One of the biggest decisions that any family faces is where their kids go to college. Is it in an urban area or suburban area, what are the dorms like, how much does it cost and is it a place where they can envision spending a significant portion of their life?
A key element of the decision making process is the actual campus. Where is the dining facility and how does it relate to the freshmen dorms? What about the classrooms and what do they look like? Is the library in the center of the campus? What do the science labs look like? How inviting is the place and can I see myself living there for four years.
It is in this early investigation that you and your school want to shine. For the students that fit your profile, you want to be in their final list of schools that deserve a more detailed review. You want to pass the initial test.
How can a virtual campus tour help both you as the representative of the school and the potential student make it the next step in the school selection process? How do you market the most positive aspects of your institution?
Because the first stage of any search for a college covers the broadest number of institutions, and the search will be conducted over the internet, it is important to capture the true essence of your school at the earliest point in the potential student’s search. You want to present your school in the most informative and attractive light. You want to provide a window into the world of your campus, showing what the new student’s life would be like on your campus. What the classrooms look like on the inside, not just the building’s facade. How big the dorm rooms are and what the furnishings look like. How the dining room is laid out. The more accurate and attractive the presentation of real school life is portrayed, the more the potential student will be able to determine that an on-campus visit is the next step.
It is one thing to look at a PDF of the campus map. That will show what the buildings look like and where they are in relation to each other. It is much more informative to be able to look at a virtual campus tour. To be able to see for yourself what the school really looks like to the student, and what day to day life on campus will mean to them. The virtual campus tour puts you in the middle of the campus in a way that simple photos do not.
Further, the virtual campus tour allows you as the representative of the school’s administration to display the best features of your school in a way that emphasizes your strong features. You can show the dorm layouts, special lecture halls or areas of the student union that are set aside for recreation or quiet study. You can emphasize those attributes that your current students value.
While you do not want to mislead any potential student, you do want to make certain that every potential student gets a real and accurate view of what your campus life is like. Are there unique student activities that display the essence of school life at your institution? Are there connections outside the school, perhaps to the surrounding community? Use your creativity to show what makes your school special and make that a part of your virtual campus tour.
With a virtual campus tour the school’s administration is able to display what makes you different than the rest of the collegiate world, and why any potential student who bonds with those ideas will put you on the list for a more meaningful consideration.
A virtual campus tour is an effective way to draw potential students and their families into a review of your special corner of the world, and perhaps to a lifelong relationship between the student and your school.
Photo Credit: Packing for College by Else10