that was dumb but I had honestly forgotten until my wife just reminded me.

Met in Montgomery (I think is the name). Sat in there for about 20-25 waiting to start (I'm always 15 minutes early so that's not a complaint). They had a keurig and water bottles. I think they had some pastries. Free pens and pins/stickers

Watched a video, listened to a few stories. This part was the highlight tbh.

Left there with a guide and visited the following (not necessarily in this order)
Old dorm next to chapel
New dorm somewhere back behind the chapel
The union, holy crap that place has changed since I left in 01.
McCool, one normal room, one auditorium room, again didn't recognize it from my days there except for my old business law classroom on the 1st floor it looked the same.
Library (just to the entrance)
Back to Montgomery and done

Whole thing was maybe 1:30, about 45 minutes in the presentation room and another 45 on the tour. Might be off a few minutes but the tour was quick.

I will say they were kind enough to walk us up to talk to someone about financial aid when we had a question they couldn't answer.

I really don't blame anyone who was working that day, maybe my expectations were off. I think the workers did what they were supposed to do but there needs to be more.

I'm not sure what I was expecting but if used car salesman is on one end of the "selling something" spectrum, this tour was on the other end.

My suggestion would be try and find a way to customize the tour. My son, like the person mentioned above, has no interest in sports or dorms or the food court, he's all about academics and would have benefited from maybe checking out the architecture and engineering departments, maybe chatting with a professor or two as he was still deciding majors at that point. Also, have some people in the room interacting with the students, asking them questions, answering questions, etc. we were just in there in silence for the wait.

It was an uphill battle for MSU anyway and I was hoping they could seal the deal. I guess these tours aren't designed for that kind of thing. Still holding out hope he'll transfer there in a year or two. Instead he's going to Pennsylvania, a 13 hour drive from the nearest family. My middle kid (17) has no idea what he's doing but my youngest (16) plans to go to state for engineering.

 

[Maroon13]

Yeah. My daughter toured in 2022 as well. We had the exact same tour. Montgomery hall... yada yada yada. The dorms were Hull hall and then to Davenport. I felt like they wanted to show the worst "traditional" dorm in order to sell the "new" dorms. That's another topic.

As far as academics, we went prior to the basic tour, and meet with the colleges my daughter was interested in. That was informative in deciding in what she would major. So there is that option for anyone really interested in meeting people at the colleges and learning about the colleges.

 

[WrightGuy821]

I think the personal tours are so much better than the mass tours. I never toured anywhere because I always wanted to go to State, but my wife got a tour with just her and her dad and a "road runner" and said it was good. They actually got to visit some of the student's favorite places to go on campus and check out some of the show dorm rooms. The mass tours are kind of cheesy and not a good production as a whole. Also, make sure you tour during the school semester. That's when you'll get the best tour. The guides are happy to have an excused class absence, the campus will actually look lively, and you'll get to experience what school here actually looks like.

 

[The Peeper]

I see them touring all the time on campus. Its usually small group maybe 3 students, their parent(s), and a student tour guide. No idea about the content but I always thought it may be good to split them up at some point and let the parents go together on one w/ a guide and the students do the same because they are going to have different questions

 

[RocketDawg1]

Do y’all know who is in charge of giving interested students campus tours? I live in the Nashville area and have spoken to numerous hs kids over the past 4-5 years that have toured our lovely campus. The majority of what I hear is “our tour was pretty awful”. This is from kids who don’t know each other, went to different schools in the metro area, and have no connection to one another.

This is a pretty embarrassing situation and is possibly an explanation why so few kids go there from here. There’s already a stigma here with MSU, and having pisspoor tours isnt going to improve our recruiting in this area.

Do they still have the Roadrunners? The tour when my son visited was fantastic, conducted by students (Roadrunners) and many presentations by professors. We even got to go to a football game. The tour was great and much of the reason he decided to go to school there. Scholarship was a big reason as well though.

 

[BigDogFan]

We didn't do the general tour because my son could give the tour since he has been on campus so much over the years with his older siblings in school there and sporting events. He did want to talk to folks in his major area so we set that up with the department and it was very informative. Got to see classes in that area and meet others in the major and ask them questions. I have had friends who didn't go to State who did the general tours with their kids and some of the experiences have be good and some not so good. I think if you just say I want a tour you get what you get, but if you ask about visiting your major area and meeting with staff/students then they are better. Still the university needs to do a great job on general tours for folks who have maybe only been on campus for a game and no family has ever attended State.

