Technology is great. You can visit the amazing sites of the world with Google Earth and Maps. And this same innovation allows you to check out a college campus without traveling all the way there. But keep in mind where the information is coming from. Is a school going to show you its run-down freshman dorm? Or that seedy side street you pass on the way to the library? Of course not! They want to sell you. Nothing can replace the feeling of school spirit as students funnel into a stadium for the big game. You cannot describe the smell of pine trees as you walk to the engineering building. But if you cannot visit every campus on your list, at least get a feel for them like never before. The most obvious place to start is the college page itself. Many schools are taking advantage of free advertising by creating video and interactive displays of their campuses. Browse the school's website and see what the school promotes as their view of campus. Next, try your hand at several other looks at the campus. There are many out there, each with their own style and features. By looking at multiple sites, you are sure to see things from varying perspectives. Below are a list of sites that can guide you. By no means is this comprehensive. Be warned, some of the more familiar names will pop up on each site while some other schools seem absent. Be patient and keep looking for information. Virtual Tour Sites - LinksCampus Tours (Campustours.com)
This site readily searches out many schools but most links take you to the school's sponsored videos or tours. But the one-stop site will let you look at more schools quicker than just going site to site. You Visit (www.youvisit.com/colleges) Not just limited to colleges, this site will show you an interesting range of schools with beautiful images. eCampus Tours (eCampustours.com) Most schools here sport about 10 videos of major campus locations, as well as links to important sites, and other useful information (ex. tuition costs, admit rates, size, etc.) You University TV (Youniversitytv.com) Get past the heavy ads and view a "college roadtrip" style of videos with two hosts checking out campuses. Interviews with students and faculty support some nicely done videos. College Click TV (Collegeclicktv.com) Current students give (rough cut, loud) interviews on tons of topics, from profressors to social life and down to food, athletics, Greek life, dorms, transportation, and just about anything else.
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Some people feel destined from the cradle to attend a certain school. Maybe their parents went there. Maybe it is nationally known for its sports. Or maybe they always wanted to be a marine biologist and this school is the best. But for the overwhelming majority of students, the hunt for a college is long, stressful, confusing, and uncertain. Type in "university search" into Google and it returns northward of 2.5 billion hits. What can be expected with that return of information? Well, there are a few things you can do to prepare the search to make this seemingly insurmountable process a bit more manageable.
First, determine where the information is coming from. Is it "official" (information supplied from a school's admissions office) or "unofficial" (information that is compiled from student feedback, outside opinions, or sometimes plain fiction)? Official information is important because it gives you the real meat and potatoes of a school - tuition, diversity, graduation rates, majors, etc. However, do not discount unofficial information either, as it can provide insights into race relations on campus, nightlife, access to the greater community and other intangibles that will matter to you when you live at that school four years or more. Tip: NEVER take information from a generic college search engine as gold. Most search tools link you to the school's website, so click and verify if that admit rate is the same, or tuition rates are current. Next, prioritize what matters to you and go from there. With nearly 5,000 degree-granting institutions in the US, simply picking any criterion will still leave you with a tremendous amount of results. One activity I do with my students is cut out strips of paper with about 20 factors (most are found in the poll below). I ask the students to take 2 min and pull out the first 5 that they feel are most important to them. Then I give them 2 min more to think and see if that has changed. This is also a fun activity to do with student and parent. They each make their own priority list and see where their preferences lie. Once you have your priorities and somewhat of an idea of what kind of school(s) you are looking for, begin your search (see the links for a list of search engines). Do you need to be in a big city (personal preference or easy access to transportation for international students)? Does size matter? Do you need to be with a small group of students or would you be comfortable in a lecture hall with 200 others? Does the school provide need-based financial aid, and additionally, what are the costs associated beyond tuition that you need to prepare for? Does the opportunity for you to study abroad or join a Greek organization matter? There are endless considerations but some that are important because if you envision your ideal school to offer something specific, you had better understand how to search it out. Tip: Beware of sites that continually put the same school(s) at the top of their list, or have schools that are posted first under "Sponsored Results" or similar. Ask yourself, what is the site's motivation for producing this information? Is the site reputable and can the information be trusted. You have options; be sure to look around and not be fooled. ![]() The car you are in might not crash. Do you still wear a seat belt? Many schools insist they do not investigate applicants' social media information when making a decision. However, that does not mean that if your digital profile is a mess, it won't cost you. Universities have been known to deny applicants or rescind offers based on online behavior or information about the applicant gleaned online. Remember, your college application paints a picture of who you are, but so does your Facebook page. And there may be things on there that you don't want the Dean of Admissions to see. But it wont stop there. More than 40% of employers are searching out candidates prior to meetings with Google searches and Facebook profiles being the most prevalent. Your online reputation isn't a separate component of you. Your online image is part of who you are. Some things you can do to ensure your online reputation does not jeopardize your future:
Of course, these are all things you can do to make yourself look better online. But the reality is, nothing is completely private. If it happens, it can get out there, and it can never truly be deleted. We can control what we post and do online, but we can never control what others do. In short, if you don't want it online, don't do it or say it. Think before you act (speak), and your chances of having some serious online house cleaning to do is significantly reduced. Podcasts were very exciting to me years ago. When I first discovered them, I took a whole undergrad course from UC Berkeley on Drugs and The Human Mind and Body, for free! It was mind blowing. Now they are everywhere, available to all when mass media just doesn't seem to apply. Books are bulky and harder to read just anywhere. Television has to be watched. Bam! In comes the podcast: information while you drive, run, or work, about what YOU want to know. Ahh, refreshing.
