Campus tours lead the way in student enrollment
James Kearns
Issue date: 3/19/09 Section: Perspectives
Sophomore Ashley Roemer is one of Sacred Heart University's student ambassadors for prospective students. Although she doesn't typically receive monetary compensation for her efforts, she still enjoys what she does.
"I got an e-mail in the beginning of the year and my suitemate and I decided to start giving the tours," said Roemer. "We have a good time and meet cool people."
A friendly face showing you around a big, new, and sometimes intimidating environment can make all the difference.
"The tour was very influential in my decision to come to Sacred Heart," said freshman Kevin Burokas. "I really liked my tour guide. Her name was Jenny and she sent us postcards over the summer just to say 'hi.'"
Going on guided tours of possible school choices can be very helpful for entering college students.
"She made the school seem very nice and made me want to come back," said Burokas. "I looked at other schools up north and they just weren't as welcoming."
Tours, which typically consist of about 10 people, run every day of the week except Sundays. They start at 10 a.m., noon, and 2 p.m., and last about an hour.
"We volunteer to be the tour guides and don't get paid," said Roemer, "unless it's a day that we have off from school like Columbus Day or Martin Luther King, Jr. Day."
Learning to be a tour guide on campus is fairly straightforward, Roemer explained.
"You have to first shadow tour guides who have experience and learn from them," said Roemer. "You also get a packet with a script in it to memorize, but you don't really use the script that much."
She adds that on the tours, it is usually the parents who ask the most questions.
"It seems the students don't know what to ask and they just assume that we're handing them all of the information," said Roemer.
Although the parents of prospective students tend to ask the most questions, Roemer thinks it is the students who ask the most interesting ones.
"They tend to ask more specific questions, like about courses offered," said Roemer.
While the tours are helpful and influential to some prospective students, others don't consider them to be that important.
"I didn't even take a tour before coming here," said junior Christina Pecoraro. "My friend came here and really liked it, and, once I found out they had a bio program, I decided to come."
Roemer gives tours every week to those curious about the school. She adds that when she was in their position, the tour helped her .
"[My campus tour guide] was very personable, and she definitely influenced my decision to come here."
"I got an e-mail in the beginning of the year and my suitemate and I decided to start giving the tours," said Roemer. "We have a good time and meet cool people."
A friendly face showing you around a big, new, and sometimes intimidating environment can make all the difference.
"The tour was very influential in my decision to come to Sacred Heart," said freshman Kevin Burokas. "I really liked my tour guide. Her name was Jenny and she sent us postcards over the summer just to say 'hi.'"
Going on guided tours of possible school choices can be very helpful for entering college students.
"She made the school seem very nice and made me want to come back," said Burokas. "I looked at other schools up north and they just weren't as welcoming."
Tours, which typically consist of about 10 people, run every day of the week except Sundays. They start at 10 a.m., noon, and 2 p.m., and last about an hour.
"We volunteer to be the tour guides and don't get paid," said Roemer, "unless it's a day that we have off from school like Columbus Day or Martin Luther King, Jr. Day."
Learning to be a tour guide on campus is fairly straightforward, Roemer explained.
"You have to first shadow tour guides who have experience and learn from them," said Roemer. "You also get a packet with a script in it to memorize, but you don't really use the script that much."
She adds that on the tours, it is usually the parents who ask the most questions.
"It seems the students don't know what to ask and they just assume that we're handing them all of the information," said Roemer.
Although the parents of prospective students tend to ask the most questions, Roemer thinks it is the students who ask the most interesting ones.
"They tend to ask more specific questions, like about courses offered," said Roemer.
While the tours are helpful and influential to some prospective students, others don't consider them to be that important.
"I didn't even take a tour before coming here," said junior Christina Pecoraro. "My friend came here and really liked it, and, once I found out they had a bio program, I decided to come."
Roemer gives tours every week to those curious about the school. She adds that when she was in their position, the tour helped her .
"[My campus tour guide] was very personable, and she definitely influenced my decision to come here."
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