Large Group Visitation Resources

Penn State wants to make group visits convenient for as many groups as possible to visit our campus. We realize many groups may turn to touring companies to help them plan for a visit to campus. If you are a touring company booking a visit for a group to campus, please have prepared the contact information (cell phone and email) as well as the name of the person who will be leading the group during their visit to campus. We cannot continue to plan group visits without someone who will be on campus during the visit in the loop.

All groups are assigned a registration deadline date 2 weeks prior to their scheduled visit. Registering a minimum of 15 high school juniors and seniors, by your registration deadline date, confirms your group’s visit to Penn State. This is an important component of our scheduling process in order to align tour guides, conference rooms and staff presenters for your requested visit.

Should you not meet the deadline, you will receive an email stating that your visit will be cancelled. Because we are an office with many visits happening each day, we cannot hold room space and tour guide availability, for groups that are not serious about their visit to campus.

Penn State utilizes student tour guides to conduct our campus tours. Their schedules are limited so it is critical to have 1 chaperone for every 10 students to ensure they are accounted for, respectful and on task while visiting our campus and facilities.

The information required in our Group Registration Form is mandatory for all prospective visitors to campus. The information on the personalized group registration form is the same information that is required when a student registers online for any of our campus tours or visits. It is our policy to collect this information for all prospective students visiting campus. The contact information collected on the personalized group registration link will enable Penn State to share information with the prospective students as they continue their journey to higher education. Chaperone information will be collected separately at check-in.

At Penn State we do operate a “caution list” that is checked when each visit is approved. We record the school and chaperone names of any visit that is not positive in case that group should request a visit in the future. Typically, our office will follow up with groups who are going to be placed on the caution list detailing some of the instances that were problematic during the visit.

It is the responsibility of the chaperones to ensure that students are behaving appropriately. Tour guides and admissions staff reserve every right to end a visit that is not going appropriately.

While arriving more than 15-minutes late does not mean we will cancel your entire visit, but we will have to make alterations. Our presentations and tours will start promptly as scheduled. Our large group visits are open to more than one group per day/time slot. If you are not on time for any part of your visit, we will have to begin without your group. If you are more than 15 minutes late for the tour portion of your visit, we will have to cancel your tour. Our tour guides are students, and we can only keep them for 15-minutes past the scheduled start time.

Our presentations are heavily geared toward Penn State’s application process for students who are actively exploring colleges and universities. To reach the largest number of prospective students during group visits, groups are limited to juniors and seniors only.

If you need to cancel your visit or if unforeseen circumstances, such as weather or traffic cause you to be late, please contact our office immediately at 814-865-5475. We will make every effort to adjust your schedule; however, elements of your visit may be altered or cancelled as a result. Please note, if you are not on time for any part of your visit, we will have to begin without your group. If you are more than 15 minutes late for the tour portion of your visit, we will have to cancel your tour.

Utilize the following Undergraduate Admissions Office in your GPS of choice. Follow your visit agenda for bus drop off and pick up instructions. If needing alternate methods of directions or arrive by passenger vans/cars, contact your Penn State group visit coordinator for more detailed information.

Penn State Undergraduate Admissions Office
201 Shields Building
664 Curtin Road
University Park, PA 16802

Note: University Park may be substituted with State College, PA within some apps.

Penn State’s online interactive map (map.psu.edu) may be of help as you navigate closer to campus. Specific locations of the Bus Parking at Porter Lot North and Shields Building are within the embedded links or by using the search feature.

We expect groups to visit regardless of the weather. If you are unable to make it to campus due to snow, rain, etc., please call our office to cancel your visit. Please do not assume that your visit is cancelled just because of the weather, as the only time we will cancel your visit is if the university closes for weather. This is very rare, but should it occur we will let you know! Students and chaperones should dress appropriately for the weather, as our tours are roughly 90 minutes and almost entirely outdoors.

It is extremely important for visiting groups to plan ahead. We encourage groups to add at least an hour to their travel time in addition to planning for stops, in case you encounter construction or traffic. We recommend traveling with driving directions and referring to the following websites in order to plan your route, anticipate obstacles, and determine approximate travel time. It is vital to the success of your visit that you arrive on time. Please refer to your Reservation Email for information on our 15-minute policy.

Please note: School buses require extra travel time than typically noted on travel websites and GPS systems. Plan accordingly to ensure you meet your assigned arrival time.