In a normal world, high school students would be out and about visiting college campuses and taking tours of schools they may want to attend. Sadly, COVID-19 has made it so in-person college campus tours are not currently a reality. Alas, technology is a truly amazing thing. Students can take virtual tours of college campuses right from their computers at home. While it may not be the same as stepping foot on campus, it’s a pretty great option that’s easy to take advantage of.

The point of a college visit is to allow prospective students to gain a glimpse of campus life at a particular school. Students get the opportunity to see where classes take place, walk through dorms, and imagine their lives intertwining with the campus and the community. Depending on the type of visit, prospective students can even attend classes or stay overnight with a current student. All of this allows high schoolers the chance to envision their lives at a college before applying and making the final decision to enroll.

Deciding what colleges to apply to

Deciding what college to attend is a very big decision that shouldn’t be made without significant consideration into many different aspects. Students and parents should work together to come up with a list of potential schools that would fit the student’s expectations as they relate to these different areas.

Overall, there are five main factors that students should consider before applying to and enrolling in a college:

1. The majors and minors that are offered at the school

2. The yearly cost of tuition

3. The campus

4. The admissions requirements

5. The overall application process

Most of these factors can be investigated through online searches. It’s easy to find lists of majors and minors that a school offers. High schoolers do not need to know exactly what area they will major or minor in when they apply to a school. However, they likely have a broad understanding of what topics they find interesting and what they get excited to learn, as well as what areas they struggle with at school and do not enjoy learning. This information should be used to help come up with a list of schools whose concentrations best fit with the student’s interests and strengths. A student who hates science is not likely to enjoy life quite as much at a leading engineering school as he or she might elsewhere.

Similarly, it’s quite easy to find information on tuition costs, admissions requirements, and the application process. This is all important logistical information that needs to be considered.

Can you afford the tuition cost of the schools on your list? If not, what’s your plan to pay the school? Will you take out student loans? Are there scholarships that you can apply to? Will you need to include an ACT or SAT score with your application? Does your ACT score measure up to the standards of the school (or will you need to study hard and take the test again)? When are the pieces of the application due? Will you be able to complete all of the steps in time?

These are all very important questions to ask and answer prior to applying to a school. There are worlds of information on the internet about each and every accredited college and university in the United States, making the internet your best friend during your college planning.

The role of college visits

With all of the logistical information out of the way, that just leaves learning about the campus.

This is where college visits come into play. If it can be avoided, no student should ever enroll in a college without stepping foot on the campus first. After all, everything may line up perfectly among the other four factors—the tuition might be affordable, they offer all the right majors and you’re excited to take classes there, your ACT score lines up—but what if you end up feeling out of place? What if you don’t quite vibe with the community? What if it turns out that the campus feels way too small? Or way too huge? These questions are all just as important as the logistical questions above.

Students enroll in a college with the intention of it being their home for the next four years. There are a lot of emotions tied to the idea of home. Students don’t often realize that they will have many emotions about their new college home, and that starts right away during a college visit. It doesn’t take long to figure out if a school feels right or feels wrong. These are the considerations that are difficult to determine through the internet.

At least up until now…

When to visit a college from home

Enter online college visits. Modern technology has created a way for students to visit a college without actually ever having to leave home. Many schools now offer online college visits, which come in many different shapes and sizes. Students can view campus and academic buildings through images and videos while gaining information about the school and the other four factors at the same time. Some schools are even leveraging 360-degree video and virtual reality in an attempt to give students the most in-person experience possible. Students can pair an online tour with a conversation with an admissions officer at the school to get any of their questions answered. This effectively allows students to have a college tour experience without having to be at the school.

Online tours are a great option, especially for situations where a student may not be able to actually visit a school, whether that be related to the location of the school, financial difficulties, or a pandemic like COVID-19. Online tours and discussions with college staff can help students get an initial idea of whether they will fit in at a certain school. Similarly, it could help students knock schools off of their list that otherwise check all of their boxes.

If at all possible, we still encourage students to actually visit a school in person before enrolling. After all, it’s important to remember that colleges can showcase what they want on virtual tours. In fact, virtual tours are a useful marketing tool for these schools that they can use to persuade students to enroll. That’s not to say that schools will be deceitful, but you might be surprised to find that campus is a little different than the way it’s portrayed in a well-constructed video.

In the wake of COVID-19, online tours are a great option to keep students moving forward on their college planning. Even after COVID-19 has quieted and we’ve returned to a (mostly) normal routine, we would still recommend doing an online tour in advance of visiting a school in person, as it might help you narrow down your list of schools without costing you the time and money of traveling to each and every one. Once you’ve completed your visit, whether it be online or in-person, make sure to get your questions answered. We’d encourage students to even go a step further and discuss an overnight visit with a current student. This is where you’ll really get an idea of what life on campus is like.

After all, choosing which college to attend is a major milestone. It is not a decision to be taken lightly, so students and parents should make sure to do a lot of research before making any final decisions. A college tour is one of the most helpful research tools that there is when it comes to choosing a college.

Good luck, and happy planning!

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