When I research podcasts on college admissions, I am looking for a few things. These qualities stem from my gold standard in podcasts: NPR's Ask Me Another, a trivia podcast. AMA set the bar high. First, there were a high quality production that had big backing, so they were easy to listen to. They could bring in many guests, which made the show stay fresh. Their games were short and creative and my attention was held, even over the 50 minute duration. Music was spliced it to signal the beginning and end of segments, but to not split attention from the topic (trivia), music was either funny or part of the game. They got it right is so many ways. Can learning about college admissions be fun? NPR would say it can be. I think of students today and what they would want. Duration has to be an issue here - the shorter the better. Keep It Simple Stupid: KISS-the golden rule. A lunch period, the time from school's end to practice starting, a bus ride. If someone could capture the 10-15 minute periods of time students have, they have a winning segment. But let's not confuse brevity with interest. Many bits of information out there can come from a variety of sources. I know what me standing in front of my students for 15 minute would look and sound like. So in reviewing content, we need to be cognizant that it isn't some guy just reading information. I need a hook, some style, something that links the information I am hearing to something attractive so I can recall it later. These are key elements as well. In the end, a podcast is just a tool, like many others. What matters is how you use it. These days, you accept the digital era or you are left out.
Is there a more antiquated way of applying to college than paper and pencil? Online applications are easier for colleges to view and some institutions are even offering a discount in fees for online applications. Take the Common App, for example; more than 500 schools in the US, Canada, and abroad are accepting this method and many have done away with paper apps (Common App just moved to online-only). It stands to reason that paper applications are soon to become a thing of the past; the online method is proving more secure and reliable. As software and people are becoming more savvy at altering information, receiving info from the source is all the more valuable when it comes to transcripts, letters, and other information. Students: Your counselors and teachers are already completing letters of recommendation online and your test scores and transcripts are uploaded with the click of a button. But it doesn’t stop there. Not only are schools seeking information from applicants electronically, schools are publishing information in this way as well. Remember, not so long ago when counselors had all of these brochures and pamphlets in their office for students to flip through? Done. Colleges have learned that the web is mostly free and are producing massive amounts of material available quicker and easier (and reaching exponentially more people) with the click of a button. They save money and the environment instantly. Check out YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and many other sites and universities and see how they have exploited free social media to their advantage, showing more pictures and faces than can probably be seen in an in-person visit campus. THis is where prospective students lie, hungry and waiting for potential schools to feed them with the insight they seek. Which leaves us, the counselors, in a state of change. Do we still strive to hold those meetings during study hall? A printed newsletter? Handouts? While this counselor is not yet ready to dismiss the value of the face-to-face connections, we all must realize the obvious advantages of sharing informations so easily and readily with our students. Long ago, we used to learn something, write it down, and wait to talk about it or share. Is it possible to become more efficient? With 10 seconds and little effort, the same mind-boggling revelations about applications and schools are being shared with two clicks of a smartphone. The time has come to stop thinking of technology as a new and alternative way of delivering information and to start to embrace it as the primary vehicle of which data, updates, and news are shared with our stakeholders. We must embrace this movement and master the facilitation of information lest we be the ones learning from our students about the very process we are charged to help them with. |
AuthorOlder blog posts were for the UCLA Ext course "Using the Internet for College Counseling" Archives
February 2023
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