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25 Virtual College Tours Worth Taking

Virtual college tours are considered one of the easiest, most accessible ways to learn about a school. While a more typical college tour may still be conducted in-person, the reality of that is changing. With the technological advances of the last 10-15 years, virtual tours have become a new, affordable possibility. Indeed, a virtual college tour can be an excellent way to learn about a school’s campus, programs, student life, clubs and activities, and much more.

You might be curious, how exactly do virtual college tours work? The answer depends on the school. Some virtual tours are live streams or recordings of in-person campus tours. Others are interactive maps where you can click on buildings and see what happens inside. Some will even include Q&A sessions with students. These are just some of the many ways schools show prospective students what life is like on campus. However, not all virtual college tours are created equal.

In this article, we’ll explore the world of virtual college visits, including:

• Benefits of engaging in college tours
• Similarities and differences between in-person and virtual college tours
• Different formats of virtual tours
• Top 25 virtual tours worth taking
• How to plan and make the most of your college visits
• What comes next after a college tour 

Without a doubt, college visits will play an integral role in your college journey. So, let’s dive into why college visits are so important to the application process. 

Why College Visits?

Before we explore virtual college tours in greater detail, let’s discuss why college visits are important to begin with. First and foremost, college tours are a way to learn about schools before you apply or even attend. Attending college is a big commitment. Therefore, taking the time to learn more about each school will allow you to feel more confident in deciding where to attend. 

Secondly, the college admissions process is a time of self-exploration. By engaging in college tours, you can learn more about yourself just as you do about colleges. Maybe you will notice you like smaller campuses that aren’t in bustling cities. Or perhaps you will realize that having a lot of cultural diversity on campus is important. By learning these facts about yourself, you will contribute to your overall personal development as well as create a holistic college list.

Lastly, college visits for juniors help to put together a strong application. Many colleges request that you write a supplemental essay about why you want to attend their school. Through a visit, you can gain knowledge about the school and be able to speak passionately and specifically about why you wish to attend in your essays. This is more critical than ever since the number of applications has skyrocketed at many schools. As such, you’ll need to make sure your application demonstrates why you are a clear fit.

College visits and the admissions process

As you may have already gathered, there are two times when you might find it most valuable to visit colleges:

Before applying

Virtual college tours and in-person campus tours can help you narrow down your college list. In doing so, you will only spend money and time applying to colleges that you would really love to attend. College visits for juniors can also help them write stronger essays.

After admission to make a final matriculation decision

If you are admitted to multiple schools, a campus visit can help you feel more confident in your final decision. As a senior, you also might have more specific questions about certain activities or campus life. Getting to know the campus more can also help ease the transition into your first year. Since you’ll already know where important buildings and resources are located, your first day may not be as overwhelming!

Now that you understand the importance of college visits, let’s explore what goes into planning a college visit.

Planning your college visit

As we shared, college visits are an important part of the admissions process. However, planning in-person campus tours can be time-consuming and expensive. To begin, you and your family will need to explore what times of year are best to travel. Some common times to visit schools are during school breaks or summer vacations. However, if you hope to see more activity on campus, then try to plan your visit when classes are in session. 

Next, we recommend setting up a visit with the admissions office. While you can, in most cases, visit a campus without an appointment, the appointment helps you gain access to a tour. It may even allow you to speak with an admissions officer. Ideally, you will book this appointment a few months before the visit. If you find yourself running short on time, you can also show up on campus and take a self-guided tour. Occidental College , Haverford College , and Claremont McKenna College all offer self-guided tours, whether using a printed map or a downloadable app. 

The cost of college visits

Regardless of whether you pre-schedule your visit, you will need to pay for your travel including transportation, hotels, and meals. Many students try to see multiple schools in one visit to save money and time.

For some students, setting up in-person visits is difficult. Beyond the expensive nature of travel, parents or guardians may not be able to take off work or find childcare. Some high schools organize college visits for juniors, or even sophomores, where adult chaperones take large groups of students to visit schools. However, this may not be an option at your school.

If the cost and logistics required to attend in-person college tours is prohibitive, don’t worry! In the next sections, we’ll discuss the many similarities, as well as the unique benefits, of virtual college tours.

COVID-19’s Impact on College Visits

While virtual tours existed pre-pandemic, the COVID-19 pandemic made them a necessity as college campus tours were canceled. Since then, virtual tours have become more advanced and more widely available. In some cases, college virtual tours can offer as much, or more, than an in-person campus visit.

While many students still prefer in-person visits, virtual tours can be used as a tool to explore colleges earlier in the application journey. Virtual tours can also be useful to prepare for an in-person visit. If a student can spend 15 minutes taking a virtual tour and noting what buildings or parts of campus interest them most, then they can focus their in-person tour on those aspects. 

Overall, virtual tours are an excellent way to visit schools that are completely inaccessible, such as ones that are too far away. Many international students use virtual college tours to explore campuses they wish to attend. Indeed, the fact that virtual tours exploded during the pandemic has raised several questions about accessibility, including the need to make more tours available in multiple languages or geared towards low-income families.

Coming up, we will explore more about the similarities and differences between in-person and virtual college tours. 

In-person vs Virtual College Tours

Luckily, visiting colleges today does not require you to go to a campus. Indeed, the number and quality of virtual campus tours for students have skyrocketed in recent years. Undoubtedly, there are similarities and differences between in-person college campus tours and virtual college tours.

Similarities between In-Person College Campus Tours and Virtual College Tours

• They provide a layout of the campus.
• They allow students to get a sense of the campus architecture, including the inside of academic buildings and dorms. For example, UT San Antonio offers special housing tours for students to see where they might be living.
• Students can learn about specific academic programs. For instance, Harvard offers a specialized in-person tour for engineering and applied sciences students in addition to the Harvard virtual tour.
• They offer insight into student life on campus. Emerson College , for example, offers videos of students talking about their transition to life in Boston and co-curricular activities.
• Tours allow students to explore the available clubs and activities on campus.
• They are opportunities to hear directly from actual students about their experiences. Colgate , Princeton , and Barnard all offer virtual conversations with students.
• Students can get some of their doubts answered. Many tours offer a live Q&A with current students. Pomona ’s live virtual sessions include this offering.

Differences between In-Person College Campus Tours and Virtual College Tours

Note that depending on the school, you may or may not receive information about that school’s admissions process during a tour, whether in-person or virtual. Several schools, like Spelman , encourage students to schedule separate webinars to learn more about the admissions process, as this is not a topic covered in their campus tours. 

Now that we have explored the similarities and differences between in-person college campus tours and virtual college visits, let’s look more deeply into when and how to use virtual college tours.

Understanding Virtual College Tours

When first hearing about virtual college visits, many students and families are skeptical about how useful they can be. However, college virtual tours have advanced so much in recent years that many offer a similar, if not enhanced, experience to an in-person visit. 

As we discussed, there are several obvious reasons why college virtual tours are easier than in-person, including the fact that they are free and require little to no planning. In the following sections, we will discover more of the benefits and uses of virtual college tours. We will also discuss how they work and explore some of the best virtual college tours that exist today.

Are Virtual College Tours Worth It?

Yes—college virtual tours are absolutely worth your time! Indeed, virtual college tours can be a very good investment of time depending on where you are in your college admissions process. Let’s explore some ways that you can use virtual college visits to aid you in your college decision-making process:

Initial exploration of schools

As a freshman or sophomore in high school, you might not know how to prepare for the college process. Using virtual college tours, you can begin to explore schools and learn about what you like and don’t like in a college. This process can help you stay motivated to work hard as you will visualize your goals with greater clarity. You will also begin to learn what types of schools you are drawn to, which can help you build a college list faster in your junior year.

Exploring more and different schools

In the past, many students were limited to only visiting schools they could travel to. In some cases, leaving their state or country was impossible. Virtual college tours offer much more accessibility for students who cannot travel large distances. Also, since they can be completed in much less time than in-person college campus tours, virtual college visits may allow you to explore schools you had never considered. Perhaps you were only considering applying to big public schools. With virtual college visits, you can branch out and easily explore small, liberal arts colleges as well.

Narrowing down the list of schools you might want to visit in person

You might have a long college list. Ideally, you’ll want to cut it down when considering which schools to visit. This is where virtual college visits offer a unique opportunity to make the most of your time and resources. Before you get on the road, you can do a virtual tour to see if you like the campus enough to visit. Or perhaps the virtual tour helps you see which parts of campus you want to explore further, or which buildings you want to enter.

Alternatively, maybe your virtual college visits give you the confidence to know you like the school enough that you don’t need to spend lots of money on a flight in your junior year. Perhaps you will wait and see if you are admitted and visit the school afterward to decide if you want to attend.

Certainly, we can agree there are many benefits to virtual college visits. However, some virtual college tours are more interactive, engaging, and informative than others. Later, we will explore some of the virtual college tours that are worth taking.

While the quality of the tour may depend on the schools you’re interested in, how much you get out of them ultimately depends on you. We will explore how to make the most of your college virtual tours later. 

What Are Virtual College Tours Like?

Now that we have convinced you that college virtual tours are beneficial, let’s look at what you can expect from them. Most virtual college tours for students have some combination of the following offerings:

Guided tour of campus

This can include a combination of interactive maps and pictures, embedded videos, informational text, and voiceovers describing what you are seeing. Some college virtual tours offer 360-degree views that allow you to click around and move through campus as if you were there, such as the University of Tampa ’s tour. Even more advanced tours offer immersive virtual reality (VR) technology which allows you to put on a headset and bring the campus to life in front of your eyes. However, VR campus tours typically require you to have your own equipment at home.

Campus highlights

Most virtual college tours for students will highlight important buildings or landmarks. These can include academic buildings, monuments, libraries, dining halls, residence halls, and the student union. By showing you these buildings, schools hope to give you a sense of what your day-to-day life may look like as a student there.

Student testimonials

Another helpful part of college virtual tours is student testimonials. Sometimes, this looks like students leading a campus tour while sharing their own experiences. Other times, schools will offer webinars for prospective students to ask questions of others. More common these days is the use of social media to share student experiences. Some schools will allow students to “take over” their social media accounts and post about their day so that prospective students can see what a day on campus is like. Consider following schools of interest on social media so you can get an insider’s perspective.

Now that you know what you can generally expect from college virtual tours, let’s explore the differences between college campus tours across schools.

How Do Virtual College Tours Work?

As the name suggests, virtual tours happen via a computer, phone, or other piece of technology. However, that can look very different depending on the school you are investigating. As we shared above, many virtual college tours for students include some kind of guided tour of campus, a list of highlights, and student testimonials. However, these items can come in very different formats.

Here are some of the formats you can expect:

Pre-recorded videos.

These can look like videos of a student giving a tour or a video of activities happening around campus. Since these are the simplest version of virtual college tours for students, they are the most common. Schools like Dartmouth , CalPoly , and Vassar all offer pre-recorded tours. 

Interactive videos

Some videos let you click on buildings or landmarks as you watch to learn more. In some cases, you can even enter buildings. For example, the Harvard virtual tour lets you click through photos of the athletic center, dorms, libraries, labs, and quads. The Harvard virtual tour also includes a voiceover that provides additional information as you scroll through images. 

Interactive map s

Here you’ll have a map of campus, whether flat or 360 degrees, that lets you click on landmarks to gather more information. Cornell , Bucknell , Wesleyan , and Pace all have online maps you can explore.

Live streams

This is a video that is being filmed at the same time you are watching it. Live streams sometimes offer a chance for Q&A with the student hosting. To take advantage of this, you will need to be present at the exact time the live stream is being shared. In some cases, you may need to register ahead of time to receive the link. An example of a live tour is at the University of Pennsylvania , where students register ahead of time for a one-hour, live, student-led virtual campus tour.

Live Virtual Tour vs. Pre-Recorded Tour

Take special note of the distinction between live virtual tours and pre-recorded virtual tours. Live virtual tours are being streamed as you watch them, which means you will get a better sense of what is happening right then and there on campus. Sometimes, live virtual tours include a Q&A section where you can ask questions. Meanwhile, pre-recorded virtual tours are less interactive but offer the flexibility of watching them whenever you can.

A common platform for many of these virtual college tours is YouVisit . YouVisit specializes in making virtual experiences as interactive as possible. For that reason, you may notice that many of the online virtual college tours you discover are similar in format. YouVisit’s tours tend to include interactive 360-degree maps, voiceovers, videos, and photos.

As you can tell, there are many formats and options for virtual tours. Indeed, the menu of options has exploded in recent years, in part due to the necessity created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Next, we will look more closely at when to take a virtual tour and explore some of the most helpful virtual tours worth taking.

When is the right time to take a Virtual Tour?

Virtual college tours can be useful at any stage, whether you’re already working on applications or just starting to build your college list.  No matter where you are in the college admissions process, remember: it’s never too early to take a virtual tour! However, before you start exploring virtually, it’s useful to know how virtual college tours can benefit you.

Tours for sophomores, juniors, and seniors

Virtual college tours will look different for sophomores, juniors, and seniors. As a sophomore, a virtual tour might be a way to dip your toes into the world of college admissions. Since you can take virtual college tours from the comfort of your own home, this is a low-stakes way to get a feel for which colleges you’re interested in applying to. 

College visits for juniors are a bit more meaningful. You may be starting to create a college list, so you’ll want to pay close attention to the different parts of the virtual tour. Consider taking notes as you go, so that when you start applying to schools you have observations from your virtual tour to look back on. 

If you’re a senior, there’s another important aspect of virtual college tours to keep in mind: demonstrated interest. When colleges read your application, they often look for “demonstrated interest,” which is a way that you demonstrate that you care about the school. Colleges want to admit students who will ultimately choose that college, and one way to show that you care about a school is to attend a tour. 

What Colleges Offer Virtual Tours?

In general, virtual college tours make tours accessible for people who can’t travel to the school for whatever reason. Most schools understand that not all students can visit in person and will offer some type of virtual tour—whether it’s a recorded tour, a video of the campus, or another interactive option. 

So, how do you decide which ones to take? Up next, you’ll find our list of the best virtual college tours that we think are worth your time.

25 Virtual College Tours Worth Taking!

As we’ve discussed, virtual tours are a great way to get a feel for a school’s campus without having to make the trip to visit. You can take a virtual tour at almost any time—you can even take one more than once!

With that in mind, we’ve compiled a list of 25 great virtual college tours that you can embark on in lieu of a traditional college visit. 

Top 25 Virtual College Tours

1. princeton university.

First on our list of virtual college tours worth taking is Princeton University. Located in Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton is ranked #1 in National Universities. Princeton’s virtual tour consists of a live-streamed Zoom webinar, where one of their tour guides will take you along with them on their campus tour. You can even ask your guide questions in the Zoom chat!

2. Harvard University

Next on our list of best virtual college tours is Harvard University, located in Cambridge, MA. The Harvard virtual tour is self-guided, meaning that you can click around the Harvard virtual tour to see panoramic views of Harvard’s classic New England campus at your own pace. Plus, if you’re interested in Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, there’s a separate Harvard virtual tour that goes into even more detail on that school’s offerings.

3. University of Pennsylvania

If you’re interested in UPenn but can’t make it out to Philadelphia, you can explore UPenn’s campus with virtual college visits. You have to sign up online to take one of Upenn’s virtual college tours since they’re led live by Penn’s student tour guides. With these live tours, every tour is different. Since different students give them each time, if you decide to take the tour more than once, you’ll likely learn something new! 

4. Cornell University

The virtual college tours at Cornell are self-guided. This means that you can take yourself around Cornell’s beautiful campus in Ithaca, NY, at your own pace. At each location, Cornell supplies fun facts and details about the campus that can help you get to know the school better. 

5. Dartmouth College

With Dartmouth’s virtual college tours, you can get the best of both worlds: a live-streamed campus tour and a self-guided tour. If you’re just beginning to think about Dartmouth as an option, watch their video of a pre-recorded tour to get a feel. If Dartmouth is your dream school, get to know their campus in bucolic Hanover, NH, by taking a live virtual tour led by a student—that way, you can ask all of your questions and feel more like you’re really there!

6. California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) – San Luis Obispo

If you want to know more about Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, they provide a wealth of virtual college tours that you can take. Not only does Cal Poly offer the classic student-led virtual tours and prerecorded tours. They also have virtual tours of their housing and of each academic college. Even if you can’t make it out to this coastal California city, you’ll have a great feel for the Cal Poly campus. 

7. Barnard College

Curious about college in the Big Apple? Take one of Barnard’s virtual college tours. Once you register for Barnard’s virtual tour, you gain access to spaces in Barnard that aren’t even available on the in-person tour. Barnard also offers an audio tour, where you can listen along to a live tour guide.

8. Pomona College

At Pomona, a college located in Pomona, California, you can explore in a multitude of ways. Pomona offers a pre-recorded virtual tour, as well as info sessions and webinars that you can attend from home. 

9. University of Texas – San Antonio

Located in San Antonio, TX, the University of Texas campus at San Antonio offers a self-guided virtual tour. At each location on the virtual tour, UT offers a video accompanied by written information to help you get to know the campus better.

10. Wesleyan University

If you’re looking for an idyllic New England campus, you’ll find one with Wesleyan’s virtual college tours. Wesleyan is a small liberal arts school located in Middletown, Connecticut, and you can follow along with a current student as they “walk” you through different locations on campus. 

11. Colgate University

Located in Hamilton, ME, Colgate’s beautiful campus is just a few clicks away. Colgate’s college virtual tours let students make their way through the campus on their own time, and you can supplement your virtual college visit with webinars and online info sessions. 

12. Washington State University

Though Pullman, Washington would be beautiful to see in person, WSU’s college virtual tours will make you feel like you’re right there without ever leaving your house. WSU offers a personal tour, where you can direct yourself around the Washington State campus. 

13. Bucknell University

At Bucknell University, you can take college virtual tours by navigating through their virtual campus map. Though you might not get a feel of Bucknell’s location in Lewisburg, PA, you’ll come away with a great understanding of their campus—they even have a specialized map for prospective engineering students. 

14. Vassar College

Next on the list of college virtual tours worth doing is Vassar. Vassar is located in scenic upstate New York, but if you don’t want to make the trip, you can easily get a feeling for the campus with their many options for college virtual tours. Vassar offers an interactive campus tour, a 30-minute preview video of the campus, and even sample classes and recordings of past events. 

15. Claremont McKenna College

The second of the Claremont Colleges after Pomona, Claremont McKenna offers recorded video tours and self-guided college virtual tours. Claremont McKenna is also located in Pomona, CA. So, if you’re virtually touring Pomona, you might as well give Claremont McKenna a look as well!

16. Haverford College

If you’re interested in living in Pennsylvania, you can give this lovely campus located just outside of Philly a look. Haverford offers live virtual tours where two students will take you on a “stroll” across campus, giving you advice and answering questions along the way. 

17. Harvey Mudd College

If you love Pomona, CA, but Claremont McKenna and Pomona weren’t your vibe, give Harvey Mudd a try. Harvey Mudd’s college virtual tours consist of separate videos for each stop along the tour that take you through all of the most important buildings on Harvey Mudd’s campus. 

18. Middlebury College

For your Middlebury College virtual tours, you get all the benefits of variety. Middlebury College, located in Middlebury, VT, has a wealth of options for students who don’t choose to do college campus tours in person. This includes virtual tours in English and Spanish, self-guided interactive maps, recorded information sessions, and more. 

19. Pace University

If you want to get to know Pace University, the college offers interactive maps for both of its campuses—one in NYC and one in Westchester, NY. Using Pace’s maps, you can make the most of New York City college campus tours without ever having to navigate the subway. 

20. Occidental College

Next on our list of virtual college campus tours worth taking is Occidental College. Located in sunny Los Angeles, CA, Occidental offers a self-guided virtual tour, where you can click through 360 views of the campus and hear from Occidental’s student tour guides along the way. 

21. Furman University

Located in Greenville, South Carolina, Furman University also offers stellar options for their virtual college campus tours. Furman gives you the option to explore individual campus buildings with interactive and immersive technology, which includes videos from their tour guides to give you insider knowledge about each location. 

22. Spelman College

If you want to tour Spelman, you don’t have to go all the way to Atlanta, Georgia. You can take one of their virtual college campus tours, where you can take your time looking at each of their buildings. Spelman’s virtual map lets you see inside and outside of many different campus locations, and get a better feel for the vibe of the campus as a whole.

23. Emerson College

Located in Boston, MA, Emerson offers lots of options for students who want to take college virtual tours. Using an interactive map , prospective students can make their way around Emerson’s campus to explore different buildings and facilities. The Emerson campus map also includes some city landmarks, like Boston Common, that are close to campus and part of the Emerson experience.

24. University of Tampa

At the University of Tampa, students can take college virtual tours to get a feel for the beautiful Tampa, FL campus. The University of Tampa offers tour videos, 360 interactive campus tours, as well as virtual visits. If you register for a virtual visit, you’ll also be able to attend a 30-minute info session hosted by an admissions counselor. 

