PS&L Blog

Fifteen hundred and seventy three miles is how far we drove on our vacation.

A drizzly 6 am departure from Wyndmoor brought us to Mystic Connecticut by 10:30 to tour the Seaport Museum, our first lobster roll and then on to Rockport, Mass, but not after a big long stop-and-go north of the Mass Turnpike during Boston’s rush hour.  More lobster at the Fish Shack in the center of Rockport, this time with pasta.  Mmmm.  The next morning the girls were up early to swim in the ocean for the first time this year.

After a scenic drive half hour drive we hit 95 north and New Hampshire.  The entire passage through NH was traffic and more traffic. As we got to Maine things opened up and we were speeding up the coast until we hit Wiscasset.  The hour commute through the village is normal in summer the locals say.  Our nerves were frayed by the time we arrived at our destination, Port Clyde, Maine.

On our way north I stopped counting the number of colleges and university’s signs I saw on the roadside.  As our trip continued from down East Maine to western Maine’s Kezar Lake, to New Hampshire’s Mount Washington

and later the Flume, near what used to be the Man in the Mountain, I started to think of what a tough audience we would be if this were the college tour trip.

Unlike colleges and universities, where you’re greeted by a parking lot with a sign pointing you the admissions office, we were greeted at our destinations by friends saying, “Come on in, how about a beer?”  And believe me I appreciated the offer.

I know you can’t meet prospects in the parking lot but have you really thought about their mindset when they arrive? They are making a first visit to what might be one of the biggest investments in their lives and so they are arriving not only with that weight on their shoulders but also the more immediate memory of their trip to your campus. You can either add to their irritation or you can ease their nerves. They may have put all the pressure on themselves to get to you, but once they arrive, the pressure is on you to make them welcome. It’s up to you whether your college is just a rest stop or the final destination.