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At first, I thought this article was going to be about the industrial complex that's cropped up around college dorm construction and marketing. It's as if schoo

At first, I thought this article was going to be about the industrial complex that's cropped up around college dorm construction and marketing. It's as if schools are in an arms race when it comes to building and selling students on the fanciest dorms. I recently accompanied a teenager (not my kid) on a campus tour for a big, well-known state school. I think that the parents asked maybe six questions. Two were about whether their kids would be forced to get vaccinated and the remaining four were about the dorms. Asking about accommodation is absolutely valid, but couldn't someone have also spoken up about, I don't know, academics? The tour guide spent probably 30 minutes talking about dorms and maybe 5 minutes talking about classes and research. And then we wonder why US college education costs tens of thousands of dollars per year. Sad.

throwawayboise 5y ago
Most undergraduates are not there for the academics per se. They are there to be employable when they finish. They care about the reputation of the school, social opportunites such as fraternities and clubs and what doors those will open later, and yes how nice the dorms are.
jacoblambda 5y ago
While I generally agree (as someone who in the past few years graduated from such a university), the reality is that the tours are about the residential aspect of campus and not the academic part of campus. The entire point of them is to address what life is like. If you are touring the university you have almost guaranteed already researched the academic aspect of the university. And more importantly, part of the issue is that most universities (particularly Tier 1 universities) will provide on average a very mediocre "standard" undergraduate education. Of course if you go out of your way you can get a really good education but the default experience is going to be meh at best. This leaves the question of "why would I want to study somewhere I know will likely give me a meh experience when it's also miserable living there" which is how you end up with the way universities are updating their residential environments.
leetcrew 5y ago
most tours are given by undergrads. what kinds of questions about academics do you expect them to answer? outside of their own major, they probably don't have any information you couldn't look up on the website. this ties into (imo) one of the bigger problems with college education. even if you introduce them to someone who is knowledgeable about the academics, your average 18 yo and their parent aren't really in a position to evaluate the responses. reputation and campus life are the only aspects of college that are easily understood.

throwawayboise 5y ago

Most undergraduates are not there for the academics per se. They are there to be employable when they finish. They care about the reputation of the school, social opportunites such as fraternities and clubs and what doors those will open later, and yes how nice the dorms are.

jacoblambda 5y ago

While I generally agree (as someone who in the past few years graduated from such a university), the reality is that the tours are about the residential aspect of campus and not the academic part of campus. The entire point of them is to address what life is like. If you are touring the university you have almost guaranteed already researched the academic aspect of the university. And more importantly, part of the issue is that most universities (particularly Tier 1 universities) will provide on average a very mediocre "standard" undergraduate education. Of course if you go out of your way you can get a really good education but the default experience is going to be meh at best. This leaves the question of "why would I want to study somewhere I know will likely give me a meh experience when it's also miserable living there" which is how you end up with the way universities are updating their residential environments.

leetcrew 5y ago

most tours are given by undergrads. what kinds of questions about academics do you expect them to answer? outside of their own major, they probably don't have any information you couldn't look up on the website. this ties into (imo) one of the bigger problems with college education. even if you introduce them to someone who is knowledgeable about the academics, your average 18 yo and their parent aren't really in a position to evaluate the responses. reputation and campus life are the only aspects of college that are easily understood.