25. Texas State University

For the last school on our list of college virtual tours worth taking, we visit (or more accurately, don’t visit) Texas State. Texas State offers a virtual interactive map, a video tour led by student tour guides, and also provides a presentation where you can learn more about the academics and admissions policies at the school. You can tour both of Texas State’s locations, one in San Marcos and one just north of Austin.

As you can see, not all virtual college visits follow the exact same format. However, there are certainly many opportunities to “visit” a school without ever stepping foot on campus. Next, let’s talk about scheduling and making the most of your college visits.

How To Schedule Virtual College Visits

Now that we’ve gone over some of the best virtual college tours that you can take, let’s talk about some logistics. 

For most virtual college tours, you can take them whenever you want—that’s part of why they’re so great! Whatever your schedule is, you can slide in a college visit on your own time. You could even do a bit of a virtual college visit, take a break, and come back and finish later. It’s totally up to you. 

Schools may ask you for your name and email when you click on their virtual college visits. This is totally fine, and also can work to your advantage. Remember demonstrated interest? You want the college to know that you’ve taken their college campus tours, whether it’s a virtual college visit or in-person. This is especially meaningful in college visits for juniors or seniors.

Even though many virtual college visits can be done on your own schedule, some schools offer live virtual tours. If you want to take one of these college campus tours, you’ll need to sign up in advance. Even though these virtual college tours for students require a little bit more planning, it can be helpful to be in a Zoom with other prospective students and tour guides so that you can ask questions in real time. 

Making the Most of a Virtual College Visit

Even though you might be taking your virtual college tours from your bed, it’s important to still make the most of it. While a virtual tour might not feel the same as in-person college campus tours, there are some things you can do to make the most of the experience. 

Block out dedicated time

At first, virtual college tours for students might not seem very outwardly engaging. However, you should try and make the most of your experience. Don’t multitask, or do college campus tours while you’re watching TV. This is still a college visit, and you want to treat it as such. Immerse yourself in your virtual college visit—you want to get as close as you can to experiencing it in person! 

Consider your priorities

Virtual college visits can serve different purposes for different students. Some students have no idea what they’re looking for from their college campus, and others are already set on what they want their college experience to look like. On the virtual tour, make sure to look at the school’s housing, academic facilities, recreational facilities, and transportation. If there’s a must on your list—for example, if you want a school with a main quad, or a school that’s integrated into a city—see if the school has it! 

Ask questions

If you’re taking a tour on your own, think about the questions you’d have for a tour guide if there was one present. What can you learn from virtual college tours for students, and what do you still have questions about? These are the kinds of things you could ask in an information session or research after your tour.

Next Steps after your Virtual Tour

Once you’ve finished your virtual tour, there are some next steps you can take to make the most of it. 

If you’re just starting to build out your college list, think about what stood out most from your campus tours. Write down some big takeaways from the school, or a list of pros and cons, so you can start comparing schools that you want to put on your college list. These can be informal—something like “huge library,” or “weird vibe” is totally fine—just make sure you write down enough to remember how you felt about the school so you don’t have to take the virtual tour a second time.

If you’re ready to apply, reach out to admissions with any questions you have after the virtual college tours. Explore the application requirements at the schools you’re most excited about. See if the school has any supplemental essays that ask you why you’re interested in the school—these virtual tours can give you great talking points about the school that you might want to include in an essay.

Sometimes after a virtual tour, you might still not know how you feel about a school—that’s okay! Virtual tours are just one way to get to know a college. You can keep doing research, and take advantage of other virtual resources offered by the school. 

Even More Virtual Opportunities

So what are the other ways to learn more about a school from the comfort of your own home?

Along with the virtual campus tour, many schools also offer virtual information sessions. These are Zoom calls with admissions officers who are there to provide information on the school and answer applicants’ questions. Attending information sessions can also be a way to show demonstrated interest to a school that you want to attend. 

Some schools also have student testimonials, or other videos with students who can answer questions about the school. These are a great way to see what actual students think about attending the school. Many colleges also provide a way to reach students at the school with questions—email the admissions office and ask if there are students you can talk to about their experience. 

Virtual College Tours – Final Takeaway

College visits for juniors, seniors, and sophomores are an important part of the college admissions process. Since the pandemic, you can go on amazing virtual college visits from the comfort of your own home. On a virtual college tour, you can get to know the campus, and see what kinds of resources the school has to offer.

There are a few different types of virtual college tours for students. Some are interactive maps, where you can click on different buildings and explore. Others provide a 360 view of various parts of campus. Some are live Zoom meetings led by student tour guides, and some schools provide pre-recorded videos that you can watch. All of these virtual tours are great options to learn more about the school, and if a school provides more than one, they’re all worth doing!

When you’re taking a virtual college tour, make sure to make the most of it. Set aside some time to really focus on the tour, keep your priorities in mind, and take notes on things that stick out to you and questions you have during the tour. 

If at the end of your virtual tour, you’re sure that you’ve found your dream school, don’t hesitate to reach out to CollegeAdvisor for application guidance. Our team of experts is always here to support students in navigating the admissions process. Happy (virtual) exploring!

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How to Make the Most of Virtual College Tours

Virtual college tours can be a useful tool for weighing options or previewing a campus.

Virtual College Tour Options

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Virtual reality is one way colleges offer students a glimpse of what to expect when they arrive on campus.

Virtual campus tours, which many schools implemented initially as a way to keep up with the technological times, proved a necessity once the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the normal flow of the college-seeking process.

Now, college admissions and marketing professionals say virtual campus tours are a vital component of the college search. Using 360-degree video and virtual reality, colleges are able to welcome students to campus from hundreds or even thousands of miles away.

"I think virtual tours can be a great pre-screen or preview for students who have maybe never seen campus," says Kristi Lafree, director of enrollment marketing at Butler University in Indiana, which offers a 360-degree video tour alongside supplemental videos. "They maybe want to get a gut check. They want to make sure that if they do come visit that it will be worth it.”

Hundreds of U.S. colleges now provide prospective students with web-based virtual tours, complete with interactive photos and videos designed to be compatible across all devices. Some schools are even using virtual reality, though VR headsets are required for those experiences.

University officials say they hope virtual tours give students a sense of what college life at the school looks like, from the architecture to the activities. Students can dive into exploring buildings and parts of the campus that might not be covered as deeply on a standard in-person campus tour, says Joffery Gaymon, vice president for enrollment management at Auburn University in Alabama, which has a 360-degree virtual tour on its website as well as a video of a student-led tour.

Through a virtual tour, students can hop from the business building to the student union, or from athletic facilities to residence halls. A general in-person tour might not include a visit to the student newspaper building, but an aspiring journalism major may be able to tour it online.

Virtual tours have become a critical tool for attracting international students who might not be able to visit the campus in person, Gaymon says. Auburn has about 2,500 international students, visiting scholars and employees from 100 different countries each year, according to the school.

“It’s a way for them to dive a little deeper and to have a greater sense of familiarity with the university while they’re exploring options,” she says.

The University of California—Berkeley also offers 360-degree virtual tours for prospective students. Previously, the school was posting YouTube videos and virtual question-and-answer sessions, but it has since moved to a platform called YouVisit, which is used by about 700 schools across the country. Virtual tours proved to be a game changer for admissions, says La Dawn Duvall, executive director of visitor and parent services at Berkeley.

Students visiting Berkeley can start in the center of campus with a virtual tour guide providing information about the school while they explore at their own pace. In the last year, Duvall says more than 22,000 unique visitors have taken a general virtual tour of the school with about 3,000 more touring specific locations around campus that are available on YouVisit, including residence halls and academic buildings.

Auburn averages nearly 30,000 virtual visitors, including students living in India, China, Canada and Brazil, and about 25,000 in-person visitors per school year, Gaymon says.

These numbers suggest how important virtual tours have become for schools across the board, Duvall says. In a matter of minutes, students and families can visit a school in California, then zip to one on the East Coast, saving hours in the car or thousands in airfare and hotel bills, which may allow families to plan other visits .

Lafree says she expects these trends to continue, even as in-person visits resume.

“The demand for that virtual admission visit has really hardly decreased at all, so there’s no going back to pre-COVID for college admissions,” she says.

Well-produced virtual college tours also offer pizzazz that experts say prospective students may not see in other marketing materials. For schools that use VR, it provides an immersive experience; users have the sense that they're in that environment.

Prospective college athletes don’t have to visit an actual campus to get a good idea of what the school and its athletic facilities look like, says Zvi Goffer, a co-founder of CampusVR, the platform a number of universities and college athletic departments use for VR tours. This has been especially beneficial for schools and athletes as National Collegiate Athletic Conference transfers have become more prevalent, since it allows athletes to take an unofficial visit of a school without having to leave their living room, he says.

“This is going to become the norm,” Goffer says. “Visualization, as much as some people want to fight that trend, there’s just no substitute for it.”

But universities are also aware that prospective students are craving authenticity, even through virtual experiences and in social media, says Alexa Heinrich, social media manager for St. Petersburg College in Florida.

Lafree says high school students are cognizant that virtual tours and other school-produced content are intended to be marketing tools, so they're also looking at a school's TikTok, Instagram and YouTube pages to find first-person, user-generated content from other students.

Many students have begun to use social media apps the same way they might use a search engine, Heinrich says, and experts say visiting social media channels is a good way for students to make the most of vetting a school virtually. With this in mind, Heinrich says some schools have started to do “student takeovers” on their social media pages, where students show what a typical day is like on campus for an average student.

Potential students are craving something "that feels a little less robotic," she says.

“Social media plays a huge part in showing what student life and campus life is going to be like for them,” Heinrich says. “We can put out emails and tell you about the affordability of our college, but social media is going to do its best work when we’re showing students enjoying their experience at our college.”

Prospective students are applying to more schools, according to a March 2022 Common Application report , which showed the number of submitted applications rose by 21.3% between 2019-2020 and 2021-2022. (That includes data from 853 member schools.) With shortlists now longer than ever, students can use virtual tours to weigh options.

Campus officials advise prospective students to use the virtual tour as a jumping-off point and then to weigh academic programs, admissions requirements and other factors that will shape student experiences at the school. If students have interest in a specific program or activity, they should follow up directly with the school to gather more information.

“I would recommend taking their time and not just using just the tour, but using the larger campus website, the websites of your department or academic area of interest – supplementing those together,” Duvall says. “Take information from all of those places, because there’s not one that’s going to give you everything you need to represent the experience."

While college officials praise virtual tours as an option, they also encourage students to visit campus if possible. Gaymon says the function of a virtual college tour is to get a look at campus life. Other questions are best reserved for the admissions office.

“The virtual tour does not replace the traditional visit,” she says. “For us, it truly enhances it.”

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Virtual Tour

Explore Vanderbilt from anywhere in the world with our virtual tour. With over 20 tour stops, embedded videos, and 360-degree photos, our virtual tour offers a great way to learn more about our campus community.

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A guide to virtual college tours: exploring campuses from anywhere.

Picking the right college is one of the most significant decisions you'll make as you prepare to take the next step in your educational journey after completing high school. 

In the past, campus tours provided an invaluable firsthand experience, allowing prospective students to soak in the atmosphere and culture of each institution. However, with the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic and other constraints, traditional campus tours have been limited. 

Thankfully, the rise of virtual college tours, including Virtual Reality campus tours, has ushered in a new era of college exploration, opening up a world of possibilities for students from all corners of the globe.

Virtual college tours present a unique opportunity for exploration, as they enable students to delve into many campuses from the comfort of their own homes. With a simple click, you can stroll through historic halls, witness vibrant campus life, and even experience academic facilities as if you were physically present. 

These tours provide a rich array of content, including 360-degree videos, interactive maps, and live guides who offer valuable insights into college life.

In this guide, we will delve into the transformative power of virtual college tours, which have evolved into immersive and interactive experiences, offering a wealth of benefits for prospective students. So, Let’s begin.

What are Virtual College Tours?

Virtual college tours are not just a mere substitute for physical visits. Instead, they offer much more than just a glimpse of the campus!

Through online content and virtual experiences, you can immerse yourself in the college's culture, engage with tour guides, and connect with current students or alumni.

What are the benefits of a Virtual Campus Tour?

While the absence of in-person visits may seem disappointing, it's essential to recognize the numerous benefits that virtual tours bring to the table. Some of them are-

1. Accessibility

Imagine this! You don't have to travel far or worry about time constraints for exploring campuses. 

With virtual tours, you can do it from anywhere in the world! 

Virtual tours allow students to explore campuses from anywhere in the world, eliminating the need for travel and reducing associated costs and time constraints. This level of accessibility is particularly advantageous for international or out-of-state students who may find it challenging to visit colleges in person due to distance, financial limitations, or visa restrictions. 

Not only this, but the virtual tours also break down geographical barriers, offering a unique opportunity for prospective students to gain insights into various colleges without leaving their homes. This convenience empowers students to explore a broader range of institutions, facilitating a more informed decision-making process. 

Moreover, virtual tours ensure inclusivity by catering to individuals with physical disabilities or mobility limitations, providing them with equal access for exploring campuses and making educational choices.

Also Read, The Future of Healthcare: Transforming the Patient Experience with Immersive Technologies

2. Cost-Effective

Speaking of costs, virtual tours are a fantastic money-saving option.

Virtual college campus tours save students and their families the expenses related to travel, accommodation, and other costs associated with in-person campus visits. 

This cost-effectiveness enables students to explore multiple colleges without breaking the bank. It is particularly advantageous for international or out-of-state students who might otherwise face substantial financial burdens to visit colleges in person. 

Additionally, the reduced costs associated with virtual tours empower students to allocate their resources more efficiently, focusing on other essential aspects of their college application process. 

Overall, being cost-effective, virtual college tours democratize the college exploration process, ensuring that students from all backgrounds can make informed decisions about their future without financial constraints.

3. Time Efficiency

Unlike traditional visits, where you need to plan everything and take time off, virtual tours can fit seamlessly into your busy schedule. 

You can access them at any time, pause, rewind, and revisit specific sections. 

With such options, virtual tours enable a more in-depth examination of campus facilities, academic programs, and extracurricular activities.

Additionally, virtual tours save students and their families the time spent on travel, accommodation arrangements, and navigating unfamiliar locations, freeing them to focus on discovering the colleges that align best with their academic and personal goals.

4. Comprehensive Insights

Virtual tours offer a treasure trove of information!

Through various resources like video tours, image galleries, 360-degree views, and in-depth written content, students gain access to a wealth of information about campus facilities, academic programs, extracurricular activities, immersive technology in college , and campus culture. 

This comprehensive approach enables prospective students to explore various aspects of the college from the comfort of their homes, ensuring that no essential details are missed.

By immersing themselves in these rich resources, students can assess whether the college aligns with their academic and personal preferences. They can gauge the campus environment, evaluate available resources, and understand the overall atmosphere, allowing for a more informed decision-making process.

Additionally, this level of information empowers students to make thoughtful comparisons between different colleges, ultimately leading to a more confident and suitable college choice. With virtual college tours providing a holistic view, students can efficiently explore multiple institutions and find the perfect fit for their higher education journey.

Also Read: 5 Mind-Blowing VR Educational Apps to Enhance Learning Through Immersion

5. Flexibility and Revisits

Flexibility is key here.

Students can take virtual tours multiple times, allowing them to revisit specific areas of interest or refresh their memory about different aspects of the college. The flexibility to revisit virtual tours multiple times empowers students to delve deeper into specific areas of interest and gain a comprehensive understanding of the institution. 

Whether it's revisiting campus facilities, academic programs, or campus culture, the ability to pause, rewind, and replay specific sections enhances the overall college exploration experience. 

6. Inclusive Experience

And guess what? Virtual tours are inclusive too!

Designed with accessibility in mind, VR tours accommodate students with physical disabilities or mobility limitations, ensuring they can fully participate in the college exploration process.

Through the virtual reality world , students can virtually navigate campuses, experience campus life, and access vital information regardless of their physical location or abilities.

The inclusive nature of VR tours eliminates geographical constraints, allowing international or remote students to explore colleges without the need for costly and time-consuming travel. Additionally, students with mobility challenges can explore campuses without facing physical obstacles, fostering a sense of independence and empowerment.

By providing a platform that caters to diverse needs, VR tours democratize the college search, making it an equitable experience for all. Students with disabilities can engage with colleges on equal footing, making informed decisions about their future education, ultimately leading to a more inclusive and diverse higher education landscape.

7. Real-Time Interaction

The interactive nature of VR fosters a sense of connection with the college community, making the exploration more meaningful and impactful. Students can participate in Q&A sessions, receive authentic testimonials, and even attend virtual events, mirroring the experience of an on-campus visit. This level of engagement enables students to make more informed decisions about their college choices.

Real-time interaction in VR not only overcomes geographical barriers but also creates a sense of presence and belonging, empowering students to envision themselves as part of the college community. As a result, virtual college tours become a powerful and beneficial tool for prospective students to make confident and well-informed decisions about their educational journey.

Also Read:   The Power of Virtual Reality in Education Technology

8. Pandemic Adaptability

VR provides an essential alternative during times of crises when in-person visits are unsafe or unfeasible. As the world faced the challenges of the pandemic, virtual tours became a lifeline for students seeking to explore colleges without jeopardizing their health and safety.

Virtual college tours in VR not only offer a valuable solution during crises but also extend accessibility to a broader audience, transforming the college search experience into a convenient, inclusive, and pandemic-resilient process.

But what are the essential questions that you need to keep in mind when taking a virtual college tour?

Questions to Ask on a Virtual College Tour

When embarking on virtual college tours, it's crucial to keep some essential questions in mind and ask during the exploration process. These questions will help you gather valuable information and insights about each college, ensuring that you make an informed decision about your higher education journey. 

Here are some key questions to consider:

1. What academic programs are offered?

Explore the college's website and virtual tour materials to learn about the range of academic programs available. You can look for specific majors, minors, and concentrations that align with your interests and career goals.

2. How is the campus culture?

Discover the college's values, traditions, and overall campus atmosphere. You should consider whether it fosters an environment where you see yourself thriving academically and socially.

3. What are the campus facilities like?

Pay attention to virtual tours that showcase academic buildings, libraries, laboratories, recreational centers, and student housing. Assess whether the facilities meet your expectations and needs.

4. How is the campus community?

Seek information about the student body size, diversity, and student-to-faculty ratio. Understanding the campus community can help you determine if you'll find a sense of belonging and support during your college years.

5. What resources are available for students?

Inquire about academic support services, career counseling, mental health resources, and extracurricular opportunities. A robust support system can contribute significantly to your success and well-being as a student.

6. What is the college's approach to learning? 

Ask about the teaching methods, class sizes, and opportunities for research or internships. Understanding the learning environment can help you assess how well the college aligns with your preferred learning style. If they have an approach to experiential learning in college , it’s a plus point.

7. How is campus safety and security?

8. Can you connect with current students or alumni?

Many virtual tours offer opportunities to engage with current students or alumni through virtual events or Q&A sessions. Interacting with them can provide valuable insights into the college experience and campus life.

9. What financial aid and scholarship options are available? 

Inquire about the college's financial aid packages, scholarship opportunities, and work-study programs. Understanding the cost and available financial support will impact your decision-making process.

10. What are the internship and job placement rates? 

If available, inquire about the college's track record in helping students secure internships and job opportunities after graduation. Understanding the college's commitment to your future career can be essential.

Remember to keep an open mind and explore beyond the tour materials!

Engage with current students, ask questions, and seek out experiential learning opportunities. With careful research, active participation, and reflection, you can make the most of virtual college tours and find the perfect college that aligns with your goals and aspirations.

But, how to make the best of your Virtual College Tour? Let’s find out!

Also Read: Why Haptic Feedback is Crucial for VR Education?

How to make the most of your Virtual College Tour?

So, you're all set to take on the virtual college tour journey?

Awesome! Let's make sure you get the most out of this exciting adventure. Here are some nifty tips to guide you along the way:

Plan It Out: Before you dive into the virtual tours, whip up a little plan. Jot down the colleges you're itching to explore and the specific things you want to know more about. This nifty plan will keep you on track during your virtual college exploration.

Scribble Your Thoughts: As you hop from one virtual tour to another, don't forget to take notes! 

Scribble down your first impressions, any questions popping into your head, and the coolest stuff that stands out about each college. These notes will be your best pals when it's decision-making time.

Join the Virtual Party: Colleges love throwing virtual events for future students, like webinars, Q&A sessions, and campus tours guided by real-life students or admissions officers. These events are gold mines for real-time answers and getting a taste of the college community vibe.

Chat Up Current Students and Alumni: If the virtual tour offers a chance to connect with current students or alumni, don't miss out! Talking to these seasoned college pros gives you the inside scoop that goes beyond official materials.

VR Classroom Adventure: Feeling adventurous? 

Some virtual college tours offer VR classroom experiences ! You can virtually sit in on a lecture or join an educational activity. It's like teleporting into the college learning scene and checking if it matches your style.

