DISTANCE LEARNING
Can’t tour colleges because of coronavirus? Here are other ways to experience schools when you can’t visit them
My first twinge of coronavirus grief came as colleges started closing their campuses and canceling tours for prospective students in early March. In a matter of days, it would become clear that our meticulously planned spring break visit to four colleges and their surrounding cities would have to be scrapped.
This trip was going to be more than just a vacation: In-person campus visits, dorm stays and classroom observations are the best way for high schoolers to wrap their heads around what life is like on a college campus. Our 11th-grader was planning to use these experiences to decide which schools he’d start applying to come summer. And I was hoping our ninth grader’s glimpse of campus life would have been motivation to back up our insistence that he take his school work seriously.
We are not alone in our disappointment, and these canceled plans seem small compared to the losses and challenges others have suffered. Accepted students’ days are also being canceled or pushed back beyond commitment deadlines which means admitted students, too, are having to make decisions about where they’ll spend the next four years potentially without ever setting foot on campus.
I recognize we are fortunate to be among the families who have the time and resources to plan such visits. As a college mentor and essay coach, I often work with students whose families can’t afford inperson tours. Instead, we use online resources and alumni networks to zero in on what each school has to offer and help determine which colleges might be a good fit.
In light of the closures, admissions offices are allowing interested juniors as well as admitted seniors a better window into life on campus. “One of the real positives that’s going to come out of this is the way schools are ramping up online engagement of students,” said Rick Clark, director of undergraduate admission at Georgia Tech and co-author of “The Truth About College Admission: A Family Guide to Getting In and Staying Together.”
“More university staff and faculty are going to be more available to talk to students in very valuable ways,” Clark said. “I’m hoping that’s something people are really going to embrace and be willing to continue.”
These amplified off-campus alternatives seem to be getting richer by the day, taking a bit of the sting out of our canceled plans. If your family is in the same boat as mine, here are six ways your kid can get a feel for life on campus when visits aren’t possible.