Darlington School: Private Boarding School in Georgia Researching Colleges in a Virtual World
Darlington School: Private Boarding School in Rome, GA
Some text some message..
 

Researching Colleges in a Virtual World

Ivy Brewer | September 25, 2020 | 513 views

The College Guidance Office emphasizes to students that the best way to get a feel for a college is to visit the campus. With the global pandemic, the in-person campus visits are not available at most schools, or travel itself has become more difficult. What is a senior to do? 

Virtual visit opportunities are the answer! We in the College Guidance Office strive to make available as many virtual visits available as possible. 

Since virtual visits that took place during our College Boot Camp on the first day of school, we have arranged more college visits which take place every school day through December. Our school day visits are scheduled at 9:40 a.m. (office hours) Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday and at 1:30 p.m. (club or study hall) on Wednesdays. Meetings are held through the Zoom platform, and the list of colleges visiting for the month are listed in the announcements along with the accompanying Zoom links. We also email the visits each week to all students in grades 9 through 12.   

Additionally, Darlington will be hosting a mini college fair Oct. 5, 6, 8, and 9 from 1:30-2:10 p.m. Each day, a panel of five different colleges will present information about their institution with a few minutes at the end for questions. If a student attends every day, that’s 20 additional colleges they can “visit”!

On Oct. 12, all students and their families are invited to attend the National Association for College Admission Counseling’s virtual college fair. More than 600 universities around the country and around the world will be in attendance, so this is an excellent chance to really explore the vast array of post-secondary educational institutions available. Click here to register.  

In November, the University of California system application will be available for students to complete. Nov. 2 and Nov. 3 from 1:30-2:10 p.m. (study hall), University of California at San Diego and University of California at Irvine, respectively, will help students navigate the UC system application process. 

Some students may be a bit nervous to attend these virtual meetings. Don’t be! College representatives, by nature, are very friendly and welcoming. Not sure what to say? Just say, “I’m interested in learning more about your university” and they’ll start their presentation, perhaps sparking questions. 

Most universities have really increased their online presence. Virtual tours are available on their web sites, in addition to departmental tours, dorm tours, meeting with students and professors, etc. The list abounds! Check out colleges’ web pages for more information. Remember to look at their social media too!

As colleges begin to loosen their COVID restrictions and add more visit opportunities, we absolutely encourage students to attend in-person. But in the meantime, please take advantage of all of the virtual events!