Dive into Experiential Learning: Seek out the college's approach to experiential learning. Internships, research opportunities, and study abroad programs can be game-changers. Virtual tours often highlight these gems, giving you a glimpse of hands-on learning possibilities.

Share with Your Team: Don't be a lone ranger: Share your virtual college tour experiences and insights with your support network—your parents, teachers, or mentors. Their wisdom and advice can be total lifesavers when it comes to making that big college decision.

Go Beyond the Tour: Virtual tours are just one slice of the college exploration pie. Venture into the world of reviews, chat with college counselors, and get in on online forums where other future collegians are sharing their thoughts.

Get that Schedule going: Flexibility is key with VR campus tours. Create a schedule that lets you explore multiple colleges without losing your cool. Set aside specific times for each tour and stick to your plan like a champ.

To wrap it up, virtual college tours have opened up a whole new world for students like you to explore potential colleges. From campus facilities to real-time college life connections, these tours are full of valuable insights. 

So, take that digital leap and embrace the endless opportunities in the world of virtual education. 

Happy virtual touring! 

The perfect college match is just a click away!

Frequently Asked Questions

Why college tours are important.

Virtual college tours present a unique opportunity for exploration, as they enable students to delve into many campuses from the comfort of their own homes.

How to make the most of your virtual college tour?

Plan it out, scribble your thoughts, join the virtual party, Chat up current students and alumni to make the most of your virtual college campus tour.

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100+ 360° college campus tour videos of top US & Canadian colleges, 100% free on Youtube!

For more immersive playback:

Pro tip 1: Youtube defaults to 720p resolution which is too low for 360° video. Click the settings icon at the bottom right of the player and change to 2160p for MUCH better quality.

Pro tip 2: Playback on phone/ipad tends to be much smoother than playback on PC (unless your PC has dedicated graphics card).

Pro tip 3: For wider field of view , go into full screen mode (F11 on computer only) and scroll down on your mouse. You’ll get about 1-2 notches on your scroll wheel before the page itself starts to scroll down. This is the widest field of view, press Page Up to go back up to the top of the video and enjoy the wider field of view!

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College application advice for HS students:

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Did you really visit all these schools on your own? Yes I actually went to each of these schools and filmed, curated all the facts and stats, and personally made each video. You’d be amazed what you can accomplish if you just chip at it a little every day.

Why did you do this? This project got started in 2017 when I took my wife on a road trip to “see the country”, and I tried my hand at vlogging about colleges we visited along the way. I had a 360° camera to take b-roll, which ended up being the only usable footage from that trip (vlogging is harder than it looks!). Soon after, two of my friends got married in Boston a week apart from each other so that got us up to 40 colleges, all on the east coast. You don’t quit when you’ve done 40 schools already, you go for 100.

How could you afford this? Good planning, not taking direct flights (actually searching for cross country flights with long stopovers) lots of great friends’ to crash at, a working wife, and willingness to sleep in Walmart parking lots.

Are you going to other schools or is this it? The goal is to hit all 100 of the USNews top 100 (currently at 85/100). I’m also sitting on about 20 international universities I’ve yet to edit. I plan on being in the UK and Australia once COVID-19 blows over.

Why is rank trend important? You’ll notice on the bottom of each video there is the school’s 2010, 2015, and 2020 USNews rank. This is because the trend of a school’s rank tells you more than that year’s rank. Research into the USNews rankings tells us that +/- 4 in rank from one year to the next is statistical noise, so don’t get caught up in the specifics. However if a school is getting higher in rank from 5 years ago, 10 years ago, that’s probably a sign they’re consistently improving. You want your college to be ranked high even 5, 10 years after you’ve graduated, and the rank trend tells you that.

What do you think is the most important metric when picking a school? I feel the boy/girl ratio is one of the most underrated stats and needs to be considered. It is the #1 factor that impacts your college experience day in/day out. You won’t necessarily feel how different a rank 30 is from a rank 60 school, but you will definitely feel when a campus is 30% female vs 60% female. I went to GT when there were only 25% women, and let’s just say it was miserable on campus. When the ratio is that skewed, the rarer sex tends to be much more proud, and the guys had to make inroads at Emory and Agnes Scott to have any female contact (it didn’t help that my group of friends weren’t the smoothest engineers you’ve ever seen).

The second most under-rated stat is the acceptance rate. If you plot acceptance rate against boy/girl ratio, you’ll find an interesting quadrant, where the party schools are high female high acceptance rate, and the dreary ones are the low female low acceptance ones. But that’s probably where the ladies want to go if a M.R.S. degree is a potential option.

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3 thoughts on “ 100+ 360° college campus tour videos of top US & Canadian colleges, 100% free on Youtube! ”

Could you also do Dorm Tours?

looking forward to watching some of these….why all the focus, I wonder, on USNWR universities and so little love for UNSWR liberal arts colleges ? https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-liberal-arts-colleges I would have loved to see tours of more of the schools on the national liberal arts colleges list. Thanks!

I had to hit the “big ones” first since they are so popular. Your suggestion is valid, for the next round I do hope to go to more of the liberal arts colleges! Thanks for the suggestion

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Enter your email to unlock an extra $25 off an sat or act program, by submitting my email address. i certify that i am 13 years of age or older, agree to recieve marketing email messages from the princeton review, and agree to terms of use., virtual campus tours.

Colleges and universities across the world offer virtual alternatives to on-campus tours and information sessions. 

Colleges and Universities That Offer Virtual Campus Tours

Below is a table of colleges and universities with virtual alternatives to on-campus tours sorted by state. If you don’t see your prospective school(s), check directly on school sites. Best of luck with your virtual tours in this moment of social distancing. Kudos to you for being resourceful!

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26 Virtual College Tours

Explore your dream schools without leaving home

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Virtual college tours are an excellent alternative to in-person visits. Virtual tours allow you to explore college campuses at your own pace, typically with useful features like 360° views and student-narrated audio/video. In fact, you will often see and learn much more during a virtual tour than is possible through an in-person tour, given the size of many campuses and the time constraints of a visit to the admissions office.

For each school on our list, you'll find one or more virtual tours that take you around campus and into academic buildings, residence halls, and athletic facilities.

Boston College

Despite its name, Boston College is not located in Boston. The 175-acre main campus in Chestnut Hill sits a little over 6 miles from downtown. The attractive campus features collegiate Gothic architecture and sits on a hill overlooking the Chestnut Hill Reservoir.

Online: For 360° views of buildings, athletic and performance venues, and dining areas, check out the BC virtual tour at eCampusTours.com . For a more personal experience, CampusReel offers a range of videos shot by BC students as they tell you about their campus.

Boston University

Located on an urban campus in the Fenway neighborhood, Boston University is home to one of the largest residence halls in the country, as well as beautiful green spaces along the Charles River. From contemporary towers to historic brownstones, the university's architecture is truly diverse.

Online: Boston University has an excellent collection of over 40 videos narrated by students that provide a window into academic life, residential life, and campus life.

Brown University

As one of the prestigious Ivy League schools , admission to Brown University is extremely selective. The campus in Providence, Rhode Island, features attractive red brick buildings and a hilltop location. The highly ranked Rhode Island School of Art and Design adjoins the campus.

Online: On the admissions website, you'll find an excellent 360° tour of Brown created in collaboration with YouVisit. Brown students guide you around campus and narrate different aspects of the university experience.

Columbia University

As a member of the Ivy League located in the Morningside Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, Columbia University can be an excellent choice for strong students looking for an urban college experience. Barnard College sits adjacent to the Columbia campus.

Online : The university partnered with YouVisit to create a virtual walking tour of the campus narrated by Columbia students. You'll learn about 19 locations on campus and see dozens of high quality photos. For a less professionally produced view of campus, check out the many student-created videos on CampusReel .

Cornell University

Another Ivy League school, Cornell University has an enviable location in the Finger Lakes region of Central New York. The large hillside campus sits in the middle of wine country overlooking Lake Cayuga. In addition, Ithaca frequently ranks among the best college towns in the nation.

Online: The university has a professionally made video, Cornell University: Glorious to View , that features scenes from around campus and soundbites from faculty and students. You can also check out Cornell's interactive map with photos and information on dozens of locations around campus. Finally, take a look on CampusReel for some amateur videos by Cornell students .

Dartmouth College

Another highly selective member of the Ivy League, Dartmouth College is located in the quintessential college town of Hanover, New Hampshire. The iconic bell tower of Baker Library soars above the school's attractive buildings and open green spaces.

Online : The Dartmouth admissions website has links to some excellent resources including a 360-degree virtual tour with YouVisit and virtual tours of athletic facilities and the School of Engineering. Dartmouth graduates wrote the script for this informative 36-minute video tour of Dartmouth. For a less scripted perspective of a current student, check out Paula Joline's video .

Duke University

Located in Durham, North Carolina, Duke University 's sprawling campus includes a forest and a medical center. The school is well known for its stone Collegiate Gothic architecture. The iconic Duke Chapel towers over 200 feet above West Campus.

Online: Narrated virtual tours at YouVisit offer excellent 360° image quality and information on Duke's main campus, Duke Marine Lab, and Duke's Kunshan campus. For another virtual tour, students in the ISIS Research Capstone course created a Duke Google Earth project with views and information on some of students' favorite campus locations.

Harvard University

rabbit75_ist / Getty Images 

As one of the world's most prestigious and selective universities, Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has probably been filmed and photographed more than any other school in the United States. The university has roots going back well before the U.S. was a country, and it is also a major research hub with over 20,000 graduate students. The result is a campus with an interesting mix of historic and state-of-the-art facilities.

Online: Like several schools on this list, Harvard partnered with YouVisit to create a high quality 360° narrated virtual tour that includes both indoor and outdoor views of campus features including residence halls, Widener Library, sports complexes, and academic buildings.

 John Nordell / The Image bank / Getty Images

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology often tops the rankings of engineering schools in both the United States and the world. The school's 168-acre campus stretches along the Charles River in Cambridge, and you'll find a variety architecture from the neoclassical central buildings to the Frank Gehry designed Stata Center.

Online : Check out the campus sites in this narrated Campus Crawl video or MIT's own video, Hangin' Out at MIT with Cathy and Tara , a tour that will give you a 21 minute student-guided look around the institute. You'll also find a large library of information and videos related to different campus locations in the MIT Virtual Tour .

New York University

City lovers will be drawn to NYU 's location in Manhattan's Greenwich Village, adjacent to Washington Square Park. The campus is truly urban, so don't expect to find the green spaces and quadrangles that are typical of most campuses on this list. The school leverages its location to create impressive opportunities for students in fields ranging from business to the performing arts.

Online: NYU has created a 9-minute video that shows off the NYU campus and its New York City location. On the school's admissions website , you'll find additional virtual tours of the NYU Abu Dhabi and Shanghai campuses, as well as an online information session. For a less promotional glimpse of campus, check out this remarkable student-made video tour of NYU .

Northwestern University

With a single-digit acceptance rate, Northwestern University is among the most selective universities in the country. The 240-acre main campus in Evanston, Illinois, hugs the shore of Lake Michigan and is home to about 150 buildings. The university also has a 25-acre campus in downtown Chicago, roughly 12 miles away.

Online : Northwestern teamed up with YouVisit to create a narrated tour with dozens of high quality photo with detailed information on 22 campus locations. For something a little less formal, check out student James Jia's video tour of campus .

With over 46,000 students, Penn State 's main campus is a small city unto itself. Indeed, the campus has its own postal address—University Park, Pennsylvania—where the university is the major employer and economic driver in its rural location in the center of the state. With 18 colleges, 275 undergraduate degree programs, and over 1,000 clubs and organizations, there is clearly a lot to see and do on campus.

Online: For an excellent introduction to the university, check out Penn State's 360° virtual tour of dozens of campus locations, including the iconic Old Main building and Beaver Stadium, with its seating capacity of over 100,000.

Princeton University

Founded in 1746, Princeton University has a rich past that is reflected in its historic 500-acre campus in Princeton, New Jersey. The oldest existing building, Nassau Hall, was completed in 1756, and many more recent buildings feature Collegiate Gothic architecture. The campus frequently finds a place in rankings of the nation's most beautiful campuses .

Online : Powered by YouVisit, the Princeton University virtual tour features high quality 360-degree views of 25 campus locations narrated by Princeton students. Also be sure to check out this series of YouTube videos to introduce you to various campus features. For a more personal touch, student Nicolas Chae created a 9-minute video to show you around campus.

Stanford University

The most prestigious and selective university on the West Coast, Stanford is easily recognizable, with the mission-style architecture of the Main Quad and Hoover Tower soaring 285 feet over the school. Its campus occupies over 8,000 acres in the Bay Area, about 30 miles south of San Francisco.

Online: You'll find a range of virtual tours on the Stanford visitor's webpage. You'll be able to explore the main campus, residential facilities, and campus gardens.

Temple University

Temple University' s main campus sits about one and a half miles north of Center City, Philadelphia. As the university has grown in both size and prestige, it has expanded its facilities to include the 27-floor Morgan Residence Hall and Dining Complex, which opened in 2013 .

Online: For a professionally produced 360° tour of Temple with stellar image quality, the university partnered with YouVisit to bring the campus to your computer. If you prefer amateur student-created videos , you'll find plenty of short clips at CampusReel.

UC Berkeley

The University of California at Berkeley often tops lists of the nation's best public universities. Along with the main undergraduate campus, the school features an 800-acre ecological preserve, a botanical garden, and numerous research facilities. Towering over the campus is the 307-foot Campanile, a building that offers stunning views of campus and the Bay Area.

Online : UC Berkeley is planning to release a new virtual tour in the fall of 2020. Until then, you can check out some of the sites with this 14-minute student-guided video tour as well as a library of short videos on CampusReel .

UCLA 's 419-acre campus sits northwest of downtown, just a few miles away from the Pacific Ocean and Hollywood. Students can enjoy the advantages of proximity to a major city while living on a spacious and attractive campus defined by its Romanesque Revival architecture.

Online: For a visual experience with no narration, you'll find a 40-minute virtual walking tour of UCLA on YouTube. Also be sure to check out dozens of student-created UCLA videos on CampusReel, as well as a professionally-produced 360° tour created in collaboration with YouVisit.

Students who love sand and sun (as well as a good education) will be drawn to the University of California Santa Barbara , one of the few universities in the country with its own beach. The main campus has a cliff-top location overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The East Campus is home to most of the school's academic facilities, while the West Campus is home to residential life and athletics.

Online: If you're interested in seeing where you'll be living at UCSB, the university has extensive 360° virtual tours of residence halls, apartments, and dining areas. For a virtual walk around the attractive campus and many of the academic and athletic facilities, check out the YouVisit virtual tour , where you'll find plenty of high resolution photographs.

RightCowLeftCoast / Wikimedia Commons /   CC BY-SA 4.0

UC San Diego frequently ranks among the best public universities in the country, and its location, with La Jolla, Black's Beach, and Torrey Pines State Reserve just minutes away, is an added bonus. While surrounded by beauty, the campus itself was named by Travel & Leisure as one of the ugliest in the country because of its mishmash of architectural styles. That said, many would disagree with that assessment, and the iconic Geisel Library pictured here is certainly a one-of-a-kind campus building.

Online: UCSD created virtual tour brochures for each of its six undergraduate colleges. You'll also want to check out the YouVisit virtual tour , with its excellent picture quality and informative narration of numerous campus features.

University of Michigan

 jweise / iStock / Getty Images

The University of Michigan , another of the nation's top public universities, occupies an attractive campus in Ann Arbor. With over 500 buildings sitting on 860 acres, the university has a daunting number of tour destinations. The South Campus is dominated by athletic facilities, and the Central and North campuses are home to most academic and residential buildings. The university's top-ranked medical school has its own campus.

Online: Learn more about the campus and see the sights with these photo galleries on the U-M admissions website; you'll find a gallery featuring the campus and another focused on student life. You can also check out a 14-minute video on YouTube with 4K outdoor shots of many of the campus' main buildings.

University of Pennsylvania

Located in West Philadelphia, the University of Pennsylvania has a rich history dating back to its founding by Benjamin Franklin. This prestigious Ivy League school is home to the top-ranked Wharton School of Business. While much of the campus is historic and constructed in the Collegiate Gothic style, contemporary expansion continues, especially after the university acquired acreage along the Schuylkill River front.

Online: You can choose your virtual Penn experience. For an amateur and down-to-earth look at Penn, check out the dozens of student videos on CampusReel. For high quality images and narration, explore the campus through YouVisit's 360° virtual tour .

University of Southern California

Situated in the University Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, the University of Southern California has grown increasingly selective in recent years. The attractive 229-acre main campus has a number of red brick buildings in the Romanesque Revival style. A few miles from the main campus, the university's Health Sciences campus is home to one of the top hospitals and medical schools in the state.

Online: To see the campus and learn more about USC, CampusReel has nearly 100 videos shot by students as they show off their school. Also be sure to check out the USC photo gallery on Flickr where you'll find 59 high resolution images.

University of Virginia

A top-ranked public institution, the University of Virginia has a rich history dating back to its establishment by Thomas Jefferson in the early 19th century. The university campus features stunning Jeffersonian architecture, including the arched walkways and pillared rotunda that surround the Lawn, the campus' central green space.

Online: Explore the campus through YouVisit's high quality, interactive, narrated 360° tour of UVA . Student tour guides will tell you about many of the campus features as you look around 19 campus locations.

Vanderbilt University

 SeanPavonePhoto / Getty Images

A prestigious private university in Nashville, Tennessee, Vanderbilt University frequently ranks among the most beautiful colleges in the country. The 330-acre campus is a designated national arboretum. Despite being just a couple of miles from the city, the campus is filled with trees and green spaces. Campus buildings are designed in a variety of architectural styles.

Online: You can virtually walk around campus and learn about 20 different locations through Vanderbilt's online tour . Sights include libraries, sporting facilities, academic buildings, and even Greek Row. If you want to take the experience a step farther, explore the campus in 360-degree virtual reality with your VR headset or YouTube app on your smartphone.

Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech 's expansive 2,600-acre campus features numerous buildings constructed with the school's defining "Hokie Stone"—a gray rock mined near the university's home in Blacksburg. As one of the nation's six senior military colleges, the institute is designed around the Drillfield, a large grass field where the Corps of Cadets conduct military drills.

Online: Virginia Tech offers an extensive campus photo tour with information about academic, residential, and student life facilities. You'll find even more photos and Virginia Tech information on the campus highlights page . For the student perspective on the university, you can find a wide range of short videos on CampusReel.

Yale University

Yale 's historic campus in New Haven, Connecticut, expands over 800 acres and features numerous ornate Gothic Revival buildings. You'll also find a few unique architectural gems, such as the windowless Beinecke Rare Book Library with its translucent marble and granite exterior panels. Yale's residential system is modeled after those at Oxford and Cambridge, and all students reside in one of 14 residential colleges.

Online: You can get a strong impression of Yale from the numerous virtual tours the university created in collaboration with YouVisit. Options include the Yale Campus Tour, Yale Science Tour, Yale Engineering Tour, Yale Athletics Tour, and Yale Residential College Tour. Each features high resolution photography. For more scenes of campus and the surrounding New Haven shops, check out the half-hour YouTube video created by Wind Walk Travel Videos.

• A Photo Tour of SUNY Potsdam
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• Eckerd College Photo Tour
• Photo Tour of the Wellesley College Campus
• 9 Tips for Making the Most of a College Visit
• Barnard College Photo Tour
• New College of Florida Photo Tour
• Harvard University Photo Tour
• The Five College Consortium
• University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Photo Tour
• Case Western Reserve University Photo Tour
• Photo Tour of Cornell University
• St. Lawrence University Photo Tour

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College Campus Tours

Travel time and considerable costs have traditionally kept prospective students to only a few choice college tours . But your institution could make itself accessible to an unlimited number of qualified international applicants by removing those factors. YouVisit's unmatched virtual tour software allows us to create, customized virtual college campus tours , which can be accessed from school Websites, Facebook, mobile apps and college selection Websites. In addition, YouVisit offers an assortment of social media and mobile applications. Prospective students, faculty members and their families can explore your grounds from the comfort of their computers or smartphones.

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• Customized Program: Based on a thorough assessment of your institution's needs, YouVisit experts outline their recommendations for a personalized program.
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Contact YouVisit if you are interested in a complimentary Web evaluation and consultation, or to learn more about our online virtual tours. For more information on ensuring that your college, school and/or university is always accessible to viable candidates, please call YouVisit at 866.585.7158, or click here to contact one of our representatives.

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How to Make the Most of Virtual College Tours

Sometimes, you may not be able to visit the college you are considering to tour its campus. While many current college students tout the importance of being able to actually step foot onto the campus you might go to, sometimes the circumstances just do not work out.

However, colleges and universities have begun to offer great virtual tour alternatives, that while not exactly the same, can greatly subsidize a campus tour visit.

In fact, I never visited my campus in person until I was actually enrolled in it! So, here are the best ways to make the most of your virtual college tour.

