The pandemic is still raging, flights and gas are expensive, traveling takes time. There are a lot of reasons to do a virtual college tour. They save time and money and are an alternative for many schools that have not welcomed prospective students back to campus. However, these tours are new…. Like really new. Like 2020 new. Your parents/older sister/cousin probably haven’t done them before. We get questions from students all the time about how to approach virtual college tours so we wanted to answer the most pressing questions you may have before you sign up.
What is a virtual tour?
Lockdowns and social distancing requirements on college campuses have given birth to the virtual tour. These online experiences vary from school to school, many share similar parts. There is often a video or a slide show presentation where someone from the admissions office or a dean will talk about the school in broad strokes. They may show you photos or videos of places on campus or events that take place. Some very cool ones have 360 views of the campus and you can direct the tour by moving your mouse. Some will be pre-recorded, while others feature someone talking live. If the tour is pre-recorded, there will often be a question and answer section or some other way to get questions answered by an admissions rep. This might be later, in a separate experience, or at the end.
For some, you will have to register in advance before the school will send a link to a private video or meeting. Some of the 360 virtual tours are available on the website to everyone. Schools like UNC-Chapel Hill and Harvard have these tours as well as Q and A sessions that you will need to register for. While others like the University of Michigan have you register for a tour before being able to access videos. Some have multiple virtual tour options like NYU.
How do I register?
Whether it is for the whole tour or the information session, you will probably have to register for an element of the tour at some point. Start by googling the name of the school and then “virtual tour.” Admissions offices want you to take these tours so they will be pretty easy to find. For example, if you search “Yale Virtual Tour” one of the top links will be to “Yale Virtual Events.” At the top of the page, you will see “Connect with Yale through live online events” along with some options. Options include a virtual 360 tour that can be taken without registering, virtual information sessions, and Virtual Student Forums. Read through the options and see which makes the most sense for you. Each option has a link, most of them will be to a page with a calendar with upcoming events. Select the date you want and add your info to the form.
Each school asks for different info. For example, Yale asks for a lot of information including things like High school name and intended major while others will just want a name and email. Do your best to add your most correct and current information. You should get an email shortly after with login info and confirmation. While each school is unique in what they offer, most will follow a similar flow.
One quick note: you will be asked a lot for your email in the college process. It’s a good idea to set up a professional-sounding one if you haven’t already. We tend to recommend using the same email throughout the college process and if it’s something like “Bigdaddy2002@hotmail.com” it’s not the best look. High school emails are ok, but remember, you might keep wanting to get info to this email after you graduate. Trust us, set up a Gmail with something close to your name now, it will save you a headache later.
Do I need to do anything before I take a tour?
One word, research. Before you go to any online session you want to do some research. This is especially true for anything with a Q&A session. Having good, specific questions that you genuinely need the answer to are a great thing to have. Doing research into specific programs, opportunities, even clubs will help you get the answers you need to see if the school is right for you. Colleges put a lot of academic information online. This is a great place to start. Look into the departments that you might major in. No question is too specific. If the person on the tour can’t answer it, they might direct you to someone who can.
Do I need to do anything specific during?
It can depend on what they offer but we suggest having a notepad or a piece of paper next to you. This isn’t AP History. You don’t need to take copious notes, but often Q&As are at the end of a presentation. If a question pops into your head or if someone says something that prompts a question before the allotted time, jot it down. If something is super interesting to you, make a note to follow up on it or do more research on it later.
You might be going to a lot of these and they tend to start to feel the same. Keeping some notes whether it be facts, figures, or pros and cons, will help you remember which school is which. You don’t want to do a bunch of these and then just have all the schools blend together. There is nothing worse than thinking to yourself months later, “Wait, was that program I loved at Columbia or CMU?” ‘
Do I need to do anything after?
The short answer, technically, you don’t need to do anything. But if you loved a school, there are a couple of things you can do. The easiest thing is to see if they offer more virtual programs. Loved the tour? Go to an info session! Loved the info session? See if they have a session where you can connect with students.
It also isn’t a bad thing to follow up with a thank you. This probably won’t be necessary for every school. If the tour is just a pre-recorded speech by the dean of admissions, you can probably skip this. But if someone answered a question for you particularly well or took extra time to help you, you might want to consider it. Maybe you connected with a student volunteer leading the session maybe a speaker or an admissions rep. Whoever it was, it’s not a bad idea to reach out and say “thank you.”
On the other hand, if there wasn’t time to get to your question or there wasn’t a Q&A session, you can reach out to the guide or a regional rep and ask your question in a POLITE email. Just make sure your question is both good and necessary. Writing to your regional contact at the admissions office just to say, “how's the food in the cafeteria?” probably isn’t the best look, but isn’t a bad idea to write something like, “Hello Mx. _____, I recently took a virtual tour of your campus. I was excited when the guide mentioned that Arts and Sciences students could take classes in the business school. I wanted to follow up and ask if there was a cap on how many classes that someone who hopes to be an English major can take in your marketing department and if there are any limits or special permissions that one would need to get in advance?” That of course with a thank you for your time thrown in.
Finally, get your thoughts in order. For some, this might be in the form of a pros and cons list. For others, it might be talking it through with a parent or guardian. Whatever it is, try to get your thoughts on the school organized in some way. You might end up touring multiple schools one after the other so making a note of whether you liked the school or not can be helpful. It doesn’t have to be too deep, but you should have an idea of what you liked, didn’t like, and what you feel about the school after each one of these. For most people this happens pretty naturally, however, few people take the time to write it down and it can be really helpful, especially when the tour was virtual.
Virtual tours are here to stay, well at least for 2022. While they aren’t everyone’s favorite, they can be good tools while you are crafting your college list. If you sign up, do the research, ask the right questions, and organize your thoughts, making your list will be far easier than if you don’t.
Need help choosing the right schools to visit? We do that. Contact us here.