If you’re starting your college exploration phase now (highly recommended for Grades 9 & 10 graders, and especially critical for Grade 11 students), you may be overwhelmed with the process of planning visits. Either based on your schedule or budget, visiting all the campuses you are interested in just may not happen! But have no fear! One of the pandemic's silver linings is that all colleges and universities have created robust virtual visit options. From live tour options (where a tour guide leads a walking tour and you follow along as if walking alongside them) to live and record Admission Information Sessions, the internet is a great way to get your search going. A few recommendations:
1. Set a plan: Almost as if you were going to drive or fly somewhere, plan a day or a couple of days where you will “tour colleges.” It’s easy to say, “Yeah, I’ll do that virtual tour later,” and come to find, months have gone by, and you haven’t done it at all (don’t worry, it happens to the best of us!). You can map it out in geographic areas, for example - “Next Sunday I will tour 3 Northeast Colleges,” and then block out that time in your calendar to do this!
2. Register online for tours and info sessions. This serves two purposes: a) it holds you accountable for your plan to attend these events, and b) it holds you accountable for certain schools that may value demonstrated interest. This is a soft way of showing your interest early on. Go to your college’s tour page and look for the Virtual Tour options.
For example: Drury University
Grand Canyon University
3. Set a goal: What do you want to do ultimately? Setting an attainable goal will help keep you focused: for example, “I plan to “visit” at least six colleges by the end of this month.”
4. Take notes: Using your powers of imagination, pretend you ARE on campus and take notes on what you learn about each campus. I highly recommend this College Visit Checklist that you can use as you watch a virtual tour of each campus.
Another great resource is this NYTimes article highlighting how to choose colleges through Virtual Tours.
Good luck and Happy Touring!
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