Virtual Tour – 360 degree view

Many universities have invested in robust virtual tour software in the wake of COVID. Some larger universities will be equipped with a self-paced 360 virtual tour software, while smaller universities may have a YouTube video walking you through the campus.

Regardless of the technology being used, the virtual tour option will likely follow the same path that official campus tours would take. You should be able to “visit” all the key landmarks at your prospective university while your virtual tour guide tells you information.

If your university offers a 360 virtual tour, this also means that you will be able to “walk” around in the direction you please to explore on your own. While this is not the same as walking on the campus in person, the ability to explore to your heart’s content is a great feature that can be offered virtually. Use this to your advantage as this is an important aspect in making the most of your tour. 

Because of the nature of a virtual tour, you will not be able to ask questions or likely see more major specific buildings. However, you can use the explore feature to look at your major buildings if possible, and you can get your questions answered in another way.

As you are taking your virtual tour, write down any questions you might have so you can ask them later.

One positive thing that people usually forget with virtual tours is that even if the weather is bad in real life, in the virtual tour, it is always going to be a warm, sunny day!

Beyond the broad tour of the campus, make sure you tour the prospective colleges you are interested in as well! While the overall tour is great to help you learn more general facts and information about the school, if you want to learn about information specific to your prospective major, many schools will also offer college specific tours.

Thus, if you are interested in business, make sure to do the general tour and the business school tour. Do not be afraid to tour several colleges!

Even if you think you are set on a major, it can still help to do a virtual tour of several different colleges because something in the tour may spark your interest.

Because it is virtual, it will not take any additional walking or days to do the tour, so a little extra time is likely going to be well worth it.

Zoom Information Sessions

Typically, paired with a virtual tour or otherwise offered concurrently, universities will offer information sessions over Zoom. Depending on the size of your university and the Zoom sessions offered, you may be put in a panelist setting or have the opportunity to connect with representatives one on one.

Regardless of the setting, you will get more information on the school, and this is where you should ask the questions you wrote down during your virtual tour.

If you have personal questions, this may be better asked during a one on one conversation, but if this is your only session, do not be deterred from asking your question!

I remember during my session, I asked a personal question pertaining to my unique circumstance but I asked it anonymously through the chat function. The host was able to answer my question and give me the exact information I needed.

If possible, I recommend collecting the emails or LinkedIn contacts of the people presenting in the Zoom session. While adults are likely going to be bombarded with questions and may be too busy to help you, current students may be more likely to answer your questions. 

Connect with current students

Maybe you know a family friend that goes to the school you are considering. Or, as I mentioned, you obtained someone’s contact information through an info session.

Regardless, it is important for you to use your resources. It is the combination of these three tips – the virtual tour, Zoom info session, and connecting with current students – that will get you your most holistic outlook on the university you are considering. 

Even if you do not have a family friend or are not able to connect with a current student during an information session, there are still ways to get in touch with a current student. One of the best avenues you can use is LinkedIn.

If you do not already have a LinkedIn, go ahead and make one . You can find current students and even filter by the major you are interested in. Many students will be open to chat and help you find out more information.

Simply reach out to them in a polite and professional manner and ask to set up a coffee chat. Here, you can ask direct and personal questions as well as their opinions on the school.

While an admissions officer or school representative will only talk about the school in a positive manner, prospective students are important to connect with because they will tell you about the good, the bad, and the ugly.

If you are struggling to think of some questions to ask them, here are some that you might want to consider. Of course, ask them about the questions that you wrote down during the virtual tour if you have not already.

Other things you might want to think about are questions about social life/Greek life or how helpful the advisors are. You may also consider asking about why they chose their major or what aspects of their college they wish they could change.

Take advantage of the fact that you are having a one on one conversation and make sure to learn from their experiences and advice. In this way, you will get a great outlook on the college or university from the administrator level as well as from a personal level.

Additional tips

Another important thing to look at is the dorm living situation. While a tour of the dorms may be included on the virtual tour, you may not be able to see what a model dorm room looks like.

In order to take a look, you will have to do some extra research. You can get an idea of the kind of amenities your dorm room will have as well as the general sizing of the dorm.

Like the virtual tour, if you go on to your school’s housing website, they will also likely have a 360 virtual tour of the inside of the dorm room. Even if they do not have the 360 virtual tour, they will likely have a robust set of pictures and a list of amenities.

One more tip to get the most information out of a virtual tour of your prospective university is to take yourself on your own virtual tour. Using the Google maps walking feature, you can explore the campus and may even be able to look inside certain buildings.

If you did not know about this feature, simply Google your potential university and drag and place the little orange person in the bottom right corner of the screen wherever you want to look.

In this way, you can “walk” around and get a good look at buildings that might not have been covered in the official virtual tour or have been blocked off by the software.

Another thing you might not have considered is if there are local branch campuses that are near you that you would be able to visit. For example, while Penn State ’s main campus is located in the middle of Pennsylvania, they have 20 branch campuses located throughout the state.

If you may not be able to visit the main campus, see if your school has branch campuses and tour one of those! While it is not the same as the main campus, university culture usually spans across locations and you will still be able to get a good gist of the culture.

Generating a view on a college culture without visiting the campus can be difficult but is one of the most important things you pick up on when you tour a campus in person.

In lieu of this, you can still get an idea of the college culture through social media. In order to see how students are, try finding “a day in the life of a student at XYZ university.”

While these types of videos are common on TikTok , you can also find more long-form videos on YouTube. You can get a much more personalized view of a student’s life and they are usually more unfiltered than any tour guide you may talk to.

These unsolicited, self-posted media videos about the school are probably some of the most authentic and realistic reviews of the school. Another important social media is of course the school’s official accounts such as their Instagram or even TikTok.

While this is an official view of the school, it can still provide insight to see what they choose to showcase about themselves.

Lastly, look at Reddit. Students at your school have likely made an un-official Reddit associated with the school in which they ask questions, debate, or complain about topics. Take a look through here and you will quickly see what people are struggling with, whether they are major classes, advisors, or the school system.

Beyond Reddit, you can also look at other unofficial affiliated school social media. Many schools have a Barstool account that shows what students are up to.

For a glimpse into the social lives of the students at your school, this is a helpful resource. However, keep all these unofficial resources in mind with a grain of salt, as these are someone else’s opinions, and only a small representation of what goes on at the school.

While a virtual tour cannot be the same as an in person tour, they can still be a great alternative to getting the information you need while staying in the comfort of your home.

Depending on how you do your research, you may actually learn more while “touring” virtually. Don’t be deterred by the fact that you cannot visit the campus in person.

As I mentioned, I never visited my college (Penn State) in person before I enrolled and I love it and am so happy I made the choice I did. Use your resources and make sure to ask lots of questions!

Author: Sophia

Sophia is a current college freshman at Pennsylvania State University with plans to major in marketing. When she's not studying or in the gym, you can find Sophia watching her favorite Youtube channels or streamers. In the future, she hopes to travel the world while developing her marketing skills and building her network.

More Articles By Niche

At Niche, we know a college is more than its stats or buildings. We also know it can be hard to figure out a college’s vibe or how students feel about it from its website alone. Using our comprehensive college profiles and social media accounts, you can get a sense of what life at a college is really like. Here are three simple ways to do that.

In case you haven’t heard yet, Niche has an amazing new opportunity for high school seniors. Niche Direct Admissions is a program that allows participating colleges to accept students and offer scholarships based on their Niche Profile. That’s right — no application needed.

Keeping a list of colleges you’re interested in (or a “college list”) is essential to the search and application process. There are so many options that it’s impossible to remember every little thing about every single school you may want to apply to. And while there are many ways you can keep a college list, it makes the most sense to use Niche. 

• Virtual Tour

Unable to visit campus? Explore Maryland’s beautiful 1,339 acres from anywhere in the world. Sit back and take in our stately—and state-of-the-art!—academic buildings, exciting arts and athletic spaces, tree-lined mall and other must-see stops.

Click the YouVisit link and see why Maryland is consistently rated as one of the top and most affordable public research institutions in the country. 

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The University of Maryland, College Park is the state's flagship university and one of the nation's preeminent public research universities. A global leader in research, entrepreneurship and innovation, the university is home to more than 40,700 students, 14,000 faculty and staff, and nearly 400,000 alumni all dedicated to the pursuit of Fearless Ideas. Located just outside Washington, D.C., we discover and share new knowledge every day through our renowned research enterprise and programs in academics, the arts and athletics. And we are committed to social entrepreneurship as the nation’s first “Do Good” campus.

Introducing The Nation's First Do Good Campus Transforming Idealism into Impact 

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Spanning 12 schools and colleges, Maryland offers more than 300 degree-granting programs, many of them ranked among the best in the country. Our faculty includes two Nobel laureates, three Pulitzer Prize winners, 58 members of the national academies and scores of Fulbright scholars. And our students, who include the highest achievers in the state and nation, enjoy experiences unique to our location just outside the nation’s capital, including internships, research, and leadership and service opportunities.

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The newly launched  Innovation Gateway will guide you to the resources, programs, partners, and spaces you need to activate and scale your fearless ideas into innovations that launch new ventures, catalyze growth, and advance economic development.

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At the University of Maryland, the arts, the humanities and the sciences intersect to address important societal issues and shed new light on the human experience. Our vibrant campus arts community collaborates with local and national cultural organizations such as the Phillips Collection, Kennedy Center and Folger Shakespeare Library. Student and faculty artists, designers, historians, writers and performers are exploring new media, presenting new perspectives, investigating new techniques and engaging new audiences.

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Home of the Terrapins, the University of Maryland has one of the nation’s most recognizable and successful athletics programs. More than 550 student-athletes compete each year in 20 intercollegiate sports—12 for women and eight for men. Since 2005 alone, Maryland has won 19 national championships, including NCAA titles in women’s basketball, men’s soccer, men's lacrosse, women’s lacrosse, and field hockey. Since joining the Big Ten Conference in 2014, UMD has won a combined 32 regular season and tournament championships. Fear the Turtle!

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The Terp experience extends beyond classrooms, labs and studios. It encompasses residence halls and dining halls, clubs and sports, fraternities and sororities, campus events and performances, and countless off-campus destinations. Maryland touts 800-plus student organizations, dozens of prestigious living and learning communities, and countless other ways to get involved. Students here can create a unique identity and grow as individuals, even as they’re part of a close-knit and diverse community. 

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Which Colleges Offer the Best Virtual Campus Visits?

Spring is on the way; the season when flowers bloom, the days get longer and warmer, and high school juniors and seniors traditionally flock to visit college campuses as they decide where to apply or attend. But for the last two years, the pandemic has caused colleges and universities to eliminate or scale back on-campus visits and move towards virtual visits for prospective students. This means some students won't get to see their first choice schools in person before applying or accepting. It also means fewer families will spend their spring breaks shuffling behind undergrads who seems preternaturally good at walking backwards, as they peek into dining halls and listen to stories about the history and traditions of yet another school.

The good news (in case that wasn't it for you) — colleges have now had a full year to build out their virtual visit resources, and many have come up with some pretty amazing offerings. We've highlighted the best virtual visit in each region of the country and why we loved it, so you can start planning your virtual college tour this spring.

Best Virtual Campus Visit on the East Coast: Williams College in Williamstown, MA

Students outside of a red brick building on the Williams' College campus

Williams College has been ranked one of the top liberal arts colleges in the nation for decades, so it's not surprising that their virtual tour also ranks among the best. In an efficient nine minutes, their recorded campus tour hits on many of things students and their families really want to see, including a look inside the dorms and the food served in the dining hall, as well as the art gallery, dance studio, athletic facility, and the stunning library, which includes a 3-D printing room and recording studio. If you like what you see, you can sign up for a group chat with a real student or attend a virtual information session focused on topics like how to afford college, sustainability on campus, or resources for first generation students. If the times offered don't work for you, watch one of the many prerecorded videos with tips for parents and students on applying to Williams. And, if you want to see firsthand what academics are like at one of the nation's top liberal arts schools, you can watch a recording of a Williams class like Music in Film , or Why the Impacts of Climate Change are So Unfair .

Best Virtual Campus Tour in the South: Tulane University in New Orleans, LA

Stanley Thomas Hall at Tulane University in New Orleans, LA

Tulane 's 25-minute recorded campus tour features two real students and feels a lot like an actual campus walking tour, but with peppy music and faster walking. The tour not only highlights campus buildings and student life, but speaks to the traditions that make the school special, like Friday "Donuts with the Dean" on the porch of Cudd Hall, where students can grab free donuts and coffee and chat with a dean. They also how the famous Mardi Gras tree, where admitted students throw beaded necklaces into the branches, and if they stick, it's supposed to be good luck for your four years.

Tulane also offers a host of other virTUal resources , including an interactive campus map , opportunities to book live virtual tours, and webinars on many topics, including pre-recorded sessions relevant to people applying to other schools too, like tips for parents of prospective college students and tips and tricks for applying to selective colleges.

Best Virtual Campus Visit in the Midwest: University of Wisconsin - Madison in Madison, WI

Quad in front of Memorial Union on University of Wisconsin - Madison campus in Madison, WI

The University of Wisconsin - Madison's interactive map is one of the best we saw. It features a panoramic photo of the school's campus, which is flanked by water on both sides, and offers many clickable pinpoints to learn more about key spots on campus. Each pinpoint brings up a video of a real student talking about the campus spot and its history (for those history buffs missing the lesson) or a slideshow featuring photos taken at different times, so you can get a feel for what it's like to be there. They also offer an array of live and prerecorded virtual events , including information sessions for each school, and resources on topics prospective students typically want to know about, like the study abroad opportunities offered, and sessions on "Tuition and how to pay for it" and "How to submit a strong college application."

But what really sets apart the UW - Madison virtual visit is how easy it is for prospective students to connect with current students. UW - Madison offers special instagram live "Ask Me Anything" sessions with real UW students and staff tailored to specific student groups, like first generation students or transfer students. And it was the only school we saw where prospective students can schedule a 15 minute one-on-one phone call with an actual campus tour guide to ask your specific college questions in a private space.

​Best Virtual Campus Visit on the West Coast: Pepperdine University's Seaver College in Malibu, CA

A view from the Santa Monica mountains of Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA

Pepperdine University's virtual visit page opens with a sweeping bird's-eye view of the campus that may make you a little sorry you weren't able to visit Seaver College's Malibu campus in person. From up above, it's easy to see how close campus is to the Pacific Ocean. This not-terrible view is visible from the main part of campus, and can be glimpsed in the self-guided 365 virtual tour or one of the quick campus highlight videos . The virtual tour also highlights the school's signature cream-colored buildings with terracotta roofs, the impressive Eddy D. Field Baseball Stadium, and the outdoor pool, which shines like a cyan jewel in the center of campus.

Pepperdine also offers a virtual application workshop for prospective students on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and the option to sign-up for a live student-led virtual tour .

But our favorite part and the thing that really sets Pepperdine apart as one the very best virtual college visits is the impressive docuseries Rising Tide . Grab some popcorn and watch all four seasons as it follows five real Pepperine students through their four years at the school.

Explore more schools' virtual offerings

The four schools mentioned above stood out, but many schools throughout the country are offering in-depth and creative online resources for prospective students who won't be able to visit campus in person. One upside of online visits is that, with no travel time or hotel costs to factor in, you can virtually-visit more schools, and you may even find that some new colleges rise to the top of your list. Be sure to visit the websites of any schools you're even a little interested in to see what the virtual events and tools are being offered this spring, and sign up now for the sessions you want to attend.

Joy Bullen is College Confidential's Senior Editor and Head of Content. She is a graduate of Kenyon College , where she majored in English and Creative Writing. She also earned a master’s in Psychology from The New School for Social Research in NYC.

Before becoming a full-time writer and editor, Joy coached thousands of prospective and enrolled college students on admissions and academic and career success. She also managed a team of academic and career coaches and consulted with universities on how to create programs that have better outcomes for students.

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Virtual Visits

Traveling isn’t always possible, and that’s OK! Wherever you are in the world, you can make a virtual visit to Middlebury.

Say Yes to the Possibilities

Explore what’s waiting for you here at Middlebury College.

- I knew I belonged at Middlebury College, because there’s no end to the possibilities here. You’ve got endless options for staying fresh, for feeling alive, for getting out of your comfort zone and seeing the world. It’s here in Middlebury that I found the possibilities are literally endless, to shape your own life.

- As cliche as it is, just be you is the way to be successful here on campus, because we all have something unique to bring to the table, and regardless of where you’re coming from, have confidence in this open and welcoming community. It’s a point in your life where you’re growing and changing, and deciding kind of who you want to be and how you want to live. And Middlebury offers so many opportunities to explore various aspects of that.

- Good, perfect.

- You are never gonna feel like you are an outsider, and that was one of my main fears coming to Midd. But during my first semester here, I remember vividly being in one of my classes, and my professor saying, “Congratulations for all of you to making it to this point in your academic careers.” And I think that really highlighted for me that I belonged in this community, I belonged in this classroom, and that was the start of my journey at Midd.

- What community means for me at Middlebury is the openness. Openness for different perspectives, openness for people who come from different backgrounds from you, but then also openness within disagreement, where you feel comfortable countering someone’s point, and not being scared of ridicule, or that you’ll be shamed for having a different opinion.

- If you are the type of person that wants to be in an environment where you have the complete freedom to just be who you are, and see who you could be, Middlebury is that place.

Middlebury Campus Tours

Middlebury Campus Tour

(upbeat piano music)

- Hi, I’m Paul.

I’m a senior here at Middlebury,

majoring in religion and English,

and today, I’m going to show you around

our beautiful Middlebury campus.

Right now, we’re outside the Davis Family Library.

Our three-level library, open 7:30 to midnight,

in the hub of student life.

The library also boasts the Technology Helpdesk

for any tech issues you might have with your Mac or PC.

There’s also the Center for Teaching, Learning, and Research,

a free resource for students who need tutoring

or additional academic support.

(gentle upbeat music)

And this is the Axinn Center for the Humanities.

It’s one of our newest buildings on campus and very modern,

but it was actually constructed

around the old Starr library,

so there’s quite a bit of history here.

Students love to study here in the historic reading room

and if not here, right next door, in the Abernethy room.

Axinn is where you’ll find the Film and Media Culture,

History, English and American Literatures,

and American Studies Departments.

I actually took a class here last semester,

and the professor asked us to specifically not write a paper

and instead use the resources and the tech in the building

to either make a podcast or make a video

or make something completely brand new.

This is McCullough Student Center,

one of the most pivotal parts of the Middlebury experience.

This is the place for students to congregate, destress,

play some games, have some food,

and just enjoy their time at Middlebury.

McCullough is home to Wilson Hall to my right,

our performance space.

It’s also home to our mail center,

our bookstore, our convenience store,

and two retail dining options for students.

This is Hillcrest,

home of the Franklin Environmental Center.

We are very proud that Middlebury happens to have

the oldest environmental studies program in the country.

Students can engage in environmentalism

through hands-on work with local organizations

or at the Knoll, our community garden

that contributes to the campus dining halls.

This is the Mahaney Arts Center, or the MAC,

home to the Music, Dance, Theatre,

and Art History Departments.

If you’re looking for a show, this is the place to be.

Here, you can find our black box theatre

and our dance studio, as well as our concert hall,

a great place to catch a TEDx Middlebury talk

or one of our public speaking courses.

We’re in one of the quietest spots on campus,

the Middlebury College Museum of Art.

It’s completely free for Middlebury students

and community members.

This is the Peterson Family Athletics Complex.

We’re a very active community

and we’re very proud to be part of the NESCAC,

the New England Small College Athletic Conference.

We have 31 varsity sports and a handful of club sports,

including soccer, rugby, and even Quidditch.

All Middlebury College students have access

to our facilities, including the field house,

as well as a squash court, Olympic-size pool,

multilevel fitness center, and gym.

If you’re looking for something more outdoors,

there’s also the TAM, the Trail Around Middlebury,

a 19-mile trail that surrounds the town

and neighboring vicinity.

I have to head to class, but here’s my friend Coco,

and he’ll finish the tour.

- Thanks, Paul.

My name is Coco Gruson.

I’m a sophomore majoring in Japanese studies

and I’ll be your tour guide for the rest of the day.

Let’s head to the Château.

(gentle upbeat bell music)

Welcome to the Château,

home to the French Department at Middlebury.

Like many buildings on campus, the Château serves

as both a residential and academic building.

I actually have class in the Château

every Tuesday and Thursday for my Japanese class.

Middlebury is known to have one

of the strongest language departments in the U.S.,

offering 10 foreign languages throughout the calendar year.

This is Bi Hall, home to our science departments.

Some popular majors include biochemistry, neuroscience,

molecular biology, and geography.

Students foster strong relationships

with their professors through lab and research,

publication opportunities, and hands-on work.

To my right, we have Ross Dining Hall,

one of three dining halls on campus.

Our open dining plan gives students unlimited swipes

and tons of flexibility with our busy schedules.

They serve a diverse range of food

that can meet any dietary needs.

Over at Proctor, we have the language tables,

where students order and converse in a foreign language.

