2008 Woodie Awards
Reliability of student-run tours scrutinized
Liz Ackley
Issue date: 11/1/07 Section: News
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Many prospective students use campus tours as a key source of information during the college application process. However, many claim that tour guides can be dishonest and unrealistic in their descriptions of the school, often denying negative attributes of the school and exaggerating benefits. Union tour guides have received both negative and positive reviews of their explanations of life at Union.
The goal of campus tours is to expose prospective students to all areas of life at Union college.
Academics, social life, athletics and the Minerva system are all central topics of the tour, and tour guides aim to accurately portray the role of each in college life at Union. The benefits of each category are emphasized, to create a positive overall perception of Union.
As tour guide Bridget Jameson '10, explained, "The point of a college tour, and what people expect from a tour, is for prospective students and parents to see and hear about the things that Union, or any college, has to offer."
However, this persistently optimistic approach to describing college life has been cited as the reason behind claims of false advertising.
Cody Berliner, '11, stated, "On my tour, [the guide] talked so much and so highly of the Minervas that they made it seem like Minervas were the center of the social life here."
From an advertising perspective, many guides find this upbeat approach to tours to be unavoidable.
Jameson continued, "If you tour a school and the tour guide talks about all of what [he] consider[s] the negative aspects of the school, no one on that tour will want to attend the school."
Despite acknowledgement of exclusive positivism, guides and many students deny any counts of dishonesty on the tours.
Sam Everts, '11, took a tour before making her decision to apply to Union, and she remembers her tour guide as being refreshingly honest.
Everts explained, "When I took my tour here, the tour guide was brutally honest. She didn't hide anything that might have been [negatively interpreted] about Union. It really appreciated that she showed us the school for what it really was."
The goal of campus tours is to expose prospective students to all areas of life at Union college.
Academics, social life, athletics and the Minerva system are all central topics of the tour, and tour guides aim to accurately portray the role of each in college life at Union. The benefits of each category are emphasized, to create a positive overall perception of Union.
As tour guide Bridget Jameson '10, explained, "The point of a college tour, and what people expect from a tour, is for prospective students and parents to see and hear about the things that Union, or any college, has to offer."
However, this persistently optimistic approach to describing college life has been cited as the reason behind claims of false advertising.
Cody Berliner, '11, stated, "On my tour, [the guide] talked so much and so highly of the Minervas that they made it seem like Minervas were the center of the social life here."
From an advertising perspective, many guides find this upbeat approach to tours to be unavoidable.
Jameson continued, "If you tour a school and the tour guide talks about all of what [he] consider[s] the negative aspects of the school, no one on that tour will want to attend the school."
Despite acknowledgement of exclusive positivism, guides and many students deny any counts of dishonesty on the tours.
Sam Everts, '11, took a tour before making her decision to apply to Union, and she remembers her tour guide as being refreshingly honest.
Everts explained, "When I took my tour here, the tour guide was brutally honest. She didn't hide anything that might have been [negatively interpreted] about Union. It really appreciated that she showed us the school for what it really was."
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