One of the most unique experiences Groton offers applicants is the student-led tour, when a Groton student guides families around campus, introducing the campus facilities and sharing their own Groton experiences. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, in-person campus tours have not been an option for prospective students for over two years. However, this year, Groton’s Admissions Office has decided to re-open its gates and return to in-person interviews and tours.
According to Mr. Ian Gracey, Dean of Admissions & Financial Aid, the Admissions Office accepts around 1,500 applicants each cycle, and roughly 1,200 of the applicants will tour Groton’s campus. Last year, due to Covid restrictions, visitors were not allowed to enter dorms and instead watched videos through QR codes placed around the Circle. However, student tours give the families “a genuine experience,” said Mr. Gracey, and each tour is uniquely tailored to the applicant’s interests, making the “responsiveness” of student tours irreplaceable.
For many Groton students, their admissions tour is a fond memory. For instance, Jay Adinkrah ’23 loves telling the story of his tour: “It was a really muddy and wet day to be on campus. All the signs were pointing that I shouldn’t have liked the tour…but after my tour and after my interview with Mr. Riley, when I got back to my car with my mom, I had a huge grin on my face, and from there we knew we would be coming here.” When asked if his tour affected his decision to come to Groton, he said, “Absolutely. I think the way that people just greet each other when they’re walking around the Circle, the way people are so friendly, even to me, as a stranger on campus, was really heartwarming.” Audrey Zhang ’25 remembered warm details from her tour: “A girl in a rainbow colored sweatshirt said hi to me and that just made my day.” Kyra Minda ’23 also had a positive impression of her tour: “It gave me this beautiful feeling about the school…you could see that [the student guide] really enjoyed it here, and so that intrigued me about Groton School.”
Although most of this year’s tour guides have never given a tour before, Mr. Gracey found the training these students underwent in the spring was very helpful and advised new tour guides to “review the basic tour guide pamphlet that will give more information they need.” When it comes to expanding our Circle, as Mr. Gracey puts it, Groton students will be “the best salespeople for the school,” and they will give visitors a positive image of our lives on campus.