It’s a great opportunity to immerse yourself

and get some real-life practice.

Behind me is the Anderson Freeman Center,

home to the Middlebury Intercultural Leadership Coalition,

which includes BSU, Alianza, Mixed Kids of Midd,

and other affinity organizations.

The AFC is also home to First @ Midd, a preorientation

for students first in their family to go to college.

This building also houses the Prism Center,

a space that centers queer

and trans students through advocacy.

Now, it is important to remember, going to school in Vermont

means living through all the seasons.

First, we have the beautiful fall foliage.

Then, we get all the snow, which we take advantage of

here at the Snow Bowl.

Just a short drive from campus, the Snow Bowl

is one of only two college-owned ski areas in the U.S.

I might be biased, but ours is definitely the best.

Middlebury makes sure that outdoors

are accessible for everyone.

Snow Bowl tickets are free for first-years,

and you can borrow top-notch equipment

from the gear room on campus.

If you’ve never skied before,

you can also take ski lessons during J-term.

We have reached the end of the tour.

Thank you for watching and we hope to see you soon.

(gentle music)

Visita del campus de Middlebury

Los invitamos a realizar una excursión por el campus de Middlebury, guiada por estudiantes, quienes comparten sus experiencias y perspectivas sobre cómo es aprender y vivir en Middlebury,

Kai: Bienvenidos a Middlebury College. Middlebury está localizado en el centro de Vermont, en el corazón del Valle Champlain.

Desde nuestro campus puedes ver las montañas Adirondack al oeste, y las montañas Verdes al este. El escénico rural de Middlebury contribuye a crear una comunidad unida, a la vez que ofrece oportunidades para la aventura. Le daremos un breve vistazo al campus de Middlebury, y compartimos con usted algunas de nuestras partes favoritas del campus.

Paul: El Centro Axinn de estudios literarios y culturales es el hogar de los departamentos de estudios estadounidenses, Historia, Literatura Inglesa y estadounidense, Cine y cultura de medios. Este edificio destaca porque fue construido alrededor de nuestra antigua biblioteca Starr. Este hermoso edificio es un lugar de estudio popular en el campus, con estudiantes que prefieren las salas mas distintivas: la sala de lectura y la sala Abernethy, que formaba parte de la biblioteca Starr original.

Esta es la Biblioteca Familiar de Davis, y sirve como la biblioteca principal de Middlebury en el campus. Middlebury College tiene más de 1.1 millones de volúmenes en toda la biblioteca, y un catálogo de bibliotecas en línea. Cada uno de sus tres niveles proporciona espacios de trabajo comunes para los estudiantes. Cuenta con el Servicio de Asistencia Tecnológica donde uno puede acudir por cualquier problema que tenga mientras estén en el campus. El centro de enseñanza, aprendizaje o investigación, también conocido en inglés como CTLR se encuentra en Davis. El CTLR es un centro académico que ofrece tutoría gratuita en todos los departamentos y apoya a los estudiantes en sus viajes de investigación. También tenemos en Davis la cafetería Wilson, que es un área de estudio abierta las 24 horas. Davis es un centro del campus para encontrar apoyo académico, estudiar en colaboración, o encontrar un lugar para relajarse.

Ross Dining Hall es uno de nuestros tres comedores en el campus. Está abierto durante todo el día para todos los platos con una vista nocturna de la puesta del sol sobre los Adirondacks. El plan de platos es único en el sentido que todos los platos se preparan aquí en el campus en lugar de un servicio de catering externo. Puedes comer en cualquier comedor del campus, cuando quieras, con la frecuencia que quieras. Aproximadamente, un tercio del presupuesto para alimentos se utiliza para comprar alimentos de origen local dentro de un radio de 250 millas de la universidad. También tenemos la suerte de obtener productos locales aquí en el campus, en el Knoll, nuestra granja orgánica dirigida por estudiantes.

A los estudiantes de Middlebury les encanta el plan de platos porque anima a los estudiantes a participar en conversaciones significativas y animadas. Es muy común pasar bastante tiempo en el comedor relajándose con amigos, charlando con profesores, o practicando un nuevo idioma en una de nuestras mesas de idiomas.

Kai: McCardell Bicentennial Hall, más comúnmente conocido como Bi-Hall, es nuestro centro de ciencias, y hogar de todos nuestros cursos de ciencias. Armstrong Library, nuestra biblioteca científica que contiene todos nuestros volúmenes científicos está aquí. Una de las salas de conferencias más grandes de Middlebury, con una capacidad máxima de 147 estudiantes, también se encuentra en Bi-Hall. La clase promedio en Middlebury, sin embargo, es de alrededor de 16 estudiantes. Incluso si una clase es grande, generalmente se divide en secciones más pequeñas de discusión o laboratorio. Estos tamaños pequeños de clase realmente permite a los estudiantes participar activamente con su aprendizaje y desarrollo de relaciones con sus maestros, que sienten pasión por el éxito de los estudiantes. Los estudiantes de Middlebury realizan investigaciones prácticas desde el primer semestre en el campus, en laboratorios tradicionales o en el campo.

Paul: McCullough es un centro de actividad social estudiantil. McCullough es el hogar de la sala de correos de los estudiantes donde los estudiantes tienen sus propios buzones de correo, la librería del campus, y Wilson Hall, donde tenemos conciertos y presentaciones durante todo el año que van desde patinaje sobre ruedas hasta foros públicos.

Para un bocado rápido pueden pasar por Midd-Xpress, que es una de nuestras tiendas de conveniencia en el campus. Pueden pasar por The Grille, donde los estudiantes tienen la habilidad de obtener una variedad de alimentos durante el día, incluso tarde en la noche. Y Crossroads Café, donde los estudiantes pueden obtener diferentes cafés y batidos, incluso sushi. McCullough es parte central de la experiencia de muchos estudiantes de Middlebury.

Kai: El Mahaney Arts Center, conocido en el campus como el MAC, es hogar de los departamentos de música, teatro, danza, historia del arte y la arquitectura. El centro también alberga tres bases de actuación principales: el teatro Seeler Studio de estilo caja negra, el espacioso teatro de danza y la impresionante sala de recitales. Nuestro museo de arte de Middlebury, un museo de entrada gratuita, también se encuentra en el MAC. Tiene una gran colección de exhibiciones permanentes y temporales en sus 6000 pies cuadrados de espacio de galería.

Fuera del museo, Middlebury tiene una iniciativa de arte en los lugares públicos que compra accesorios de arte público y los coloca en todo el campus. No importa cuál sea su nivel de experiencia artística o expresión antes de venir a Middlebury, definitivamente se enfocará con el Mahaney Arts Center.

Paul: El Complejo Atlético de la Familia Peterson es la base para todo lo relacionado con el atletismo en el campus. Middlebury compite en la Conferencia Atlética de New England, o NESCAC, en 31 deportes universitarios de la NCC. En el interior, los estudiantes tienen acceso a numerosos espacios, incluyendo el gimasio Pepin, la casa de campo Virtue, el centro de squash de la familia Bostwick, un natatorio de tamaño olímpico, y un gimnasio de dos niveles de 10,500 pies cuadrados. Afuera, la universidad cuenta con su propia montaña de ski, el snowball, un campo de golf de 18 hoyos, y más de 50 kilómetros de senderos para trotar y ski de fondo, así como áreas de campos deportivos abiertos. Los 350 acres de amplios prados verdes y colinas onduladas de Middlebury brindan una gran cantidad de espacios verdes para mantenerse activo.

Kai: Hay cuatro dormitorios de primer año ubicados en nuestros dos grupos de campus. Son fundamentales para la vida estudiantil y son un hogar lejos del hogar durante su primer año. Cada salón es único en sus arreglos de vivienda que van desde dormitorios individuales hasta suites para 4 personas. Cada primer año tiene un asesor académico, un decano de vida estudiantil, y un consejero de primer año que ayuda a apoyar a los estudiantes que se unen a nuestro campus. Después de su primer año, tienen muchas opciones para explorar una variedad de viviendas, incluida la vida en una casa de interés académico. Como una de nuestras casas de idiomas, donde los estudiantes hablan en el idioma de destino como parte de su experiencia residencial.

Muchas gracias por venir con nosotros. Esperamos que aprendieran algo de nuestro colegio.

Muchas gracias.

Take a tour across Middlebury’s campus, guided by students who share their experiences and insights as to what learning and living at Middlebury is like.

- Welcome to Middlebury College. Middlebury is located in central Vermont in the heart of Champlain Valley. From our campus, you can see the Adirondack Mountains to the west, Green Mountains to the east. Middlebury’s rural scenic surroundings help contributes to our tight-knit community while also offering opportunities for students to go out and explore. We’ll be giving you a short sneak peek into Middlebury’s campus and showing you some of our favorite parts of what Middlebury has to offer.

- The Axinn Center for Literary and Cultural Studies is the home of the American Studies, History, English and American Literature, Film and Media Culture Departments. This building stands out as it was constructed around our old Starr Library. This beautiful building is a popular study spot on campus, with students favoring the most distinctive rooms, the Reading Room and the Abernathy Room, which are part of the original Starr Library. This is the Davis Family Library and serves as Middlebury’s main library on campus. Middlebury College has over 1.1 million volumes in all the libraries and an online library catalog. Each of its three levels provide communal workspaces for students. It features the Technology Help Desk, where you can go for any tech issues that come up on campus. It also features the Center for Teaching, Learning and Research, also known as the CTLR. The CTLR is an academic center offering free tutoring across departments and support students on their research journeys. We also have a convenient cafe with a 24-hour study area. Davis is a campus hub to find academic support to collaboratively study and to find a place to relax. Ross Dining Hall is one of our three dining halls on campus. It is open throughout the day for all meals, with a nightly view of the sunset over the Adirondacks. The dining plan is unique in that all meals are prepared right here on campus, rather than by an outside catering service. You can eat in any campus dining hall, whenever you want, as often as you want. About a third of the food budget is used to purchase food sourced locally within a 250-mile radius of the College. We are also lucky to source local produce right here on campus at The Knoll, our student run organic farm. Middlebury students love the dining plan because it encourages students to engage in meaningful and lively conversations. It is very common to spend quite a bit of time in the dining hall, unwinding with friends, chatting with professors or practicing a new language at one of our language tables.

- McCardell Bicentennial Hall, more commonly referred to as Bi Hall, is our science center and home to all of our science courses. Armstrong Library, our science library containing all of our science volumes is here. One of Middlebury’s largest lecture halls with a max capacity of 147 students is also located in Bi Hall. The average class at Middlebury, however is 16 students. And even if a class is large, it’s usually broken down into smaller discussion or lab sections. These small class sizes really allow for students to be able to actively engage in their learning and to develop relationships with the professors who are passionate about their students’ success. Middlebury students conduct hands-on research as early as their first semester on campus in traditional labs or in the field.

- McCullough Student Center is a hub of student social activity. McCullough is home to the student mail room, where students have their own mailboxes, the campus bookstore and Wilson Hall, where we have concerts and performances throughout the year, ranging from roller skating to public forums. For a quick bite, you can stop by MiddXpress, which is our on-campus convenience store, The Grille, where students can get a variety of food items throughout the day, and even late at night, and Crossroads Cafe, where students can get different coffees, smoothies, and even sushi. McCullough is a central part of many Middlebury students’ experiences.

- The Mahaney Arts Center, known on campus as the MAC, is home to our Music, Theatre, Dance, History of Art and Architecture Departments. The center also houses three major performance spaces, the black box style Seeler Studio Theatre, the spacious dance theatre, and the breathtaking recital hall. Our Middlebury Museum of Art, a free admission art museum, is also housed in the MAC. It has a great collection of permanent and temporary exhibits in the 6,000 square feet of gallery space. Outside of the museum, Middlebury has an art and public places initiative, which buys public art fixtures and places them on all across campus. No matter what your level of art experience or exposure before coming to Middlebury, you’ll definitely be engaging with the Mahaney Arts Center.

- The Peterson Family Athletic Complex is the base for all things athletics on campus. Middlebury competes in the New England Small College Athletic Conference, or NESCAC, in 31 varsity sports. Inside, students have access to numerous spaces, including Pepin Gymnasium, the Virtue Field House, the Bostwick Family Squash Center, an Olympic-size natatorium, and a 10,500 square foot, split-level fitness center. Outside, the College of boasts its own ski mountain, the Snow Bowl, an 18-hole golf course, and over 50 kilometers of jogging and cross-country skiing trails, as well as acres of wood open athletic fields. Middlebury’s 350 acres of wide green lawns and rolling hills provide plenty of green spaces to get active.

- There are four first-year dorms located in our two campus clusters. They’re essential to student life and are your home away from home during your first year. Each hall is unique in their living arrangements, ranging in living accommodations from single dorm rooms to four-person suites. Each first year has an academic advisor, a Dean of Student Life, and a first-year counselor who helps support students joining our campus. After your first year, you have many options to explore a variety of housing, including living in an academic interest house, like one of our language houses where students speak in a target language as part of their residential experience. Thank you so much for joining us today. We hope you were able to learn something and we’re so excited to see you on campus.

Live Online Information Sessions

Join our live virtual information sessions and learn more about Middlebury from anywhere in the world. These Zoom gatherings will provide a brief overview of the Middlebury experience and will allow plenty of time for Q&A.

Virtual Tour and Campus Map

You can take a tour of Middlebury’s scenic 350-acre campus with our interactive map. Explore our academic buildings, dorms, athletic facilities, and more, plus see street view images of places around campus.

Recorded Information Session

Recorded Information Session

Attend a student-led information session whenever you want! Hear all about Middlebury from Admissions Senior Fellow Jack Goldfield in this 30-minute video.

Hi everybody. My name is Jack Goldfield and I’m a senior fellow here at the Admissions house at Middlebury college. A little bit about myself before we get started. I am an international and global studies major focusing on Latin America. I do speak Spanish and Portuguese. Additionally, I served as a senator on our Student Government Association for three years. I was on the sailing team my junior year and I’ve also been involved in a number of student publications on campus as well as have worked at language tables.

Before we really get started, I do wanna give you a brief outline of what this presentation is going to look like, so we’ll start off talking about Vermont, right? Because to best understand Middlebury, you have to understand our geographic location and how that impacts life on campus. And then we’ll talk about what your life here at Middlebury will look like going through our four-one-four calendar starting in the summer before you ever even arrive at Middlebury. Then talking about four courses you’ll take in the fall semester, one that you’ll take during the month of January, and four in the spring, and then we’ll end up talking about research, job, and internship opportunities after graduation.

So let’s do just that and start talking about Vermont. I remember coming from Tampa, Florida, I had all these preconceptions about what Vermont meant, right? What it meant to be a Vermonter. And so words that immediately came to mind were “cold.” The first time I visited Middlebury was in March of my sophomore year in high school, and I was this kid coming from Tampa, right? I had this light jacket on and jeans. Those were my warmest clothes, and I stepped out of the car and I said, Wow, this place is beautiful. But let’s tour it from inside the car, right? Additionally, I thought that Vermont was all cows, right? There are five cows to every one human being in the state of Vermont. I learned that Vermont has the most Subarus per capita of any state in the country, and a really fun one is Vermont has the most artisanal cheese makers per capita, right? We have these facts that we’re super proud of here in Vermont. But on a more serious note, Vermont was actually its own country before becoming part of the United States. It was the 14th state to join the Union, right? After the first after the original 13, and I think that that really describes the spirit of the Vermonters. Vermonter is independent and forward thinking, and we see that primarily in the causes of social justice and environmental justice, and that’s not just at the state level; that’s here at Middlebury as well. In fact, a few years ago, Middlebury became carbon neutral in 2016 and on top of that carbon neutral initiative, Middlebury has signed onto a commitment of Energy2028, in which Middlebury has decided that by 2028 Middlebury will be entirely divested from fossil fuels as well as operate on entirely renewable energies.

Middlebury was founded in 1800 with three buildings, known on campus as Old Stone Row. In those buildings, Middlebury housed students, right? Students ate together, they lived together. There was these small faculty-to-student ratios, which created this really intimate learning environment. And we were founded as the town’s college, not the college’s town. So we really wanted to have this seamless relationship with the greater Middlebury community. And we can really see that today, 220 years later. So even though our student body has grown exponentially to 2,500 students, we still have the same intimacy on campus and with the town.

So of course you’re going to see on any given day students going into town to go shop at stores or go into restaurants. But it’s much more than that. In fact, last year, over 75 percent of Middlebury students performed community service, which translated into over 65,000 hours of a positive difference. So what does that look like? Well, maybe you’ll see a big football player walking around campus with an elementary schooler providing guidance, advice, friendship. Or maybe the soccer team goes in on a Friday night and cooks a community dinner.

But this relationship isn’t a one-way street. In fact, a lot of the members of the town are very involved in the Middlebury community as well. And we see this in a number of ways. So at many of our sporting events, for example; you’ll have a lot of the members of the town being the most adamant supporters of our sports teams. But I think an example that is much more prominent than this comes in our lectures. Middlebury gets some fantastic guest lecturers to come to campus on any given year. And most of those lectures are not just open to Middlebury students, but the public as well. So I remember a few years ago there was this talk given by Ken Burns. He came to give a lecture on his new documentary on the Vietnam War, and he packed this auditorium, right? And I would say half of the people there were students and the other half were members of the town. And of those members of the town, many of them, they themselves were Vietnam War veterans. So think about how fully immersive of a learning environment that is. You have students at Middlebury learning about the Vietnam War. A guest lecture teaching about the Vietnam War and people who were actually in the Vietnam War. All there, sharing with one another, learning from one another.

Let’s talk a little bit about what your experience at Middlebury will look like, and your experience at Middlebury starts before you ever even arrive on campus. You’ll get a few really important emails from the College, the first of which is talking to you entirely about orientation week. Orientation week is a week that first-years have on campus almost exclusively to themselves prior to classes starting. During this time, first-years have an opportunity to really orient themselves with college life and they’ll participate in a number of activities, one of which is signing the honor code.

The honor code at Middlebury is something that’s very important. And when you sign that honor code, you’re saying, I am going to respect myself and respect the community around me. So what does that look like? It means that at Middlebury, almost all, if not all, of your exams will be unproctored. In fact, the professor will administer the exam, say, I’m trusting you not to use your notes, not to use your textbooks, and leave the room, then come back to pick them up at the end of the class period. Otherwise, a professor will give you the exam and say, I’m administering this exam on Monday, take it home, do it in your dorms, do it in the library, and bring it to me back on Thursday.

And now maybe a bit more fun aspect of this orientation week is your MiddView trip. MiddView trip is a three-day excursion that all first-years go on Friday morning and then returning Sunday evening right before courses start. And this trip can really, really range in what it looks like. In fact, in this email you’ll get a list of probably 40 or 50 different options of what your MiddView trip will be. And so maybe you’re super into those artisanal cheese makers; you can go and explore Vermont’s culinary scene. Or maybe you’re really into politics; you could explore Vermont’s surprisingly robust political scene. Or you can be like me and come from a state where our largest mountain’s a speed bump, and decide, “Hey, I’m gonna go and try to hike those Green Mountains.”

And so that’s exactly what I did. And I thought this trip was so special because not only was it led by a current Middlebury sophomore, junior, senior who had already gone through part of this Middlebury experience and wanted to share their advice with us, but it also brought together so many different people on campus that perhaps would have never otherwise met. In fact, I remember on my MiddView trip I was placed with people from different parts of the country, different parts of the world, different academic interests, live in different parts of campus, and to this day, because we spent those three days hiking together, we still talk to one another. In fact, one of my good friends from that trip also works here in the Admissions house.

And so that’s a really important email, but then you’re also going to get another one that’s talking to you entirely about your first-year seminar. Your first-year seminar is a critical writing and reading course that all first-years are required to take in their first semester on campus. And even though all first-years are required to take this course, not all of those courses are the same. So maybe you really love women in Shakespeare. Well, you can take a critical writing course on women in Shakespeare. Maybe you’re super into infectious diseases; then you can take a critical reading course on infectious diseases. Or you can do what I did, which was come to college in the fall of 2016 and take America’s Constitutional Democracy.

And what’s super cool about all of these first-year seminars is not only is everybody in your class also a first-year and you’re going through the shared experience together, but the professor of that course is also your academic advisor until you declare a major. Now, that’s something that I didn’t realize how important it was until I got to Middlebury and saw that I already had a face to a name. There was somebody that I could go to whether I had questions about academic happenings, or extracurriculars, or even things happening outside of Middlebury.

And so as I mentioned, my course was America’s Constitutional Democracy. And I remember everybody was trying to make this really great first impression with our professor, right? We were doing these super dense readings on Alexis de Tocqueville and John Locke and John Stuart Mill, and everybody was doing them super thoroughly. We had these robust conversations in class because we wanted to make this great first impression. But I remember a few weeks into that first semester, conversation in class had maybe died down a little bit. And our professor, he was a smart guy, he realized this. So he walked into class on a Tuesday morning with a piece of paper, and on that piece of paper he had a list of the 15 most controversial topics in the United States at the time. And he gave that piece of paper to every single student in the classroom. And he said, I want you to tell me what you think about this, and I want you to tell me what our authors would have thought of this. And I think immediately alliances were formed and enemies were made, right? We had these truly academic differences with one another that we were basing in the text, and even though by the end of the class when I think students were ready to flip tables, we all still went to lunch together. And after going to lunch together, we went back to our dorms together.