 

[HeCannotGo]

I've had a different experience than the OP. I meet a lot of students and their parents in the Atlanta area. I'm always interested in finding out why they chose MSU (especially the ones without a State alum for a parent). The most common response by far is "I toured the campus and just knew it was the right place for me."

Most go on to say they didn't know much about State or have it high on their list before visiting, but the visit made the sale.

My kids toured State, Alabama, Clemson, UGA, and UT. Clemson and UGA were good, and UT was average. Alabama was terrible: very cold and corporate. No recruiting aspect to it at all. They seem to be under the impression that their football success equates to academic excellence and that you're fortunate just to be on campus getting the tour.

I thought State's tour was pretty good for my oldest, but the best thing for me as a dad praying my kid would pick MSU was that it was on the same day as the Alabama tour. She came away 100% sold on State.

For my youngest, State did a good job of personalizing it for her. She met the department head for her potential major, and we got to sit down with a higher-up in the admissions office to get some scholarship questions answered. I think MSU is good about doing extras like this if you tell them specifically what you want well in advance of the visit.

 

[OG Goat Holder]

I've had a different experience than the OP. I meet a lot of students and their parents in the Atlanta area. I'm always interested in finding out why they chose MSU (especially the ones without a State alum for a parent). The most common response by far is "I toured the campus and just knew it was the right place for me."

Most go on to say they didn't know much about State or have it high on their list before visiting, but the visit made the sale.

My kids toured State, Alabama, Clemson, UGA, and UT. Clemson and UGA were good, and UT was average. Alabama was terrible: very cold and corporate. No recruiting aspect to it at all. They seem to be under the impression that their football success equates to academic excellence and that you're fortunate just to be on campus getting the tour.

I thought State's tour was pretty good for my oldest, but the best thing for me as a dad praying my kid would pick MSU was that it was on the same day as the Alabama tour. She came away 100% sold on State.

For my youngest, State did a good job of personalizing it for her. She met the department head for her potential major, and we got to sit down with a higher-up in the admissions office to get some scholarship questions answered. I think MSU is good about doing extras like this if you tell them specifically what you want well in advance of the visit.

It's just your monthly Mississippi/Jackson/MSU bashing thread.

 

[RocketDawg1]

I've had a different experience than the OP. I meet a lot of students and their parents in the Atlanta area. I'm always interested in finding out why they chose MSU (especially the ones without a State alum for a parent). The most common response by far is "I toured the campus and just knew it was the right place for me."

Most go on to say they didn't know much about State or have it high on their list before visiting, but the visit made the sale.

My kids toured State, Alabama, Clemson, UGA, and UT. Clemson and UGA were good, and UT was average. Alabama was terrible: very cold and corporate. No recruiting aspect to it at all. They seem to be under the impression that their football success equates to academic excellence and that you're fortunate just to be on campus getting the tour.

I thought State's tour was pretty good for my oldest, but the best thing for me as a dad praying my kid would pick MSU was that it was on the same day as the Alabama tour. She came away 100% sold on State.

For my youngest, State did a good job of personalizing it for her. She met the department head for her potential major, and we got to sit down with a higher-up in the admissions office to get some scholarship questions answered. I think MSU is good about doing extras like this if you tell them specifically what you want well in advance of the visit.

Totally agree about Alabama. Before State, we went to Vanderbilt (great tour), Florida and Florida State (nice tours), Birmingham Southern (sort of strange - their academics seem to be OK but nothing technical), North Carolina (OK) but he chose State, thankfully. It was free.

 

[Crucifictorious]

This was our tour, and I will say we were there while there were still COVID requirements so that may have impacted some things (May 2022). There shouldn't have been COVID requirements by May of 22, that was dumb but I had honestly forgotten until my wife just reminded me.

Met in Montgomery (I think is the name). Sat in there for about 20-25 waiting to start (I'm always 15 minutes early so that's not a complaint). They had a keurig and water bottles. I think they had some pastries. Free pens and pins/stickers

Watched a video, listened to a few stories. This part was the highlight tbh.

Left there with a guide and visited the following (not necessarily in this order)
Old dorm next to chapel
New dorm somewhere back behind the chapel
The union, holy crap that place has changed since I left in 01.
McCool, one normal room, one auditorium room, again didn't recognize it from my days there except for my old business law classroom on the 1st floor it looked the same.
Library (just to the entrance)
Back to Montgomery and done

Whole thing was maybe 1:30, about 45 minutes in the presentation room and another 45 on the tour. Might be off a few minutes but the tour was quick.

