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Health & Fitness

A VIRTUAL COLLEGE TOUR VERSUS ACTUAL ON CAMPUS COLLEGE TOUR

Nothing beats the real thing. Choosing a college where someone will be spending at least 4 years of their lives is too important to pick after seeing a virtual tour of a handful of colleges.

At goCAMPUSing, we’ve seen and heard it from students over and over again; weird college must haves from what the buildings look like, is it a D1 or D3 athletics to the school’s colors. These must haves slowly fade away as high school students begin to see ALL of what a college has to offer.  Horrible school colors and a terrible athletic department mean nothing anymore compared to a college’s academic offering and school spirit.  That is when a high school student gets it…the “fit”.  Sure, there can be more than one right “fit” – those that are target college choices, the “I’m hoping” reach colleges, and the “I’ll still be very happy at” safety colleges.  But, this discovery of “fit” only truly happens with the tingling expectations in their fingers and toes, when they get those toes ON those college campuses.

Nothing beats the real thing. Choosing a college where someone will be spending at least 4 years of their lives, plan and prepare for their careers, set the tone for the rest of their lives, and often meet the person they will marry…is all too important to pick after seeing a virtual tour of a handful of colleges.

On a virtual tour, a high school student can’t appreciate or dislike the urban hustle of an NYU or UPENN situated in the middle of a major city.  You can’t see if an urban school is situated in an affluent area, or if it is on the “other side of the tracks”.  Seeing a college campus for oneself, a high school student can develop their own interpretation of what a small, midsize, large, and very large college campus really means to them. Is it the number of students, the density of the buildings, or the sprawl of the campus?  Does suburban college mean there’s nothing going on in the surrounding area, and do they have to drive or take public transportation to do anything off campus?  Does rural mean a college is nestled away on rolling hills, or miles away from anywhere?  Does a college have a great spirit, because everything has to be done on campus, because the closest neighbors are a state prison or miles of cow pasture?

So many questions can easily be answered just by being on a college’s campus.  But the most critical piece of information a college bound high school student can only discover from physically being on a college campus is feeling the vibe of the college.  That is an almost primordial feeling and is absolutely different not only from person to person, but within the same person; when a high school student’s preconceived notions and conceptions are turned on their heads. What they thought they would hate they love and love now hate, or they discover a whole new idea of what a college can be like.

Contents of this Blog are copyright protected and are the sole property of goCAMPUSing, Inc. ©2013 All Rights Reserved. goCAMPUSing, Inc. America’s Premier College Tour Company, has taken thousands of college bound eight & ninth graders, high school students, Freshmen, Sophomores, Juniors, & Seniors, and young adults – on college tours across America, visiting over 100 colleges and universities every year.  goCAMPUSing is much more than a College Touring Company.  goCAMPUSing College Advisors ride along on every trip to point out the nuances of each college/university visited, talk about aspects of each college and how they compare to other college not seen on the tour, plus answer student’s questions, discuss the college selection and admissions process, discuss SAT & ACT testing & test scores, and much more.  Each goCAMPUSing college tour is like a mini college prep course on wheels.  Many high school students come on more than one goCAMPUSing college tour. So check out our website: www.goCAMPUSing.com and LIKE us on Facebook.

goCAMPUSing is a proud member of:
AMERICAN SCHOOL COUNSELOR ASSOCIATION
NYS SCHOOL COUNSELOR ASSOCIATION
NASSAU COUNSELORS ASSOCIATION

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