And why is that is because Middlebury has these living-learning communities called academic clusters, right? In these housing clusters, you live with everybody that’s in your first-year seminar. So you’re able to bring these academic conversations outside of the classroom, and that facilitates friendships as well. And within these living-learning communities, we have a great support structures. So you’ll have a first-year counselor on your hall, for example, that again as a Middlebury, sophomore, junior, senior who’s there to just provide you guidance, help answer any questions. I remember my first day on campus, I had no idea how to print. So like 10 o’clock at night, my FYC had the dorm right across the hall from mine. I was, Charlie, can you help tell me how to print, right? And he was there for me to show me how to print.

We also have Commons deans, and these deans will probably reach out to you in your first few weeks of your first year to say, “What can I do to make your Middlebury experienced better? How can I support you?” And what’s so great about that is even if you’re living in a completely different part of campus as I am now, four years later, that dean remains your dean for the entirety of your time while here on campus. And we do have, we are a residential college, and most students will actually live on dorms for the duration of their stay here.

But Middlebury still encourages students to explore more unique housing options. And so while I elected to live in a dorm with my friends all four years, some students will really be into food sustainability, so they can apply to live in the food sustainability social house. Or maybe you’re really into community service; we have a community service social house. Or maybe you love making granola and driving your Subaru into the mountains. You can join the outdoorsy social house.

And of course we have our language houses. So maybe you’re in your second year of German class and you’ve decided that two hours of German class a day plus German language tables where you’re only speaking German at lunch and two hours of German homework a day, that’s just not enough German for you. You can apply to live in the German language house where when you go home at night, you’ll exclusively be speaking German while in that house.

Now, I also want to talk a little bit about extracurricular opportunities at Middlebury because I think that that’s a very, very important part of your experience here at the College. At Middlebury, we have over 200 clubs and organizations that are available to 2,500 students. Think about how impressive that is for a second with a student population as small as that and having so many clubs accessible to them and these clubs, of course you’ll find many of them at any institution. We have a debate team, a model United Nations team, a cappella groups, improv groups, dance groups. But what makes it so special is that these student groups tend to be open to everybody.

Now I wanna talk a little bit about January term or, as we Midd Kids call it, J-term. J-term is a really special time on campus in which Middlebury students are only taking one course, and this course really allows students to pursue academic interests that perhaps they’ve always wanted to but maybe never had the chance to previously. So perhaps you’re a physics major, but you’ve always been interested in historical diplomacy. Then you can take a course on adversaries and allies, diplomacy during World War II and Vietnam. Or maybe you’re a physics major and you really want to get a course that’s required for your major out of the way during the month of January. You can do that too. And even though you’re only taking one course during the month of January, that course is actually still meeting for the same amount of class hours as any other course would be during the fall or the spring semester. So maybe instead of meeting for an hour and 15 minutes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, you’re meeting for three hours between Monday and Thursday. And even though we have these super cool courses, right, it’s actually still allowing you to pursue a lot of contrast outside of the classroom as well. That’s why we say the J-term is Middlebury’s way of embracing the winter.

And so for me, again, coming from Florida, that was an opportunity to learn how to ski. Middlebury has its own College-owned ski area and so I took the bus up that’s paid for by the student government, so it’s completely free for me, to our ski area and learn how to Alpine ski for the month of January during my first year. Now I’m a bit sad that the snow is melted because it’s an amazing pastime here at the College, but maybe not everybody wants to spend their time outdoors during January here at the College. And a lot of students understand that.

So in addition to this course work, there were also a lot of individual workshops that are taught by other students to allow students to explore new interests, right? So we have students, for example, who speak Korean on campus, but Korean isn’t offered as a language of Middlebury throughout the academic year, just during the summer programs. So they’ll teach a course on Korean. There’s a student on campus who’s great at repairing iPhones. So he will teach a course on iPhone repair during the month of January. It’s also a really, really great recruiting time for the logrolling team. For some reason a bunch of people head into the natatorium during the month of January and learn how to logroll.

So there are just endless opportunities that we have for J-term, and now you’re not required to be on campus for all four J-terms, just your first J-term and one of the other three. With that said, however, most students elect to spend all four J-terms at Middlebury because it is such a special time. Even so, many courses will actually travel for their J-term, and so this past year alone we had courses that went to the Bahamas, there were student groups in Guatemala, student groups in India, student groups in Ghana. So even though we have this J-term in Middlebury, Vermont, we still are connected to the rest of the world.

And what the end of J-term marks the beginning of Febs. Febs are a group of about 100 students that arrive in February as opposed to September. And now they arrive on campus the week after J-term, in which most students who are on break, and they have an opportunity to go through their own orientation program. At Middlebury we say we do everything twice. So Febs that are arriving in February, they also go through, as I mentioned, this orientation week, they will sign the honor code, they are placed into a housing cluster, they have a first-year seminar, they can go on their own orientation trip.

And so these students, as I said, they arrived in February, but they have so many unique and exciting opportunities and experiences because they arrived in February and had their last semester off. We call it a Febmester. And during this Febmester, they’ve done a number of exciting things. There’s no exact prescription as to what Febs have to do in their Febmester. So some students will travel, some students will work. Students have stayed at home and made dolls for local children’s hospitals.

A lot of people have questions about the Febs, one of which is being integrated with the rest of campus, right, as they are arriving in February and 650 students arriving in September. I say that I like to describe Middlebury students as intellectually curious. So as excited as you are to arrive at Middlebury in September and meet your 650 classmates through January, you’re equally, if not more, excited to meet all of these 100 new Febs that just arrived on campus, that have these super unique stories to tell. Furthermore, because of the way that housing is, because Febs are occupying the dorms of Febs who’ve just graduated or juniors who are studying abroad, not only do they tend to have really great dorms, they are also kind of spread throughout campus, which is automatically encouraging them to be socializing with everybody.

Now because Febs arrive in February, that also means they have to graduate in February. And I think this is one of the coolest traditions that we have at Middlebury, where after graduating at Mead Chapel, all of the Febs go up to the Middlebury Snow Bowl and they ski, snowboard, walk down in their cap and gown, celebrating the fact that they just graduated.

Whether you want to be Feb, that is considered after the admissions committee has already made a decision regarding your application. So on your common app, there are three questions. One is saying, “I prefer to be a Feb,” yes or no. One is saying, “I prefer to be a September admit,” yes or no. And one is saying “I have no preference. I’d love to come to Middlebury either way.” And Middlebury only takes that into consideration after having made your admissions decision. Furthermore, a lot of Febs have really great opportunities getting jobs postgraduation because they are entering the job market at a time in which most students are not, right, as most students are graduating in May or June.

Now I’d like to talk a little bit about the spring semester and in the spring semester I really highlight Middlebury’s study abroad programs. You can study abroad in both semesters, and in fact there is pretty much equal distribution of study abroad students between the fall and the spring. Sixty percent of Middlebury students study abroad, 50 percent of them go on a Middlebury-sponsored program. Middlebury has 38 programs in 17 different countries and, with the exception of Oxford and Delhi, all of these programs are entirely in a language other than English.

And from the moment that you arrive in this country, you will speaking a different language. Middlebury has a Language Pledge, and when you sign that you’re saying, “I am exclusively going to speak this language except when I am communicating with parents,” for example, and I didn’t realize how real that was until I myself went abroad in the spring of 2019. I went to Belo Horizonte, Brazil, and from the moment my plane touched down, I was speaking entirely in Portuguese. I attended a university with 50,000 Brazilian students and there was only me and one other student on the Middlebury program there with us. And so of course that sounds daunting at first, but what was so great for me was knowing that even though there were just two of us in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, we still had the full support of Middlebury behind us.

In fact, Middlebury had a faculty and staff member there in Belo Horizonte with us making sure that everything was going to go seamlessly. She would sponsor travel programs for us. She would make sure that we got a phone plan. She would make sure that we were registering for courses properly. If we needed medical care, she was the immediate contact to turn to. And I think that that was so great about Middlebury is that even though we were so far away from our Middlebury home, we still had somebody there with us. And that is the case for Middlebury Schools Abroad as a whole.

As I mentioned, 50 percent of Middlebury students study abroad on Middlebury programs and 50 percent elect to go on other programs. So maybe you really wanna study abroad in South Africa or in Australia. Then Middlebury’s Study Abroad office has over 100 preapproved programs and you can go to the Study Abroad office, find one of those programs that will transfer rather seamlessly so that you can still study in that country. With Middlebury programs, financial aid has to travel seamlessly with non-Middlebury programs. It also tends to travel well. But you work with Student Financial Services as well as the Study Abroad office to ensure that happens.

It’s also important to mention that Middlebury is a liberal arts and sciences institution. In fact, over one third of Middlebury students are STEM majors and we can really see that in the research opportunities that we have in the sciences here on campus. I know that I said I wouldn’t talk too much about the liberal arts experience, but I think that this really does drive it home. How important that it is to have professors that are focused entirely upon the student body. In fact, one of my closest friends here at the College knew that he wanted to do research before ever even arriving his first year. So he sent an email to a biology professor and said, Hi, this is my name, I’m an incoming first-year and I was curious if you had any research opportunities. The professor, without ever having met the student, responded and said, Actually, yeah, I do. Stop by my office when you’re on campus and let’s see if we can work something out. He got on campus and five minutes after talking to this professor, he had a research opportunity in the sciences that he was able to carry out, not just throughout the academic year but into the summer as well.

Furthermore, Middlebury has its own research vessel on Lake Champlain, which students are able to go out with faculty and do different research on the lake, which I think is such a cool opportunity that students are really able to explore their own backyard here in Vermont. Research, however, is not exclusive to the sciences. I myself, for example, wrote a thesis in my fall semester as well as J-term and I had the opportunity to apply for funding from the College to travel to access different archives in order to write my thesis, which was on resilient American relations between 1943 and 1964. Fascinating, I know.

Many students will explore internship opportunities throughout the country and world throughout their summers. Students, for example, have interned at the Fed. Some students have gone to Washington, D.C., to intern at think tanks. Others have interned in finance in New York city. Or you can do what I did, which was intern with a local law firm here in Vermont. And Middlebury recognizes that many of these internship opportunities are unpaid or underpaid, and so the College has a fund that students can apply to to get funding for their internships, and many of these internships then are turned into jobs.

I remember the one question that my parents asked at every single info session was, will my son be employed when he graduates from your institution? And at Middlebury, I like to say that the answer is yes. You can see the statistics online and they’re rather impressive, and you can see that a number of students go directly into communications. Middlebury doesn’t have a communications major. A number of students also go into finance. Middlebury doesn’t have a finance major. This really just goes to show that no matter what you’re studying at Middlebury, you truly are prepared for anything that life throws at you after graduation. Ninety-four percent of Middlebury students that apply to medical school are accepted, which is very impressive given the national average hovers around 40 percent. Coincidentally, 94 percent of Middlebury students that apply to law school are also accepted.

But sometimes I do believe that stories can speak louder than numbers. And so I want to give a few brief examples of what some Middlebury alums have done postgraduation. The first of which is Stephen Hauschka. Stephen Hauschka came to Middlebury as a neuroscience major and a soccer player, and he is now the kicker for the Buffalo Bills. Prior to that he was on the Seattle Seahawks Super Bowl–winning team as their kicker. And a funny story here is during the Super Bowl, the players all do their talking heads, right? And so it came his time. He said Stephen Hauschka, Middlebury college, and when he said that, Middlebury’s Google searches spiked, and they actually got so many hits on their website that the website crashed. So Stephen Hauschka, thank you for the shout-out. We appreciate it. Koby Altman is another great example. He’s the current general manager of the Cleveland Cavaliers, and he was a sociology major here at Middlebury. And what’s so cool about Koby Altman is he still keeps very close relations and contact with the College. Anaïs Mitchell. She is the writer and director of Hadestown .  Hadestown  is a musical on Broadway. And she was a political science major here at the College. And a few years ago she came back. I wasn’t here for it. And she performed some songs and she said, “Please don’t judge me for this. I don’t think the songs are that good. I’m just kind of messing around.” And last year she won eight Tony awards for Hadestown.  And then finally we have Mark Gordon. Mark Gordon’s the current governor of Wyoming, that’s all I know about Mark Gordon. But hey, you too could become the current governor of Wyoming if you go to Middlebury.

And so I want to finish up talking about why I chose Middlebury. I remember, as I mentioned, this very cold day in March visiting Middlebury and the moment that I stepped foot on campus, I thought it was one of the most beautiful colleges that I had seen, and that immediately piqued my interest, and I did some more research and was able to come back after Middlebury spring break to do an official campus tour, and I truly fell in love with it. I saw how the student body, everybody wants to be successful, but nobody wants to be successful at the expense of another. Everybody is really trying to bring one another up and be supportive.

I loved the fact that Middlebury had such reputable language programs. I knew that that was something that I wanted to continue in college and I’m so happy that I’ve taken advantage of that opportunity. And then really the most important thing to me were the small class sizes. That seemed to me like the perfect natural progression for my high school education and I saw that it would allow me to not just develop my own opinion, but to be able to defend it. I say that at Middlebury, everybody has a passion, and they encourage you to pursue your passion, and they also encourage you to learn about theirs.

And so ever since I’ve been here, I’ve explored so many different subjects, so many different, not just academic categories, but extracurricular ones that I never thought I would have pursued because that’s what Middlebury students encourage you to do. And it’s gotten me so far outside of my comfort zone. And that’s what’s made me the person that I am today.

Now, one last note regarding financial aid, because I think this speaks very highly to the priorities of Middlebury as an institution. Middlebury is one of only 28 colleges and universities across the country that is completely need-blind for the domestic applicants and meets 100 percent of demonstrated financial need. Thank you so much for tuning in. As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me or to anybody else in the admissions house. We’re always happy to chat.

Middlebury Students Answer Your Questions

We asked our students to answer to some of the most common questions we hear from students like you. Here’s what they had to say.

If you’ve got other questions not answered here, let us know  and we’ll get back to you!

Life on Campus

Why Middlebury?

I definitely chose Middlebury for three main reasons. The location, community, and academics. Location, because coming from Queens, New York, you get to appreciate the fall, winter, and spring year. And seeing them shift from one to the other is just gorgeous. And the view of the Green and Adirondack Mountains too is incredible as you walk to class. Makes you feel like you’re in a movie. And community because you get to form these deep personal connections with your professors, your peers, and even the townspeople, once you become the regulars to their shops during the year. And academics, because as a STEM major, like me, you get to have way more opportunities for undergraduate research with professors because Middlebury only has an undergraduate population, so there’s no competition with graduate students. So that’s definitely a plus.

What’s it like to live in a dorm?

Living in a dorm is just so much fun. There’s just endless possibilities, and you really have so many opportunities to really create connections and foster community in your dorm. And there’s just so many people who wanna help when needed and are always down to hang out with you. And you honestly get to get really creative with your living space. And you just make memories in your dorm that will stay with you for years to come. And there are just so many support systems in place, such as your RAs, which are student staff members, and they’re always ready to offer resources and supports for you. Like I’m an RA, for example, and I love talking to my residents, seeing how they’re doing, and just knowing what’s going on with their lives. And there’s also just so many opportunities just for different places to live in dorms here on campus. There are the townhouses, there are special interest houses, and academic interest houses, such as the gender studies, Spanish, Portuguese, and there’s also social houses here, which are really cool to live at.

What’s the food like?

I would say my favorite thing about the Middlebury dining halls is the variety that they offer. There’s always a meat, vegan, and vegetarian option, as well as multiple cuisines and meal options. My favorite meal, personally, is Thanksgiving Day at Ross. I know it’s not a crowd favorite, but I personally love it and there’s always a open salad bar and snack area if you want. And if you want something late night, I love the fact that MiddXpress is open until midnight, so if you want a quick pick me up, you can go there and grab coffee or anything. We also have options like The Grille and Crossroads which can serve as, you know, your sort of sandwich place or smoothie shop and if you need in a pickle. So basically, I would say my favorite thing about Middlebury food is just the variety you can have at any moment, at any time.

How inclusive is the community?

As an institution, Middlebury supports inclusivity on campus. For example, first gen, low income first-year students have access to a preorientation program called First@Midd which specifically supports them in their transition into higher education. And beyond that, all year round, students have access to plenty of affinity spaces on campus, such as LASA, the Latin American Student Association, as well as BSU, the Black Student Union, and so many others. And beyond that, Middlebury has a financial commitment to supporting inclusivity. For example, right now, I am currently pursuing an unpaid internship in Costa Rica that I otherwise would not have been able to pursue had it not been for Middlebury’s commitment to inclusivity in so many different ways.

What about sports?

Okay, well, here at Middlebury, we have a very vibrant, active, community-oriented athletic culture here on campus, You can get involved in athletics in so many different ways on the intramural level in a club sport, like frisbee or quad ball or crew. We also have 31 varsity teams here on campus. I personally am a member of the varsity Track and Field Team, and I really love being an athlete here at Middlebury. We’re a D3 school, and what that means is that there’s a really strict academics over athletics policy, and so our coaches understand that school comes first. There was never a question of whether I would choose track over abroad. I got to go abroad and I didn’t think about working out the entire time. But I really enjoyed having my friends come to all of my track meets. People really go out to support their friends in athletics, and it’s really easy to get involved.

What’s it like living in a language house?

Name: Raghad Husni Sayyed, Arabic Teaching Assistant

مرحبًا! أنا رغد حسني وأنا معيدة اللغة العربية. نحن في البيت العربي، والبيت العربي هو بيتي. انا اشعر هنا بانتماء, شعور غريب حقيقة,عندما اتخيل أني في حياتي لن أعيش في مكان اسمه البيت العربي. فكرة أن هناك بيت اسمه “البيت العربي” وأنا أعيش هناك وأمثل ثقافتي  فكرة جميلة خيالية. أشعر بالحب في البيت العربي، و بالحرية لأنني أتكلم لغتي التي استطيع ان اعبر خلالها بدون أي قيود. وأنا أشعر بالفرح عندما يأتي الطلاب هنا للأنشطة ويجتمعون, وأيضا تكون مساحة آمنة لهم ليتعلموا أكثر عن الثقافة واللغة التي يهتمون بها.وحقيقة أن هذا شغف الذي عندهم يجعلني فضولية أكثر لثقافتي و أقرب نوعا ما. وأتعلم منهم أكثر من …أنا يجب أن أعلمهم وأمثل ثقافتي ولكن في الحقيقة أتعلم منهم و من أسئلتهم. ومن كل هذه الشعلة التي أراها في وجوههم وفي أعينهم عندما يسألون عن شيء بثقافة أو مزحة  أو كتاب أو كلمة.وخاصة الطلاب الذين أعيش معهم في البيت العربي: البيت العربي هو مكان سكني ومكان عملي أيضًا. أشعر أنهم عائلتي, نطبخ مع بعض, نضحك, أحيانا أيضًا  نتقاتل يعني طوشة لكن كل هذا يجعلنا أقرب, ونعيش الخبرة أو التجربة  العربية بحد ذاتها بدون أي قيود.

Welcome! My name is Raghad Husni and I am an Arabic teaching assistant. We’re here in the Arabic house, and the Arabic house is my house. I feel a sense of belonging here, a strange feeling indeed, when I imagine that in my life I have never lived in a place called the Arabic house. The idea that there is a house is called “The Arabic House” and I live there is a beautiful, imaginative idea. I feel loved in the Arabic house, and I feel free because I speak my language and I can express myself without any restrictions. I also feel happy when students come here for activities and to socialize, and it is a safe space for them to learn a lot about the culture and language that they care about. The fact that this is a passion that they have makes me even more curious about my culture, and somewhat closer [to my culture]. I also learn more from them…I should be teaching them and representing my culture, but in reality I learn from them and from their questions. I see longing in their faces and in their eyes when they ask about the culture or a joke or a book or a word. Especially for the students that live with each other in the Arabic House, the Arabic House is a residential space and a workplace as well. I feel that they are my family, we cook together, we laugh, sometimes we also fight, but it brings us closer, and we live in the Arabic experience itself without any restrictions. 

What is the arts scene at Midd?

I think the art scene here is really great. It’s super easy to get involved in, and there are always things going on whether it’s a faculty show or a student-run show. We’ve got a student-run theater, the Hepburn Zoo. I’m in an a cappella group, the Middlebury Mischords, and sometimes we have shows. There’s just so many different ways to get involved or go see something. A really great example of this is we have Nocturne, which is an outdoor arts festival in the spring where students who have been working on dance performances, like, pieces of art, or people will sing or do scenes and they present all over campus, and you can walk around and just see what everyone’s been up to.

What does a typical weekend look like?

