Counselors and Parents Ask Us ...

HOW ARE YOUR TOURS PRICED? 

We have a simple pricing model that includes a flat rate per campus.  We make arrangements for land and air travel, hotels, and ticketed events and charge nominal bookings fees only for non-commissionable rates.  We would be happy to provide a quote for your trip.

HOW RECEPTIVE ARE THE COLLEGES TO WORKING WITH CAMPANILE? 

We have planned tours to 200+ campuses, and continue to have enormous success working with colleges.  Professors, academic advisors, Deans, and coaches have been receptive to our requests and generously make time for our students.  Admission offices and Development offices appreciate that we are bringing students to their campus and are making sure they have a positive experience.  For example, our student was visiting a Fordham class on World Poverty and the professor sent her a video link to watch before class so she’d be well-prepared for his lecture.  At Brown, an Economics professor sent our student the articles for her upcoming class so he could participate in her seminar, and at Goucher, the entire tennis team came out to have lunch with our student.  At Harvard, a theater professor spent considerable time reviewing our student’s resume and discussing her fit for their program.  At UC Berkeley, a prospective engineering student was welcomed at a panel and luncheon where alumni shared their career histories. A prospective dancer toured several colleges, participating in advanced classes at Swarthmore, Barnard, and Stanford.  At Chapman, we arranged for a baseball coach to meet with our prospective player right on the field after a scheduled game.

DO PARENTS WHO ARE FREQUENT BUSINESS TRAVELERS NEED THIS SERVICE?

We find even the most experienced traveler benefits from our services.  Business travelers are not often accustomed to traveling with their teenagers, which requires another level of organization and planning.  Parents may be used to corporate hotels and are likely unfamiliar with travel to small college towns.  In fact, many business travelers have corporate travel agents or assistants plan their trips and are very comfortable having Campanile plan college tours for them. 

HOW IS THE ITINERARY DELIVERED?

Families receive the itinerary through a computer app that is loaded into their smartphone or laptop.  A PDF version can also be provided to be printed from home.  The app allows families to have immediate access to their itinerary, maps, directions, and contact information.  We stay connected to the family throughout their trip and can update their itinerary if there are any changes along the way, such as a change in a classroom assignment or a late train.

HOW WILL YOU HELP LESS EXPERIENCED TRAVELERS? 

We create a trip that is very stress-free.  We provide detailed information on where to go and how to get there.  We place families in hotels that are usually in walking distance to campus.  We know areas where it is best to travel by train, cab, or private car so parents don’t worry about driving in unfamiliar areas.  We coordinate all the details so parents can enjoy this trip with their teen.  At the University of Delaware, when a snowstorm caused the cancellation of our families’ scheduled train, a staffer at the on-campus hotel drove our clients thirty minutes to another train station, making sure they made it to their next college as planned.

I’M A COLLEGE COUNSELOR.  HOW WILL YOU WORK WITH MY STUDENT?

We have clear boundaries for college tour planning and educational consulting.  Our service supports the consulting you are providing your families.  We do not collect any information on the student’s academic profile, other than the name of their high school and their academic interests.  Generally, we have no contact with the student at all.  You, as the educational consultant, determine which colleges a student should be visiting.  We rely on your assessment of a student’s readiness to meet with professors and interview.  We do not prep students for these meetings, but we do provide them with biographical information and background information so that you can help the student prepare for their trip.  Because it is important for students to make as much of their own connections as possible, we encourage students to re-confirm appointments directly with professors and to follow-up with personal thank you notes. Clients of HECA and IECA members receive a custom welcome amenity at the start of their tour.

I’M A COLLEGE COUNSELOR. CAN YOU CREATE A CUSTOM COLLEGE VISIT TOUR JUST FOR ME?

Absolutely! We can customize a visit for college counselors - and we coordinate all the travel logistics as well as meetings with admissions offices, faculty, and specialized tours. For example, we recently created a two-week custom tour, visiting 20 campuses, for an independent counselor from Pakistan. We offer special rates for counselors too.

CAN STUDENTS TRAVEL ALONE?  

We cannot arrange tours for minors traveling alone.  We can arrange tours for students ages 18 or older, but we highly recommend that these students travel with an adult or older sibling.

WHAT MAKES THE ADDED EXPENSE A GOOD VALUE? 

We hope that students see and experience enough on campus so they don’t feel the need to make a return trip.  In addition, many families actually save money by using our services.  We can create a more efficient itinerary, lessening the cost of extra travel days.  We can often get discounted rates for families, lowering the costs of travel they would have incurred on their own.  Students have great experiences to write about in their college application essays and more to talk about during admission interviews.  Many families tell us that their Campanile College Tour was the best trip they ever took with their teen.

CAN YOU create special itineraries for INTERNATIONAL TRAVELERS?

Campanile College Tours can handle complex travel for international families as all of our tours are customized to meet the needs of our travelers.  From securing professional translators for parents, utilizing private drivers, and connecting students to individuals on campus dedicated to international admissions, our services are available to families from around the world.  We have created custom college tours for families from Asia, Africa, Europe, South America, and the Middle East.

WHY DO WE NEED A PROFESSIONAL TRAVEL ADVISOR?  

 A travel advisor has access to information and perks not available to the general public. Our Travel Director and Associates are Virtuoso members which often enables us to obtain hotel rooms which show full to the public, provide complimentary room upgrades, breakfast, and credits for hotel amenities at no charge to the client. We can coordinate complex air travel utilizing multiple airlines.  Our extensive network allows us to connect with travel resources around the world. Our experience organizing college tours over several years means we know where families will be comfortable staying, plan for reasonable travel time between campuses so appointments are not missed, and ensure the most enjoyable trip possible.

WHAT HAPPENS IF THE FAMILY NEEDS TO REACH YOU WHILE TRAVELING?  

We have a 24/7 call center and can be paged at any time.  Fortunately, our itineraries are so detailed that families rarely need to contact us while traveling.

We were so happy we used Campanile College Tours! We know that our experience would not have been as great if we had done this on our own. We are looking for to visiting another set of schools with Campanile College Tours! Thank you! - Southern California family after Midwest tour.