NC State: College Tour Tips and Itinerary
Planning to take a tour of North Carolina State University with your child this summer? Learn what to expect from your time on campus and discover fun ways to make your day trip to Raleigh, NC one to remember.
This summer my oldest daughter and I are hitting the road to visit college campuses throughout the south east.
While we live in Charlotte, NC, we are considering schools both in and out of state.
NC State’s strongly competitive engineering program has caught my daughter’s eye so we had to take a trip to our capital city for a visit.
I’m sharing all my tips and tricks and a peek inside the tour to help you and your student navigate a college tour of your own. But don’t miss my general college tour tips here, too!
Getting There
NC State University
For parking for your college tour, you’ll add this address to your GPS:
201 Jensen Dr.
Raleigh, NC
You’ll park at the Coliseum Parking Deck, use the Cates Ave. entrance.
If you’re starting from the south side of Charlotte, NC like we did, plan for about 3 hours in the car.
Register for Your Tour Before You Go
NC State offers virtual tours, like so many colleges and universities now do.
However, if you want to see campus in person, take part in an information session with an admissions officer, and get a guided tour with a student guide, you’ll want to register for a campus visit before you go.
Be sure to sign up with one of their open dates, you can find all the information you’ll need to register here.
Parking
Once you’ve registered as an official visitor, they will send you all the details you need once you arrive on campus.
NC State’s campus is quite large. When we arrived in Raleigh, we parked on the street just outside our lunch restaurant and then after lunch moved our car to the designated visitor parking for the remainder of our visit.
We were asked to park at 201 Jensen Dr. You’ll want to use the Cates Avenue entrance. It is a short walk from there to the Talley Student Union where your information session will be.
Our Itinerary
We left home in Charlotte at 8:30 am so we could arrive in Raleigh, NC by 11:30 am. The tour started at 1pm but they asked that we arrive 20 minutes early and we wanted to have enough time for lunch before that.
Our day went as follows:
- Arrive at Player’s Retreat for lunch
- Move our car to the designated parking deck
- Walk to the Student Union and Check In
- Information Session (1 hour)
- Walking Tour of Campus (1 hour)
- Stopped for Ice Cream at the Howling Cow shop
Information Session
Be sure to arrive at your parking spot early so you are not late for your information session and tour. This was one of the more complicated offices for us to find so leave yourself the time to get a little lost inside the student union.
You’ll be assigned an information session with an admissions officer who will present the basic information you need for applying to NC State.
This is an excellent place to ask any general questions you have about the admissions process. The presentation lasted about 45 minutes.
Walking Tour
After the information session, you’ll be lead out of the theater by a tour guide for your walking tour.
We managed to visit NC State on one of the very hottest days of summer in the Carolinas. We had to walk under blistering sunshine at 2pm at a very quick pace to keep up with our guide.
The campus was not very hilly but there were a fair amount of stairs on our tour. Thankfully our guide paused in the lobbies of buildings so we could cool off in the air conditioning.
I have very few photos besides the student union from campus that day because we struggled to keep up with our guide’s pace in the sweltering heat. Oh to be college-aged again.
TOP TIP: Be sure to bring LOTS of water if you’re visiting in the summer. They will not provide you any but you can find refill stations for water bottles on campus.
There is a spot on the website to request an accessibility-friendly tour when you register if that is a concern for your family.
The walking tour lasted for about an hour and really only highlights a small section of campus.
We walked through the heart of the university past major landmarks including:
- Free Expression Tunnel
- Hill Library
- Price Music Center
- SAS Hall
- Talley Student Union
- The Brickyard
Raleigh artist Sean Kernick painted this mural featuring NC State basketball player DJ Burns during March Madness.
While much of the tunnel gets painted over and over again, the students were so proud of this it has kept its position on the wall for the longest time.
Our tour guide was a drum line captain for the NC State marching band and shared his obvious enthusiasm for the activities on campus.
When we paused at the Hill library in the Brickyard, he shared about the fun events that happen at this hub throughout the year. Most notably Ag Week where live cows and sheep are brought in for the students to experience.
Our favorite part of the tour was a brief stop inside the Price Music Center where we could hear the band practicing from somewhere down the hall. My daughter is specifically looking for a college with an active marching band, so this was of great interest to us.
