The Rising Popularity of Virtual College Tours

The progression of virtual reality (VR) has opened doors for innovative virtual tours. The practice of virtual tours has been gaining more momentum in the past years. In fact, as online reports suggest, a whopping 5 million visits have been recorded for virtual tours across the globe in the past year.   

As colleges and universities began offering virtual tours to their students, a new range of possibilities started to open up for both parties. Virtual tours became one of the most effective tools for students to analyze the efficiency of their prospective colleges.      

Read ahead and discover all about the possibilities of virtual tours and how to leverage them.

What Ignited the Increasing Demand for Virtual College Campus Tours?

#They are budget friendly  

One of the best features of virtual college tours is that they are cost-efficient and give students the flexibility to visit multiple campuses from the comfort of their homes. Since saving up for college amounts to a large sum of money, spending too much on in-person college tours will tear your budget down. Even though there are instances where colleges offer special, official, college visits for students, not everyone will be lucky enough to benefit from this opportunity. Since the first impression does play a deciding factor when choosing a campus, virtual tours give students a sneak peek into what their prospective colleges have to offer. It is important to note that, in addition to going on college virtual tours, candidates should also look into other factors before making up their minds.   

#Virtual college tours upscale accessibility

The activities following a college application can be hectic for the students and their parents. Since choosing the right college is detrimental to their future, students should have an equal opportunity to explore all of their prospective colleges. It is a well-known fact that students with better resources have an upper hand in choosing colleges since they have the necessary funds to explore their campus options. With virtual touring, students from remote areas get to visit major colleges in cities and international candidates get to evaluate the pros and cons of studying abroad. From opening up accessibility for students across the globe to helping them demystify the campus, the applications of virtual college tours are many.

#Experience it with your loved ones

An exciting feature of virtual college campus tours is that you can enjoy exploring your college options along with people you care about. Working parents, in most cases, find it difficult to take time off from their respective jobs at the same time to be part of their child’s college tours. When exploring options, it is always nice to get your parent’s point of view about the vast college options. Virtual college tours in 2022 are at the peak of technical advancement and allow all parties to become immersed in the experience. Now, you can get the whole gang and share your college touring with them.    

While using online tours, students get the opportunity to visit the same campus multiple times and make informed decisions. They can get a detailed view of campus facilities, including classrooms, libraries, lecture halls, dorms, gyms, playgrounds, etc., and then compare them with numerous colleges and universities and finally choose the better fit.

Preparing for a Virtual College Tour in 2022

If you have decided to participate in a virtual college tour session, then you need to follow a perfect strategy to make the most of this experience. Below are some tips to follow to ensure you never miss out on anything. 

#The initial prep

Taking a virtual tour should be taken as seriously as an on-site campus visit. Candidates should keep aside some time to virtually explore their options and come to an informed decision. As the first step to making the right decision, before attending the tour, understand what specific requirements you want to be fulfilled through the virtual tour. Sometimes, you may be anxious to know what it means to take classes at this new campus. Or you may want to see the inside of a dorm room. With a specific goal in mind, it becomes easy to immerse yourself in the virtual experience. Also, making a list of questions you want answers to is another important thing to do before the tour.   

#Understanding how this is only half the picture

One major thing to understand before you hop on the tour is that these virtual experiences never give you the complete picture. In many instances, colleges may have chosen some ‘well-looking’ dorms and other facilities to highlight in their virtual tours. There may be many ‘non-glamorous’ areas too inside the campus that may not have made it to the tour. This is how most colleges portray their campus and you should not hold this against them because they are in no way trying to con you. This is usually how a virtual tour of a college is done.

#Looking for additional resources

Virtual tours can offer an overview of the college and give you a glimpse into the various facilities inside the campus. If any specific campus catches your eye, then your next course of action is to find more about that college. You can hop on to the college website or go through their social channels to gather more insights. See if the college has a newspaper and if yes, then go through its content and learn what is happening at your prospective campus. On the other hand, it is possible to get additional information about the campus by connecting with people affiliated with the college.

#Finalizing the in-person visit

After narrowing down to one particular college following elaborate virtual tours and research, students can consider visiting the campus in person to get the complete experience. An on-site visit means seeing the campus and its buildings and students in person and being part of a new experience. So, after you choose a college from your virtual tours, if you can spare some funds for the travel and campus visit, then it will be a good idea to visit the building in person. Consider this as the final determining factor in choosing the right college. 

These were some of the defining features of virtual college tours. As explained above, these online tours offer many benefits to students who otherwise would have been restricted by the location and the inadequate resources. As technology has been witnessing new advancements lately, the virtual tours market will be experimented to further changes to ensure the highest innovation.

Are you planning on adding virtual tours to enhance the campus experience for your prospective students? We can help you with that. At CD, we have an incredible pool of talents to make the virtual journey as exciting as possible for the students. Get in touch with us today!