I have the honor to be Your Obedient Servant - B.Aud
We all live in stories... It seems to me that a definition of any living vibrant society is that you constantly question those stories... The argument itself is freedom. It's not that you come to a conclusion about it. Through that argument you change your mind sometimes... That's how societies grow. When you can't retell for yourself the stories of your life then you live in a prison... Somebody else controls the story. - S. Rushdie
Unfortunately the prospective student chose a different university. They did not talk about hockey on the tour. The parents did not provide feedback (they are not alumni, not that that matters) and I asked the same question. I encouraged them to do so. I was very disappointed to learn of her experience.
My understanding is that it was a very small group, with one tour guide.
I think that NDSU like many institutions needs to get it's sh#t together when it comes to recruiting.
A student means $40,000 in tuition and fees, and proud alumnus, a contributor to their community, and possibly a benefactor.
Not usually a fan of this comparison, but a private business would never leave this in the hands of some idiot who has nothing to talk about but football.
I took my kids on a tour of Wisconsin this summer. Our guide was undergrad from China who you'd think grew up stateside and was majoring in biomedical engineering.
She was smart and personable. No reason to not demand the same from our guides.
Many thousands are in want of common necessaries; hundreds of thousands are in want of common comforts, sir."
Scrooge-"Are there no prisons?". "Plenty of prisons..."
Scrooge-"And the Union workhouses." . "Are they still in operation?". "Both very busy, sir..."
"Those who are badly off must go there."
"Many can't go there; and many would rather die."
Scrooge- "If they would rather die," "they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population."
These kids and parents are going to care about the academics, costs, life on campus, opportunities for internships and/or study abroad, recruitment or grad school prospects after graduation......you know.....the unimportant stuff..... Geez.
Valley News Live says first day enrollment was 13,135.
My Mom yells louder than your Mom.
for comparison:
https://www.ndsu.edu/data/enrollment/annual/
2014 14,747
2016 14,432
2017 14,358
2018 13,796
down 661 from prior year, 4.8%
down 1621 from peak, 11%
A strong job market combined with ever-increasing tuition means the ROI on many college degrees is not very good right now.