We ended the tour back at the student union, which was a relief to cool down in the air conditioning for a bit before heading back to our car.
Where to Eat
If you plan to eat before or after your tour, there are several places to eat near the university.
I took the opportunity to make each of our college tours an extra-special experience with my daughter so we always planned a quiet lunch before or after the tours to chat about each school.
Before our visit, I reached out to NC State alum friends to ask for recommendations. Thanks to their input, we landed at the Player’s Retreat near campus.
Player’s Retreat
The Player’s Retreat
105 Oberlin Rd.
Hours: M-F 11:30 am – 2 am
This nostalgic restaurant and bar opened in 1951 and the walls are filled with classic NC State athletic memorabilia.
The menu has a mix of pub favorites including potato skins, mozzarella sticks, and chicken tenders along with traditional grilled items like burgers, chicken sandwiches, and hot dogs.
You can also choose from delicious southern classics like baby back ribs and an NC BBQ plate.
We strongly recommend the onion rings which were HUGE and utterly delicious.
On-Campus Dining Halls
If you really want to get a feel for student life, our tour guide mentioned it was possible to eat in one of the student dining halls during your visit.
Be sure to ask them for more information if this is of interest to you!
8 Things to Do During Your Visit
The 2 hours of your information session and tour are just 1 part of your day at NC State. Be sure to plan for some extra time before or after your tour so you can experience more than the area offers your student.
1. Visit the Bookstore
If your teen is anything like my kiddo, a visit to the campus bookstore is a Must-Do. We purchased a t-shirt for her to enjoy wearing between now and her final decision, it will also possibly come in handy for our decision day announcement in the spring.
2. Get Howling Cow Ice Cream
NC State is famous for their Howling Cow ice cream made from dairy produced right in the Ag department on campus.
There’s an ice cream shop that serves it right in the Talley Student Union, so this is an excellent way to cool down after a hot tour of campus and have a quiet moment with your student to chat about the school.
3. Wander the Student Union
The Talley Student Union is enormous, and did I mentioned cool and air conditioned?! We spent a fair bit of time poking around all the nooks and crannies before heading back to our car.
4. Drive through Campus
If your student is interested in rushing a fraternity or sorority, you can find all the Greek housing nestled together on Greek Village Dr.
You’ll also want to drive past the Carter-Finley Stadium for a peek at the football arena.
5. Take a Student Photo
Once we bought my daughter’s NC State tee, she changed into it so we could take an on-campus picture to potentially use in her announcement later next spring.
I’m saving all the campus pics in an album on my phone for easy grabbing when the time comes.
NOTE: This was my daughter’s idea, not my own. If you think your child would feel way too much pressure with this, skip it! They don’t need any more stress placed on their shoulders. For us, there was just a simple feeling of excitement and potential and hope surrounding that pic. We know she’s an awesome kid who will land some place that is the right fit. Maybe that will be NC State, maybe not.
6. Drive Out to the Engineering Campus
If your student is interested in Engineering at NC State, you’ll definitely want to drive out to the remote College of Engineering campus which is about 10 minutes from the central campus.
This modern campus was incredibly impressive and a tad overwhelming, it is for sure something to be seen.
7. Visit Downtown Raleigh
One of the perks of going to school at NC State is the close proximity to Raleigh for internships and job opportunities both during the college years and after.
If you’ve got the time, visit downtown Raleigh and choose a spot for dinner before heading home.
8. Check Out the On-Campus Target
During our college tours, I tried to help my daughter get a feel for what it could be like to live on campus at each school.
NC State is lucky enough to have a small Target right near campus. We took a few minutes to hop inside to get a feel for the kinds of things she’d have easy access to for supply shopping.
The store caters to the college clientele and has everything a student would need for the dorms or an apartment so conveniently located.
Final Thoughts
My daughter and I had a great time visiting NC State and we were disappointed that we didn’t have more time to explore campus and nearby Raleigh.
The informational session and tour gave us the basics for what we needed to know to apply but the campus is so large I know we missed a lot of hidden gems.
It is one of her very top picks for schools but is extremely competitive to gain admittance. If she gets a “yes,” we are definitely looking forward to taking a longer return visit to get more oriented to the area.
More College Tours
Planning college tours with your child this year? Here are some more schools we’ve visited:
