The pandemic has upended nearly every aspect of normal life. The college admissions process is one of them. Finding the college that’s right for you is a very personal experience. One size most definitely does not fit all and figuring out what exactly you’re looking for in a college requires more than just research—it often requires just feeling things out and seeing what your gut says. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), college tours look a little different these days. In this post, we talk about the differences between seeing a campus in person and taking a virtual tour in the time of Covid.
The Pre-Covid Tours
Before covid we would tell our students that college tours were one of the most important parts of the whole application process. Things haven’t changed. There are many decisions that go into building a college list. At the heart of them is an understanding of your likes and interests. When building a college list, you’ll need to know if you like a big school or a small school, a school that’s a plane ride away vs. one that’s just a short drive, a school with a big football experience or a school in a town with good café-style music. You get to learn these things by seeing them, by visiting campuses and getting a feel for what’s right for you. This is still possible in the pandemic. You might just have to look a little harder.
The Socially-Distant Tour
Something we always advise our students is to go off-road from the tour. College tours are manufactured. They’re designed to market the university to the prospective (paying) customer and they’re not always authentic. A well-manicured student is (oftentimes hired) to take prospective families on specially-selected parts of campus. In order to get a real sense for the campus, we always recommend students veer off and go talk to real students who aren’t hired by the school to make it look good.
The benefit of touring schools virtually is you’re not viewing it through the manufactured lens the school wants you to. You can actually look at the school objectively. A lot of students think that virtual tours won’t get you the same thing, but with technology these days, you should be able to see as much of campus as you would be visiting. We also recommend students do additional research to supplement the ability to talk to students while visiting. Check out the school’s Youtube videos. Get deep into Instagram hashtags. See what kids do on the weekends there and get a sense for whether or not that’s how you might like to spend your time in college. Talk to friends of friends of big siblings.
Ultimately, you shouldn’t sacrifice much by touring virtually so long as you properly invest in virtual touring and exploring. If you find yourself eager to learn more about a school and find more images, it’s a good indication the school has piqued your interest.
Need help building a college list? We’re great at helping students match with their perfect school. Call us.