Now that 11/1 is behind us, our focus has shifted to the Class of 2022!

The upcoming 2021-2022 admissions cycle has so many unknowns, but we’re doing our best to embrace this new normal so that our students are as minimally impacted as possible by all things Covid!

One of the major concerns we’ve heard over and over again relates to the difficulty of finding a “best fit” college without the opportunity for traditional college visits. No, it’s not ideal, but it’s not the end of the world, either.

As promised, Shannon is joining us today to share some tips about the virtual college search!

At this point, nearly every school has a variety of virtual options, whether a live guided tour with a current student or a virtual information session on YouTube (I even saw a Minecraft tour option during a meeting with a student this week!). But when opportunities to travel are limited, it can be even more challenging to get a feel for each school on your list, because the official representatives from the admissions office can only tell you so much about the feeling on campus. Eventually, you want to find out for yourself! Here are a few tips to make the most out of virtual visits and find your best fit.

1. Meet with current students

Talking with students at a school you’re considering may be the most important action you can take to gain a better understanding of the community. If you choose to apply to this school, there is a chance that these people will be your classmates, teammates, and roommates, and talking with them can give you a real sense for the culture on campus. Reach out to the admissions office and see if they can put you in touch with students for a one-on-one Zoom call or FaceTime, or connect you with young alumni in your area for a physically-distanced walk or coffee.  

The Princeton Review has a good list of general questions for current students, but when you can’t get to campus, you can focus your questions on the physical aspects of the school: Do students stick around campus, or go into town on the weekends? When you walk through campus, do you see students studying or playing games on the quad? Where do you go when you’re tired of dining hall food? If close proximity to a Starbucks or a community park is important to you, ask!  

2. Use social media

Sure, you’ve been following your dream school’s official Twitter account throughout the process, but social media is a great place to find more informal information as well, which can give you deeper insight into the college or university. Look for Instagram, YouTube, or TikTok accounts run by teams or student groups, and see if there is an admitted students Facebook group that you can join. These resources will let you have the kind of casual conversations that you might have during a run-in at the dining hall, virtually. 

And remember that if you do choose to use social media during your college search, make sure that your own page is cleaned up! Interacting with a school on social media is a great way to demonstrate interest, especially virtually, but make sure that there is nothing on your page you wouldn’t want to share with the admissions office. On the other hand, don’t go over the top in the opposite direction either. It will be very obvious (and will appear inauthentic) if you try to create a fake profile to impress college admissions officers.

3. Take notes and dig deep

As you learn more about different institutions through virtual visit days, conversations with students, and social media, jot down your impressions. When every school visit takes place on Zoom, it is even easier for different schools to blend together, so you want to have notes to review once you’ve finished your research.  

Write down not only important facts about academic programs, but also your feelings and reactions to each school. It is good to know if a school will accept AP or IB credits, but it is also easy to double-check online. Instead, think about how your conversations with students, faculty and staff made you feel, or how excited you were to see a busy campus coffee shop on the virtual tour. It’s vital to write down those emotional reactions when you may not be able to experience the “feels like home” sentiment in person.

We ask all of our students to make a list of six new things they learned about each school during their virtual visit - three positive and three negative. This helps them and us begin to gain a sense of what they are seeking in a college, and we can take that information and use it to make recommendations and tailor the list. Sometimes they end up being surprised by their reactions! Remember, you don’t know what you don’t know. If you are feeling overwhelmed by the search process - so many schools to consider! - book a Meet & Greet with us to learn more about how we can help.