Spring Break is a busy time for campus visits, college fairs, and college recruiting events. This spring, however, in the midst of the world-wide COVID-19 shut down, most universities have been forced to close their doors.
For students who missed the opportunity to visit campus this spring, how will they know if they’re choosing the best fit college without visiting?
Here are some tools and tips for college-bound students who are still on the hunt for best-fit colleges.
Virtual Tours
Many colleges offer online virtual tours for prospective students. In a virtual tour, students are guided through a series of photos and videos designed to give students a glimpse into the look and feel of a campus.
As 360° cameras gain in popularity, 3D virtual tours are becoming widely available, especially among colleges. These cameras, with the support of stitching software, can produce a 360° photo or video like the example shown below.
When viewing a 360° photo in a VR headset, the viewer can look up, look down, and turn around, giving the feel that he or she is actually there. For those with VR headsets within reach, gear up and get ready for your virtual campus visit!
While excellent in a headset, these virtual tours are not limited to VR viewing, and can easily be viewed on mobile and desktop too. Just click and drag to adjust the perspective.
Check out YouVisit.com, YoUniversityTV.com, or CampusTours.
Google Street View
For those schools that don’t offer virtual tours, interested students may be able to get a feel for the campus using the Street View built into Google. This is also an excellent way to view the neighborhood surrounding campus.
Check out Stanford’s campus in 360° using Google Maps here.
Online College Fairs + Live Chat
With all students at home, colleges have taken their classes online, and admissions offices are following suit. Look out for new online resources at your colleges of interest. Reach out to admissions officers at those colleges to request a meeting via Zoom or Skype.
Many colleges already offer these kinds of resources through sites like College Week Live. This site allows students to create a profile and participate in online college recruitment events such as College Fairs. Once logged in, students chat with college reps and even current students, plus live feeds and video presentations, as well as scholarship opportunities from a multitude of colleges.
A few additional sites for Online College Fairs include Go To College Fairs, and College Fairs Online.
College Match Websites
There are a ton of sites out there which can be used for comparing colleges by offering College Match. By inputting your college fit factors such as size, region, and major, these sites can then produce a list of colleges that fit what you’re looking for, and even ranking them.
Cappex is an excellent option for it’s college match function, and also offers students a channel with which to communicate with admissions departments, as well as to apply for scholarships. Cappex even has a resource page specifically setup to help students during the COVID-19 outbreak. Check that out here.
Other college match websites include Big Futures, Unigo, and College Data.
Compare Colleges via App
In the age of mobile media technology, what better way to browse and compare colleges than with an app? The College Fair App offers students the opportunity to browse colleges, rate them, and develop a short list of schools that feel like a best fit.
Take it From a Student
Who knows better what campus life is like than a current student? Check out Unigo and Niche for student reviews, and Campus Reel for student-made videos featuring campus life from a student’s perspective.
Link with Colleges on Social Media
One of the best ways to keep up with colleges, is by following them on social media. Often social media outlets are the first, and sometimes the only place where critical information is shared, especially when it comes to scheduling events (online and on-campus), or even the release of new online tools.
Follow both the college’s main social pages, as well as the admissions department’s pages when possible. By Liking, commenting, participating in live steams, and engaging in other ways on social media can also demonstrate interest to admissions departments, thus increasing your chances of being accepted.
These are just a few of the myriad resources available to students. We encourage students to do their own research.
Finally, for those impacted by COVID-19, especially those with friends and family members that are battling with the disease, our hearts go out to you. College Boarding Pass is still accepting scholarship applications and donations, but will not announce any new recipients until colleges reopen for student visits..
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