How to Visit 35 Colleges in a Week July 23, 2009
Paul Partridge on how to visit colleges and universities without leaving your desk
Back in the day, when I went to college, these were the most common ways to choose a college:
- where your friends were going
- where you could find nice weather
- where your parents went (if they went at all)
- where a favorite teacher went
- schools your guidance counselor knew
- open a college guidebook to a random page and apply to the first college your finger landed on
Today, there’s so much great information that’s only a mouse click away. If you’re up to it, you can do almost 100% of your research online, and know everything there is to know about a school, including academics, social life, teacher reviews, financial aid—even what’s served for dessert in the student cafeteria.
But even when you know every last fact and figure, there’s nothing that beats a campus visit for getting the true feel for a college or university. I recommend you attend every one of your “top pick” schools in person at least once (more than once if possible for your final two colleges).
But what if you have 10-15 schools on your list? To some families without time or money constraints, ferrying Junior to tour 35 campuses is no sweat. In fact, it’s kind of a status symbol. (Either that, or they were rock ‘n’ roll roadies in a former life.) But for most of us, it’s impractical to personally visit every college on our list—not to mention, expensive.
So what do you do?
Not to worry. Once again, the Internet has come to our rescue, with a number of websites now providing virtual campus tours. I thought I’d share a few of these sites with you to save you on gas or airfare.
YouTube EDU – http://www.youtube.com/edu
This is a niche within the bigger YouTube site, and a good place to start. A quick check of the directory lists over 300 colleges and universities. These are not just “pretty pictures.” You’ll find lectures, student interviews, campus highlights, Q&A sessions with professors, and more.
eCampusTours.com
This reminds me of those real estate websites or hotel websites where you can get a 360-degree view of a room. The neat thing is they put you in very specific places. Want to see a freshman dining hall at Harvard? Click on Annenberg Hall. Curious to know what a Harvard science lab looks like? Presto – you’re in Pierce Hall. Wondering what it’s like to gaze across the Charles River? You are there.
StuVu.com
This site combine videos, photos, reviews and commentary. So you can not only take a virtual walk through courts in an old Yale university building (with bells ringing in the background), but you can also find out fun facts such as, “They used to call [New Haven, CT] the “Armpit of the Northeast”, or, the center of the Rust Belt in same. But it’s now very spiffed up — though still a working class town (outside of Yale that is).”
CampusTours.com
At this site, the first impression when you visit a college page is similar to looking at one of the big guide college guidebooks. You get instant access to all that “nuts and bolts” information. Then you can click on the “Tour” link to “visit” the campus. The good news is that in most cases you’re taken to the college website and their virtual tours – so the video quality is generally very professional. The bad news is, it’s “produced” by the college, so you’re never going to find out that the pristine looking quad is overrun by drunks come sundown of a football weekend.