I will say they were kind enough to walk us up to talk to someone about financial aid when we had a question they couldn't answer.

I really don't blame anyone who was working that day, maybe my expectations were off. I think the workers did what they were supposed to do but there needs to be more.

I'm not sure what I was expecting but if used car salesman is on one end of the "selling something" spectrum, this tour was on the other end.

My suggestion would be try and find a way to customize the tour. My son, like the person mentioned above, has no interest in sports or dorms or the food court, he's all about academics and would have benefited from maybe checking out the architecture and engineering departments, maybe chatting with a professor or two as he was still deciding majors at that point. Also, have some people in the room interacting with the students, asking them questions, answering questions, etc. we were just in there in silence for the wait.

It was an uphill battle for MSU anyway and I was hoping they could seal the deal. I guess these tours aren't designed for that kind of thing. Still holding out hope he'll transfer there in a year or two. Instead he's going to Pennsylvania, a 13 hour drive from the nearest family. My middle kid (17) has no idea what he's doing but my youngest (16) plans to go to state for engineering.

I have been in the library at Einstein's when these tour groups came in and I listened to the MSU Tour leader point to a few things and get a few things wrong (The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library is upstairs...wrong president). I bet the students would love to use the VR gear or the 3-D printers or the recording studios. They just didn't give them any time before they were off to the Fresh Foods cafeteria. I agree with folks here that it would be better if each student could meet with students and faculty in each department that matches their major/interest.

 

[WilCoDawg]

It's just your monthly Mississippi/Jackson/MSU bashing thread.

If you think I’m trying to bash MSU with this, you’re wrong. I’m simply curious as to why I’m hearing the same consensus experience from kids I know and don’t know from different years and schools for the past several recruiting cycle.

If you’re fine with having kids walk away from a tour thinking MSU isn’t great, don’t complain about the growing perspective among kids that MSU is awful. I for one would love for everyone to walk away from a tour impressed regardless of whether they ultimately attend or not.

 

[Maroon Eagle]

If you think I’m trying to bash MSU with this, you’re wrong. I’m simply curious as to why I’m hearing the same consensus experience from kids I know and don’t know from different years and schools for the past several recruiting cycle.

If you’re fine with having kids walk away from a tour thinking MSU isn’t great, don’t complain about the growing perspective among kids that MSU is awful. I for one would love for everyone to walk away from a tour impressed regardless of whether they ultimately attend or not.

Exactly.

If you want to sell prospective students on a college or university, you show them what they want— even if it means more work.

Cookie cutter approaches are not always successful.

This is something that can’t be halfässed.

 

[Son_of_34]

Roadrunners are 17'n terrible. They hardly know anything and were given terrible random facts about buildings on campus.

Maroon VIP gives way better tours but they are limited to non prospective student groups

 

[Maroon Eagle]

Roadrunners are 17'n terrible. They hardly know anything and were given terrible random facts about buildings on campus.

Maroon VIP gives way better tours but they are limited to non prospective student groups

Have heard and seen tours at another institution, I’ll note that updated information is key.

I’m also wondering if the Roadrunners have faculty/staff mentors who can help them. The student recruiters where I work conduct dry run on campus tours for their mentors before talking to prospective student groups.

Is that done at MSU too?

 

[BingleCocktail]

It's just your monthly Mississippi/Jackson/MSU bashing thread.

BOHICA**

 

[LordMcBuckethead]

Alright MSU, here is how you do your campus tours from now on. I have zero experience in this, but even with no experience I could put together a better tour of campus with only 3 minutes of thought put into it.

First, start in Montgomery Hall. Talk about the history of MSU, Old Main, Drill Field, AM college stuff. Talk about the main colleges on campus. Have all the potential majors already on file for each of the people in the room. After the introduction to MSU, get on a golf cart train (like they use at the San Diego zoo) with a loud speaker and start the tour.

The tour - start out at sorority row, bost, soccer complex, Architecture School, Hump/baseball/football facility. Let the kids walk into the right field entrance and take a look at the field. Have a game on the jumbotron showing highlights of the best game. Then go by the dorms and show them what one looks like all set up with MSU gear.

Go to the Sanderson and the Engineering Row. End the tour at the Union for Lunch.

"Face time with the Dean" - Since you have each persons potential major, drop them off to have a 40 minute individual tour by the college's Dean or upper personnel.

End the tour discussing financial aid with personnel from the aid office at the MClub Building. Making sure to point out, we should tear down Dorman.

End at the football stadium.