So, here at Middlebury, weekends consist of many different things, but not really anyone is specifically the same. But still, I’m gonna attempt to try to give you what a typical weekend looks like. For a lot of people, weekends actually sort of start Thursday. A lot of people only have one class, or a discussion section on Friday, and so Thursday night, usually there’s live music at one of the social houses called The Mill. And also there’s a bunch of just sort of student-run activities. Specifically, there’s an international film club that I like to go to with my friends. And I like to go to bed early and sort of wake up and get a good start on Friday. Friday is one of the bigger days of the week. A lot of people will go on a hike Friday and then come back, have a big dinner with their friends, and then after that, hang out in someone’s room, listen to music. And then maybe they’ll attend a campus event, something that a club or the SGA is hosting. And then they’ll maybe check out one of the, you know, if a social house is having a party, or an interest house is having a party, and they’ll go and sort of see what that’s about. Saturday night is more the same, but it’s also the day for sort of doing big things. And so, if it’s the winter, people will go skiing, and if it’s the fall, they might check out the TAM, or one of the awesome trails we have around Middlebury, or they might go swimming in one of the rivers and waterfalls we have around here. Sunday for me tends to be a lot chiller and I think a lot of people take Sunday as a day for relaxing, you know, catching up on some work, spending some time in the library, and, you know, having just a day for yourself. And, yeah, that’s a typical weekend here at Middlebury.

What's it like living in Vermont?

One of the reasons I chose to come to Middlebury was because the beautiful landscape we’re surrounded by. We have the Green Mountains to our east and the Adirondacks to our west. Coming from Texas, it’s entirely different than anything I had ever experienced, but I’ve loved the opportunities to go swimming in local swimming holes in the summer, hiking in the fall and spring, snowboarding in the winter, or sledding down the hill in front of the chapel. On the weekends, a lot of times we go to local farmer’s markets either here in our own community or in one of the surrounding communities. I’ve also had the opportunity to volunteer in the local community and get to know people that call this place their home and it’s really safe. I feel comfortable walking home with my friends after a night out, coming back to campus or driving a few hours away down to Burlington with my friends. It’s been a wonderful place to be ingrained in for the last four years, and a lovely place to call home.

The Academic Experience

Do you get to know your professors?

I’ve definitely gotten to know my professors here at Middlebury. Looking back to first year and second year here, I really wish that I’d taken advantage more of office hours. I think that professors can be really great support systems if you let them be and really take advantage of going in and speaking to them, and just knowing that they’re there for you. My environmental chemistry teacher, who also is my advisor, because I’m an environmental chemistry major, always hosts pizza parties at the end of all of her courses for all the students, and that’s at her house, and we all get together and do different things. So I’ve definitely gotten to feel really comfortable around my teachers. Senior year, I also took an anthropology class, I’d never taken one before, and I really got to know my professor, Trinh Tran, she’s incredible. Well, and we ended up getting matcha outside of class and having dinner and really getting to know her and her story and what led to her being at Middlebury, and it definitely made me feel more supported inside the classroom and also felt that I was able to reach out to her when I needed help.

What’s the Innovation Hub?

The Innovation Hub is where ideas come to life, whether this be through Oratory Now, MiddCORE, or any other funding event. What this looks like is, and at least Oratory Now, is where students can take a credit class or completely extracurricular activity where they are tutored by their peers or a professional in how to really engage in perfect public speaking abilities. It’s a really great program to help students develop their confidence and talking in front of crowds, and it’s a great way for students to engage with the community. MiddCORE is a class where students get to really develop their career goals. Panelists come and talk or in person and virtually every morning and tell them about their career path, what they’ve learned, and really how to maximize their time at Middlebury. It’s basically starts off with a TED Talk every day, and in the second half of it, students get to work on a strategic challenge where they help a company solve an issue. This year it’s Lego. All in all, the Innovation Hub is a great place to really learn a lot.

What’s J-term?

Here at Middlebury, we have a 4-1-4 calendar system, meaning that students take four classes in the fall semester, four classes in the spring semester, and then one class during the month of January, and that is known as our J-term. J-term is a really wonderful time to try something new because you’re taking one class for four weeks. My first year here I took a class in the Religion Department called Buddhism in the Modern World, which was really far outside of my comfort zone, but I think it was the perfect time to do that. You could also take a class from a visiting professor, take a more unique class, like an EMT course and get your certification, but you could even use this time to do an internship, study abroad, or do research for credit. Beyond the classroom, J-term is a really fun time because we celebrate winter in Vermont with activities like a Winter Carnival, which consists of a concert and ski races, and a bunch of different workshops and student-led activities. I also used this time to take my first ever ski lesson at a Rikert Nordic Center, and it was just really fun to celebrate winter in Vermont.

What’s your favorite class?

So my favorite class at Middlebury is Inequality and the American Dream with Professor Matt Lawrence, and I actually took this course before I even came to Middlebury. I sat in on it during Middlebury’s Discover Midd Program. And I fell in love with the course, I fell in love with the professor’s interaction with the students and the material that they were covering. And for me, as a first generation student, covering the idea of the American dream and socioeconomic mobility just felt really relevant to why I was here at Middlebury, and so I knew that I had to take that course and really come to Middlebury to really learn about that with a professor who’s really well-known for his studies on socioeconomic mobility and education.

How did you pick your major?

I came to Middlebury not knowing what I was going to study, and that made me really worried ‘cause a lot of people around me came really sure of what subject they wanted to major in. But luckily for me, the Liberal Arts Education allowed me to explore different topics before I had to choose my major. And I took the one and a half years, my first year and the first semester of my second year, to really explore what I wanted to do. And the two classes which really connected with me was Gender and the Body, which is a gender studies class, and the Introduction to International Global Studies. And Middlebury has the Global Gender and Sexuality Studies major, which I chose be my major because I love both of those classes a lot. And in order to get my advisor, I went through the department’s advisors and one of them was my favorite professor that I had ever taken a class with. So I just sent her quick email. I was like, “Can you be my advisor?” And luckily she said yes. And so that is how I declared my major, how I found my major, and how I found my academic advisor as well.

What are language tables?

Name: Kai Zhang, Lecturer in Chinese

出色的原教学是明德大学的一大特色这里边有一个重要的原则这是做中学learning by doing。 那，作为老师我们就会想各种办法为同学们提供一个在正式的生活中能够用这个语言跟大家交流的机会。语言桌子就是这样安排。 在每一个工作日的中午在我们的proctor餐厅，就是我给大家看得我身后的餐厅， 这个Proctor餐厅我们会提供十种语言桌子：中文，日文，西班牙语，法语, 意大利语， 等等，等等。那如果你学法语比如，你就只需要提前做一个登记然后到那一天你就在这儿来吃。法语桌子在吃饭的时候跟同学用法语交流。有老师有服务员大家都会用法语。这样一个安排有很多好处你可以想想一下。首先是对于言学习者来说你有一个在教室之外的真实的使用这个语言的环境. 那跟在教室里面单纯的练习会有很大的不同,对不对.另外呢对于老师来说，我就在教师之外也有跟多了解我学生机会. 当然我越了解我的学生,那我的教学就会更有针对性. 另外还有一个好处就是对服务员因为这些服务员其实我们学校的学生。那他们当然也长了高水平了语言的学习者。那他们就会起来一个很好的示范作用。就是给刚刚开始学语言学生一个例子说啊你看只要我很努力的学习那么可能过两年三年我可以到在他的水平这个激励作用非常强

An outstanding teaching method used at Middlebury is, learning by doing. As a teacher we consider what methods can simulate real life scenarios for students to use their language skills or create opportunities for immersion. Language tables are a part of that plan. Every weekday at noon in Proctor dining hall, let me show you all the dining hall, behind me is Proctor. At Proctor dining hall we have 10 different language tables: Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, French, Italian, etc. For example if you study French you only have to register beforehand, then on that day you come, eat food and use French to converse with your classmates. The teacher and waiters also use French. Let’s consider the benefits of this initiative. First for students studying languages they have the opportunity outside of the classroom to use the language. The casual learning environment of language tables is distinct from classroom instruction, right. Additionally as a professor I have opportunities outside of the classroom to understand my students. My teaching can have more relevance. There is still another benefit which is the wait staff being students! They are of course high level language students who then become role models for students that have just started to study the language. For instance you think, “If I study hard then in my 2, 3rd year I can get to that student’s proficiency!” This type of encouragement is useful and powerful.

Meet Our Faculty

What opportunities are there for independent research?

The Undergraduate Research Office at Middlebury is a great resource for students seeking funding to support semesterlong independent projects, yearlong senior thesis research, or any other projects that they’re conducting with their advisors. Students are eligible for support in the order of a few hundred to more than a thousand dollars that they can use to cover their research expenses. Separate funding’s also available to allow students to travel to professional conferences to present the results of their research. My own research students have used funding from the Undergraduate Research Office to travel with me and present the results of their projects at conferences throughout the United States as well as in Austria, Italy, and other locations around the world. A highlight of the spring semester each year at Middlebury each year is an event called the Spring Student Symposium. This is a showcase that allows students to present the results of their independent work in disciplines ranging from the humanities and the arts all the way through to the hard sciences. Classes are canceled for the day, which allows students, faculty, and staff the flexibility to attend these presentations. These take the form of talks and posters, dance recitals, concerts, and really every form of creative expression imaginable. This is a great event that everyone here at Middlebury looks forward to each spring semester.

How accessible are professors?

I think Middlebury professors are extremely accessible to students. We come to a place like Middlebury because we want to have those interactions with students, whether it’s in the classroom or getting to know you better outside of academics, or providing mentorship for both your career at Middlebury and beyond. Those are the type of interactions that we love. And so we try to provide lots of opportunities for you to have those types of interactions with us. So obviously, in the classroom, that’s one way that we interact with you. But we also have office hours, which are just times every week where students can drop in and talk to us about anything that they want, whether it’s questions that they have about material from class or anything else that they wanna talk about. And most professors have way more office hours than the minimum required, because we just wanna give all of our students opportunities to come. You know, I schedule my office hours based on when students are available to make sure that they can all come and talk to me. And I give students extra credit for class if they come. ’Cause I just want an incentive for students as much as possible to come and have those interactions with me. Lots of professors also have interactions with students outside of class. So like, in the Computer Science Department, we have a barbecue every summer for students who are doing research with us on campus. And I’ve had lots of coffees and lunches with students to just talk about what’s going on in their lives and what they’re thinking about in terms of summer internships, or what classes to take next semester, or whatever they wanna talk about.

How do you utilize J-term?

During winter term, or J-term, you’ll be taking one full-credit course over four weeks. And it’s the only class you’ll be taking over the month of January. And it’s a chance to take a deep dive into a topic over the month. I’ve been teaching a course on Asian American food studies that is also a writing course. We study how Asian American communities have been defined by food and how Asian Americans define themselves through food. We read and write different genres of food-related writing, including memoirs, restaurant reviews, recipes, and cookbook reviews. We also do a lot of eating and a little bit of cooking. At the end of the class, we get together at an on-campus faculty member’s house, and we have a feast with various foods prepared by the members of the class. It’s a great chance to learn about a complex topic in an interactive way and as a group. And I think that’s what the best J-term classes do, they create a sense of community and a sense of learning as a shared experience.

What are some different classroom scenarios?

At Middlebury, you’ll find yourself in all kinds of different classroom scenarios. For example, in my introductory human geography course, Place in Society, we meet as a full class of 25 to 30 students, three times a week, but we also break the class up into two smaller lab sections. One of the fun things we do in those lab sections is students design a field trip that they take their classmates on at the end of the semester. What the goal is, is to take the classmates to places in the community that are manifestations of the things we’ve been studying about in class. This past fall, those stops included a visit to Monument Farms, a local dairy, the dairy that provides all the milk to the College’s dining halls, and to the Open Door Clinic, a healthcare clinic that provides free health care for those without health insurance. One of the largest groups that uses the Open Door Clinic are the Latinx farm workers that work on the local dairies. So, as diverse as our curriculum is, so too are the different kinds of classes you’ll find yourself in, here at Middlebury.

Does everyone do a senior thesis?

Does everyone do a senior thesis? No, not everybody. People that wanna get honors in a major or a program usually do a senior thesis, but it’s not for everybody. In anthropology, we have people either do a one-semester project or a two-semester project. It allows them to focus. It allows them to work closely with one professor. It often launches them into a particular grad school or career specialization. The projects I’ve been working on this year with students were first, a project about how Vermont farmers are preparing for climate change, second is also a climate change project about the ways that there are particular cultural narratives of climate futures getting expressed in current speculative fiction, and the third is an examination of how mythology is a mechanism for creating a sense of place in different cultural contexts. Overall, I think a senior thesis is a great project because it really gives a student a chance to stretch themselves out and figure out what’s really significant to them.

How do you help students choose a major?

A first-year seminar is a course, every first-year takes it. It’s a course designed to get you involved in the liberal arts education and what the liberal arts actually looks like. A lot of these courses are unique and are something that professors are interested in but don’t often teach. For instance, I teach a course called the Language of Conspiracy Theories, which is a fun course where we study why do conspiracy theories exist, where do they exist in the 21st century, and why do they keep popping up. Those are the types of courses that you’ll be taking with your first-year seminar. They’re a great way for you to engage with peers in your new class. Your first-year seminar professor is also your advisor. So it’s a great way to get you involved with your first-year experience here at Middlebury and to get you set up for the rest of your academic career. Next I wanna talk to just quickly about choosing a major. This is my third year at the College, and I can say that I’ve been surprised how many students show up, they have a major in mind. They know what they want to do in life. And then after a semester, maybe a year, they’ve completely changed their mind. They’ll go from something that, oh, they were all about science, and now they wanna do something a little liberal arts. Or vice versa. So to find a major, we really suggest taking a broad array of classes. Really exploring the possibilities of what interests you. And you’ll be surprised by what you might want to major in. It’s okay if you have a major already in mind when you get here, and maybe that stays your major. Maybe the major changes. Or maybe you don’t have a major in mind, and that’s great as well. The great thing is you’ll focus on taking different sorts of courses and working with your professor to find the best major for you.

How does academic advising work?

It is my pleasure to welcome you to this institution and to give you a little clue about what your academic advising might look like. The way that liberal arts means making sense of the human experience, please also remember that your advisor, your first-year seminar advisor, then subsequently your academic advisor, are here to help you make sense of your college experience, your entry into being a scholar, and ultimately a purposeful person in the world. So, in your third semester, you will declare your major. But prior to that, your first-year seminar instructor will serve as your academic advisor. He or she will tell you how to expand your vision of not only the academic experience, but yourself. They may nudge you to take courses in something that might make you feel a little uncomfortable, or they may point you in the direction of something that may expand your horizons. And then in your third semester, once you declare your major, you’ll have an academic advisor who’ll help you hone in on the question that will ultimately propel you to a new understanding and a purposeful life in the world.

Do students ever do research with faculty members?

Midd students do research with faculty all the time. And I will draw on some of my own research projects to give you a sense of what that looks like. I’m an applied microeconomist. You can think data and statistics. My work seeks to identify and measure the causal effects of reproductive policies on people’s lives. And over the years, I’ve hired many RAs to work on research projects with me. My RAs have ranged from freshman to seniors. Some of them have been undeclared in major. Others have been majoring in computer science, math, geography, environmental studies, history, and not surprisingly, my own field, economics. My RAs work in visualizations, have appeared in scholarly journals. They’ve appeared in national media outlets like the New York Times . They’ve even appeared in federal courtrooms. This year, I’ve had three RAs working with me on a project that is in partnership with a national nonprofit organization. We’re all working together to rapidly update a database of reproductive healthcare providers so that we can see how changes in Title X funding that took effect this summer are affecting reproductive healthcare access. This summer, I have an RA lined up to work with me here in Middlebury on campus, fingers crossed. But definitely gonna work with me on a project to update another database of abortion facilities so that we can visualize the changing landscape of abortion access. Now, not surprisingly, my RAs have been incredibly helpful to me in my own research. It’s also, I hope and think, a valuable experience for them. They’re getting a chance to deeply learn and demonstrate their expertise with a methodological toolkit that’s really valuable in grad school and in demand among a lot of employers. But really perhaps even more importantly, there’s something magical about getting to deeply engage a research project and see what it takes to push the boundaries of knowledge forward. It can be really difficult and painstaking and messy and frustrating and exciting. And ultimately, in being part of that process, students transition from just being recipients of wisdom to actually creating new knowledge and being more rigorous and critical thinkers who ask questions about why it is that we know what we think we know. I think it makes them more skeptical without crossing that dangerous border into cynicism. So wherever your own passions lie, I would strongly encourage you, if you’re a Midd Kid, to look for opportunities to engage in research with faculty. Those opportunities are not difficult to find.

How does experiential learning happen at Middlebury?

Hi, my name’s Alex Draper. I am the chair of the Theatre Department here at Middlebury. And I’ve been asked to make a short film about where on campus experiential learning takes place. And one of the places is right here in Seeler Studio Theatre where we rehearse, and produce, and present plays. And all of the productions we do in the Theatre Department count as classes. So the students are taking them as an official course. And their time put into rehearsal is recognized as such. And in addition to that, all of the classes that we teach have a practical experiential component. So that everything you’re studying, you’re actually putting into practice in some way. If you’re a costume designer, you are designing, drawing, producing costumes. Same thing, set design, playwriting, acting, directing. All that is applied to work that is actually up on its feet and presented in class or to an audience. In addition to that, the department’s very lucky that we have in the outside-of-the-classroom part of experiential learning, we have a professional theater company, PTP/NYC, that’s been in existence for 34 years now, where we take a company of actors made up of half Middlebury College students and half equity actors. We rehearse up here in New York for three weeks, and we take two shows to New York City and run them in rep for five weeks during the summer. And through that process, students get to take all of the things they’re learning in our classrooms here and apply them to very real-world situations as a small theater company producing work in front of live audiences and reviewers in New York City. So I’m sure there are many more examples across campus of great ways in which experiential learning takes place here, but that’s just a few of the examples from here in the Theatre Department.

What do students do after graduation?

Our liberal arts curriculum will prepare you to become successful wherever your paths may lead you after graduation. You may continue your education in master’s and PhD programs or in professions such as law and medicine. You may also pursue careers in established and emerging fields, applying your knowledge of and skills in the arts, humanities, sciences, and languages. Last, but not least, when you graduate from the College, you become a part of a larger, supportive network of alumni.

What is the classroom atmosphere like?

My favorite thing about teaching at Middlebury is working one-on-one with students on projects. And in my department, we do everything from short videos that students write and direct to documentaries, to video essays, to screenplays, television pilots, critical essays, podcasts. And working with students on these projects is always really exciting because they come in with ideas that they’re passionate about, and I’m able to talk with them about what most interests them and help them develop an approach that is original and fits with their ideas. And usually, that project will develop and really will change over time in ways that neither of us could expect. And it’s always so gratifying to see what comes out and how much students learn along the way, and then a final product that is usually ready to share to the community.

What kinds of academic facilities do students have access to?

These range across the academic disciplines and include spaces that support film and media production, dance and theater and music spaces, the special collections in our libraries, the art museum, as well as the Johnson Art and Architecture studios and the Makerspace. As a biologist I’m most familiar with our science facilities, which are mostly housed in McCardell Bicentennial Hall. These include the observatory and our greenhouse as well as several other teaching and research laboratories. So in my laboratory we have access to microscopy facilities as well as a wide range of molecular biological equipment and spaces. And then also, hip waders and other field equipment that we use to sample lakes around Vermont. All of these facilities really support our student efforts in diverse academic pursuits and will be available to you once you arrive on campus.

Beyond the Classroom

Middlebury students pursue a wide variety of opportunities after they graduate, but we’re lucky in that we have our Center for Careers and Internships to help students navigate that process. Whether it’s attending our various resume and cover letter workshops throughout the year, or connecting with our array of advisors on staff to help direct you with specific questions or in a direction with specific opportunities, there are a variety of resources at your disposal. I personally got a job kind of at the intersection of healthcare and technology, and I used our Middlebury version of LinkedIn to connect me with our extensive alumni network to find and land that opportunity. I have other friends that have gone to med school and law school, others that have opportunities at Google and Goldman Sachs. Whatever direction you are interested in, there’ll be someone that can help support you through that process and land that job post grad.

Is Middlebury affordable?

Middlebury is one of the few universities in the United States that is both need-blind and meets 100 percent of demonstrated financial need. This means that when you’re on campus for your four years, the financial aid office is both flexible and accessible. And once you’re at Middlebury for your four years, you have opportunities to take advantage of the financial resources that the College has. This can come in the form of free J-term skiing lessons that are offered at the Snowbowl, or free outing programs given by the Middlebury Mountain Club.

How was your experience studying abroad?

