Searching for College in a Virtual World

Traditionally the college search centers around tours and visits. Visits help students understand the different college types: large vs small, universities vs. colleges, commuter vs. on campus. They also help students build application lists and make final choices! Due to pandemic restrictions, many traditional campus visitations are unavailable.

Students may be apprehensive about choosing colleges without the ability to cruise the dorms, talk to guides, and attend information sessions. Understanding that students can’t travel, admissions teams have brought the college admission experience to students through virtual tours, information sessions, student panels, and fairs. Here are some ideas for virtual college explorations.

Virtual Fairs
Take advantage of virtual college fairs! Spring is typically college fair season, but with travel restrictions and social distancing fairs have gone virtual. This has turned out to be advantageous putting the college admission officers right in your living room. Some great options are fairs by the National Association of College Admission Counselors (NACAC).

These include general, performing and visual arts, and STEM fairs. Look at individual fairs to see which colleges will be available at each event and perhaps even visit a few admission staff from colleges that may be unfamiliar to you.

Virtual Visits

YouVisit offers free, online, guided tours of a large selection of colleges and universities. You and your family can walk through the college, visit the dorms, and see classrooms. You can find colleges at the YouVisit website or log into your iLEAD account on Scoir which has YouVisit built in.

Virtual Information Sessions

StriveScan is a college fair organizer that regularly holds live information sessions and Q&As. These sessions are varied with information about specific colleges or individual topics. You can hear from your favorite colleges or learn about college types, sports recruiting, STEM, colleges for LGBT+ students, applying to art or music schools and the list goes on. Be on the lookout for StriveScan’s virtual college fairs this spring.

There are lots of virtual opportunities available to explore college today. Sign up for your iLEAD Scoir account to receive notifications of future events. If you don’t have access to Scoir yet, let your EF know or contact Laura Kazan, iLEAD’s College Advisor, at laura.kazan@ileadexploration.org to get started.