I have had a couple of visitors lately. People seem reluctant to ask to see more of our department. We are very happy to show prospective students around, so they can get a feel of the atmosphere, students and faculty in the department. I like them to meet faculty, to get a sense of research activities, and to meet students to get a sense of our community.
I often get a strong sense of apology from prospective students because they are unsure of what they want to do. I always tell them to pursue that which makes them happy. For me, that meant majoring in physics so I could figure out how everything works. Most physics majors share that sense. Even if they know they want to study physics (or something else) there is a sense of uncertainty about the details of their future. Mostly that works itself out as you go along.
One Comment
Do you have a sort of “Meet the Physics Dept” day or anything like that? Maybe that would help, at least for prospective students new to CofC. And remember that physics students are often shy and/or cranky and can be off-putting to new students, so maybe each year you could find a sort of physics dept ambassador who has lots (or at least more than most) of friendly personality!
Kind of like the physics dept glee club!