Name: Agnes Roche, ‘24

Salut tout le monde, je m’appelle Agnes, je suis en 4e année, en double spécialités: Français et Sciences politiques. Aujourd’hui je suis ici pour vous parler de mon expérience à l’étranger: à l’école de Middlebury en France à Bordeaux dans le Sud Ouest. Passer un semestre à SciencesPo Bordeaux et vivre là bas dans une famille d’accueil était incroyable. L’immersion m’a tellement appris qu’en rentrant ici à Middlebury j’ai choisis le français comme seconde majeure. Cela a même été encore plus déterminant dans mon parcours puisque j’ai postulé et été acceptée en Master à SciencesPo Paris. Au delà de ces aspects linguistique et académique, l’aspect social de cette expérience m’a aussi beaucoup enrichi. En effet j’ai eu la chance de pouvoir partager de nombreux moments de convivialité avec ma famille d’accueil, autour des repas partagés et lors des vacances et week-ends passés à la plage ou à la montagne. J’ai découvert une nouvelle ville et surtout rencontrer beaucoup de nouvelles personnes sur place avec qui j’ai partagé plein de moments, culturels, sportifs ou en tout genre. Certaines d’entre elles sont devenues mes amies avec qui je suis toujours contact. 

Une telle chance, de pouvoir s’immerger dans une nouvelle culture et de vivre une expérience géniale comme celle-ci est unique. C’est pour cela que je conseille vraiment à tous les étudiants de langue de saisir l’opportunité d’étudier à l’étranger. 

Hi everyone, my name is Agnes, I’m in my fourth year at Middlebury double majoring in Political Science and French. Today I’m here to tell you about my experience abroad at Middlebury’s School in France in Bordeaux, the South West. Studying for a semester at SciencesPo Bordeaux and living there with a host family was incredible. The immersion taught me so much that when I returned to Middlebury I chose French as a second major. It was even more decisive in my career, as I applied for and was accepted to a Master’s program at SciencesPo Paris. Beyond these linguistic and academic aspects, the social aspects of my experience in Bordeaux were also really impactful. I had the opportunity to spend a lot of quality time with my host family over shared meals and during vacations and weekends spent at the beach or in the mountains. I discovered a new city and, above all, met many new people with whom I shared cultural, sporting and other experiences. Some of them have become my good friends and with whom I still keep in touch. 

It’s a unique opportunity to immerse yourself in a new culture and language. That’s why I really tell  all language students to seize the opportunity that is study abroad at Middlebury.

Does the career center help with internships?

I am a firm believer that knowing what you don’t like is just as important as knowing what you do like. The CCI or the Center for Careers and Internships does a really great job of exposing you to a variety of fields through their structure and their support systems. For example, the CCI is divided into about six or seven sectors with career advisors in their respected fields. They also put out weekly newsletters, and we always have tons of career events happening throughout the week. Other resources that you can access, for example, are conversations with peer advisors who are trained, conduct resume reviews and mock interviews. Another really great thing that the CCI does is ensure that opportunities are equitable. So they funded over $850,000 of internship funding in underpaid internships last year. One of my favorite resources that I’ve leveraged at the CCI has been the Summer Consulting Program, and so I was paired with a partner at a firm, and he spent countless of hours helping me prep for really competitive internships. So I’m really excited to start off my senior year with a full-time job offer.

How is study abroad?

Middlebury has study abroad programs in 36 different locations across 16 world regions and countries. I personally studied abroad in Amman, Jordan through a Middlebury program, and I really liked my experience from the application process until coming back to Middlebury and reintegrated myself again, because all my credits got to transfer, as well as my financial aid package. During my time in Jordan, I had a very immersive experience because of the Middlebury’s language pledge, and I got to spend a lot of time with local Jordanian students, as well as spending a lot of time doing fun activities around Amman and Jordan with my host family, and I really got to have a very authentic local experience.

How does the Center for Community Engagement work?

The Center for Community Engagement or the CCE is a great starting point on campus if you’re looking to get involved with the community, that can be domestic or globally. So if you’re learning things in the classroom that you wanna find a way to apply outside of the classroom, this is a great place to start. I personally am involved in Community Friends. I have a kiddo in town named James. He’s from the town of Middlebury, and we spend two hours a week together where I do some mentorship. And there are great opportunities like Community Friends to get involved with through the CCE. So if you’re interested in civic engagement, if you’re looking to make an impact on your community and get involved, CCE, or Center for Community Engagement is a great place. It also is a beautiful space on campus. It’s located behind one of our dining halls. It’s a house with a kitchen, a common room. It’s available to students at all time. They have their own newsletter, a blog, and it’s really, really easy way to get involved, meet friends in and outside of campus.

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Virtual College Tours: List of Colleges Offering Virtual Campus Tours

Choosing the right college is one of the most important decisions. In the past, this meant countless campus visits, juggling travel logistics, and cramming in information overload. But what if you could explore campuses from anywhere in the world, at your own pace, and with the ability to revisit anything that catches your eye? Welcome to the world of virtual college tours!

These immersive experiences are transforming the way students navigate the college search process. This blog is your one-stop guide to mastering virtual tours. We’ll discuss their advantages, explore strategies to maximize your experience, share a list of colleges offering virtual college tours, and equip you with the knowledge to translate those virtual visits into informed college choices.

Table of Contents

What are Virtual College Tours?

Virtual college tours allow students and parents to get a taste of a college’s environment without stepping foot on campus. Imagine exploring a university campus from the comfort of your living room. These tours utilize various technologies, like 360-degree videos, interactive maps, and even virtual reality (VR), to create a realistic and engaging experience.

During a virtual tour, you can navigate through different areas of campus, from iconic landmarks and academic buildings to dorms and student centers. You can get a glimpse of classrooms and lecture halls, peek inside libraries and labs, and even explore the surrounding grounds. Many tours also include narrated commentary, highlighting key features, programs, and student life aspects. Think of it as a self-guided exploration with all the information you might need readily available.

Benefits of Virtual College Tours

While there’s no substitute for experiencing a place firsthand, virtual college tours offer a unique way to explore campuses from the comfort of your screen. They provide a glimpse into the campus culture, facilities, and overall atmosphere. You can virtually meet faculty, see potential dorms, and visualize where you’ll spend a significant chunk of your academic journey. Here’s why virtual college tours are worth your time:

1. Accessibility for all students, regardless of location

Imagine being a high school student in a remote town, far from major universities. Traditionally, visiting colleges meant expensive flights, long road trips, and taking time off school or work. Thankfully, virtual tours have leveled the playing field. With an internet connection, you can start virtual journeys to explore campuses near and far, all without the hassle and expense of travel. It’s like teleporting to different universities at your own pace.

2. Time and cost savings compared to in-person visits

Physical college visits require meticulous planning and can be quite expensive. From travel, accommodation, and meals, it all adds up. Plus, there’s the time commitment—visiting multiple campuses can eat into your busy schedule.

Virtual tours are a win-win for both time and money. You can squeeze in a tour during your lunch break or even relax in your pajamas at home. There’s no need to worry about booking flights, hotels, or meals. Your wallet and your schedule will thank you!

3. Availability of a wide range of resources and information

Virtual tours offer more than just pretty pictures and 360-degree views. They’re a bundle of information. You can explore academic programs, watch faculty interviews, and chat with current students or admission counselors through virtual open houses. The best part? You’re not limited by time or location. You can revisit these resources whenever you want, learn more about specific college majors , and compare colleges side by side at your convenience.

Suggested – College Planning: A Step-by-Step Guide for US Students

How Do Virtual College Tours Work?

1. choosing your path: starting your tour.

Most colleges and universities offer virtual tours on their official websites or specialized platforms. Upon arrival at the virtual tour hub, you’ll often have choices. Some institutions provide comprehensive tours showing the entire campus, while others offer segmented tours focusing on specific areas like dorms, classrooms, or athletic facilities.

2. Exploring virtually: getting around

Virtual tours transport you to the heart of the college using panoramic photos or interactive 360-degree videos. You can explore your surroundings just like a real campus visit by clicking and dragging with your mouse or touchscreen.

3. Interactive elements

As you navigate, you’ll encounter interactive elements that provide additional information. Clickable hotspots reveal insights into campus facilities, academic programs, and student life.

4. Videos, photos, and testimonials

Virtual tours often incorporate multimedia features like videos, photos, and student testimonials. These elements enrich your exploration by showing classrooms in action, campus events, and firsthand accounts from students and faculty.

5. Live events

Many colleges take virtual engagement further by hosting live or recorded virtual events. These can include information sessions, Q&A sessions with admissions staff, and even virtual open houses. This is an excellent opportunity to connect with the college community in real-time and get your questions answered directly.

6. Interact and engage

Many virtual tours offer chat or comment features. It allows you to ask questions, share your thoughts, and connect with other prospective students. It’s a dynamic way to maximize your virtual tour experience.

Suggested: 8 Top College Interview Tips For 2024

Colleges Offering Virtual Campus Tours

Below is a list of the top 50 colleges to help you find colleges and universities’ virtual tours sorted by state. If you don’t see your prospective schools listed here, check their websites directly.

Note: This table is for informational purposes only and may not be exhaustive. It is recommended that you visit the official website of your prospective schools to confirm the availability of virtual tours.

Suggested – College Waitlist: What are Waitlist Admission Rates?

6 Tips to Master Virtual College Tours

1. engage with the college community.

Virtual tours aren’t just passive experiences. Many offer opportunities to interact with college representatives, faculty members, and current students. Take advantage of these Q&A sessions to ask thoughtful questions and gain deeper insights into the college’s culture, programs, and student life. This is your chance to connect with the people who can provide the most valuable information about the college.

2. Social media

Colleges are active on social media! Follow them on various platforms to stay updated on the latest news, events, and campus happenings. You might discover hidden gems like Instagram takeovers, virtual tours with a student perspective, and glimpses into different aspects of student life. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to connect with the college’s dynamic community.

3. Connect with current students and alumni

Look for opportunities to connect with current students and alumni networks. Many colleges have student ambassadors eager to chat with prospective students, while alumni networks offer virtual meet-and-greets. These connections can provide invaluable insights into the student experience, academic challenges, career opportunities, and more. Hearing firsthand from those who have walked the same path can help you make a more informed decision.

4. Compare and make informed decisions

Explore different colleges and take note of their unique features, strengths, and the opportunities they offer. Consider factors like location, campus culture, academic programs, and extracurricular activities. By incorporating these insights, you can make an informed decision that aligns with your goals and aspirations.

5. Post-virtual visit follow-up

After a virtual visit, send follow-up emails to admissions officers or student ambassadors. Ask for additional information or clarifications about specific programs, financial aid options, or any other questions you may have. This demonstrates your genuine interest and can open the door to more personalized guidance.

6. Stay organized

With so much information to process, staying organized is crucial. Consider creating a spreadsheet or a note-taking system to track your virtual visits. Document your impressions, pros and cons, and any important details specific to each college. Having a structured approach will make it easier to compare and contrast different colleges later on, aiding your decision-making process.

Suggested: Early Decision vs Early Action

From the Desk of Yocket

Virtual campus tours have revolutionized how prospective students explore colleges. Imagine visiting campuses across the country from the comfort of your couch! These tours provide a wealth of information, much like traditional tours. It allows you to virtually explore facilities, classrooms, and even dorms. This accessibility is a game-changer, especially for students with limitations on travel or finances.

However, virtual tours can’t fully replicate the in-person experience. While they offer a lot of information, they can’t fully capture the essence of a campus. The buzz of student life, the energy of a bustling common area, or the true feel of the surrounding community—these are all difficult to replicate virtually. Additionally, virtual tours naturally show the most impressive aspects of a college. To truly get a well-rounded picture, look beyond the glossy presentations. Do your research beforehand, identify what matters most to you, and use the virtual tour to focus on those specifics. Don’t hesitate to ask questions and seek out interactions with current students to gain a more authentic perspective on campus life and culture.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can i make the virtual college tour interactive.

Many virtual tours allow you to submit questions through a chat window. Take advantage of this! Don’t be afraid to ask specific questions about your interests. Some tours offer live sessions with admissions officers or current students. Participate actively and make the most of these opportunities.

What if the college tour is pre-recorded? Can I still get my questions answered?

Many colleges offer resources along with their virtual tours, like FAQs or contact information for admissions counselors. You can also check social media platforms for college-hosted Q&A sessions or live chats.

What should I focus on during the virtual college tour?

Pay attention to the overall campus vibe, the facilities offered, and the types of classrooms and common areas. Look beyond the glossy presentations and try to get a sense of the student life and community feel.

Are virtual college tours a good replacement for in-person visits?

Virtual tours can be a fantastic alternative, especially for students with limited travel options or tight budgets. They offer a great overview and can help narrow down your choices. However, they can’t fully replicate the in-person experience.

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15 Virtual College Campus Tours to Explore From Home

Tour Vanderbilt, Harvard, USC, and more!

Touring a college campus is an exciting rite of passage for many high school students as they explore their future stomping grounds. For a variety of reasons students and families might not be able to visit in person—but that doesn’t mean they have to miss out! Below, 15 of the many virtual college campus tours available online right now.

University of Southern California

Get a glimpse of USC’s beautiful campus and historic University Park with this video that showcases the school’s classic architecture, park-like grounds, museums, cafés, entertainment, and more.

Location: Los Angeles, CA

Harvard University

Take a virtual tour of the oldest university in the United States. And even visit places you can’t even see during an in-person campus tour! Explore classrooms, laboratories, residence halls, and more.

Location: Cambridge, MA

This self-guided virtual tour of Penn State University Park gives students an insider’s view of classrooms, residence halls, athletic facilities, and much more. You’ll even learn about the school’s majors and vibrant student community along the way.

Location: State College, PA

College of William & Mary

The second-oldest school in the country invites you to a virtual engagement where you’ll learn about William & Mary’s academic programs, unique student research opportunities, study abroad programs, and supportive campus community of passionate students and faculty.

Location: Williamsburg, VA

Texas A&M

Get an up-close view of Texas A&M, the state’s first public institution of higher learning. This research-intensive flagship university is committed to sending leaders out into the world prepared to take on the challenges of tomorrow.

Location: College Station, TX

University of Miami

The University of Miami offers one of the most extensive virtual college campus tours on this list. Choose from many different locations including the main campus, library, Campus Arena, residential college, and more!

Location: Coral Gables, FL

Howard University

Tour the historic main campus, situated upon a hilltop in Northwest Washington just a few blocks from the storied U Street and Howard Theatre. Howard University is also located just two miles from the U.S. Capitol building where many students have both interned and gone on to shape national and foreign policy.

Location: Washington, D.C.

Vanderbilt University

The 10 schools at Vanderbilt University reside on a parklike campus set in the urban heart of Nashville. To explore, move along the tour route and then click the “360,” “photo,” and “video” icons to see even more.

Location: Nashville, TN

University of Oxford

Visit the oldest university in the English-speaking world. This 360° virtual tour offers views of facilities such as the dining hall, library, and chapel. Also find an example of a student room, garden or quad, and the porters’ lodge.

Location: Oxford, England

Hampton University

You’ll feel just like you’re strolling through campus with this very extensive virtual college tour. Explore many areas of Hampton University including the dorm courtyard, student center, library, and even Armstrong Stadium.

Location: Hampton, VA

Northwestern University

Take Northwestern’s online guided tour which offers an interactive 360-degree view of the campus including academic and residential buildings, dining halls, athletic facilities, and more.

Location: Evanston, IL

Boise State University

Boise is one of the fastest-growing cities in the United States. And this virtual college tour provides a view of the university’s state-of-the-art research labs, living and dining spaces, and brand new high-tech home for visual arts.

Location: Boise, ID

University of Nebraska

Enjoy an aerial view of the entire University of Nebraska (courtesy of drone footage)! Next, check out residence hall living spaces, the library, recreation, and wellness centers. There’s so much to see on this virtual college campus tour!

Location: Lincoln, NE

Duke University

There are several ways to enjoy this extensive online tour of Duke University. You can jump to recommended spots, click on the map to visit specific buildings, or simply “walk around” and take in the sights. Plus, you can click the interactive elements at each stop for more details!

Location: Durham, NC

Meredith College

Begin your tour of Meredith by the flagpole that marks the entrance to the school’s campus. From there, select any location by using the links on the page to see everything from the residence hall and courtyard to the Gaddy-Hamrick Art Center and athletic complex.

Location: Raleigh, NC

Did we miss a virtual college campus tour? Share them with us, and we might just add it to this list!

Also, view 15 Fascinating Aquarium Virtual Field Trips .

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Start your journey with Blessing-Rieman College of Nursing & Health Sciences right here in our virtual tour. Click the YouTube video to explore our campus and state-of-the-art Simulation Center.

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Colorado Mesa University

Welcome to Colorado Mesa University. We are excited to show you what CMU has to offer on our breathtaking campus in Western Colorado.

Featured Tours

Academics Tour

Explore Colorado Mesa University’s academic offerings through our virtual tour. Discover state-of-the-art facilities, interactive labs, and vibrant learning spaces across campus. Learn about our diverse programs and see how CMU supports your educational journey. Join us online to get a glimpse of student life and academic excellence.

There are 19 scenes in this tour

Campus Life Tour

Discover the vibrant student life at Colorado Mesa University through our virtual tour. Explore campus activities, student organizations, dining options, and recreational facilities. See how CMU fosters a dynamic and inclusive community where you can thrive academically and socially.

There are 23 scenes in this tour

Residence Life Tour

Experience Colorado Mesa University’s residence life through our virtual tour. Explore our diverse housing options, including modern dorms and apartments, and see the vibrant community spaces, amenities, and supportive environment we offer. Discover how living at CMU enhances your campus experience.

There are 21 scenes in this tour

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Public Events

Public tours.

Fermilab offers a variety of tour programs to best accommodate curious explorers of all ages and interests.

PUBLIC TOURS | COLLEGE TOURS | SELF-GUIDED TOURS | VIRTUAL TOURS

Come and learn about Fermilab, America’s premier particle physics laboratory and the accelerator-based neutrino research capital of the world!

Tours depart from the 1st floor atrium of Wilson Hall. Enter the ground floor entrance for accessible elevators. Guests will learn more about Fermilab’s history in the atrium and 2nd floor Art Gallery, head to the 15th floor for a unique view of the lab’s campus, and even see into the Main Control Room!

Visitors learn more about the lab on the 15th floor of Wilson Hall.

Identification requirement : Participants 18 years of age and older will be required to show a REAL ID-compliant identification document to enter Fermilab.

Schedule: October 21, November 18

Duration: 2 hours, 10 a.m. to noon

Ages: Open to visitors ages 10 and up (children ages 10 to 17 must be accompanied by an adult)

Registration : Registration is required.

REGISTER for 10/21 tour

REGISTER for 11/18 tour

College tours

College tours are a great way to connect undergraduate or graduate students with Fermilab. Participants will visit the Wilson Hall atrium and art gallery, head up to the 15th floor for a bird’s-eye view of the Fermilab campus, take a look into the Main Control Room, and have a chance to connect with one of Fermilab’s experts.

Students look over the Fermilab campus from the 15th floor of Wilson Hall.

Schedule: as requested

Duration: 4 hours

Minimum number of participants:  10

Maximum number of participants: 54

Request a college tour

Self-guided tours

The public is invited to explore Fermilab’s exhibit and viewing areas in Wilson Hall’s atrium, cafeteria and art gallery on the second floor.

Visitors are also encouraged to spend some time walking, hiking and bicycling in the public-access sections of our 6,800-acre prairie ecosystem during outdoor visiting hours .

View details on hours, activities, and other site access requirements .

The public is invited to Fermilab to visit its bison herd.

Schedule: Monday to Friday 7 a.m.-5 p.m.

Duration : Limited only by operating hours and your curiosity!

Cost : Free

Ages : Open to all ages (minors must be accompanied by an adult)

Registration : No registration required.

Virtual tours

Check out the following video for a virtual walk-through, and  join our mailing list  to be informed when in-person tours and events are scheduled in the future.

• Prospective Students
• Current Students
• Transfer Students
• Dual Credit
• Continuing Education
• Business Partners
• Veterans & Military

The College Tour Features Collin College, Streams on Amazon Prime this Fall

September 09, 2024

Cougar News

L ights, camera, action! The spotlight is focused on Collin College, as 10 all-star students take center stage on The College Tour to tell you what Collin College is all about. Through each unique story, viewers will hear students share their personal experiences with Collin College’s affordable programs, top-notch facilities, dedicated faculty and staff, accessible resources, and so much more.

The College Tour series travels around the globe highlighting higher education institutions via student stories. Their stop at Collin College marked the first community college in Texas to be featured on the series. The 30-minute-long episode is composed of 10 student-driven segments  that express truly one-of-a-kind perspectives.

As cameras made their way through multiple Collin College campuses, The College Tour was able to capture the talent and determination of students, showcasing this amazing college community.

You’ll soon be able to stream The College Tour on Amazon Prime and watch the full Collin College episode! As we prepare for the official Amazon Prime release on Oct. 15, let’s get a sneak peek at the stars of the show and what they had to say about Collin College in front of the cameras

Maxwell Bales Major: Veterinary Technology • Year: Freshman Hometown: Wylie “I’m able to take the knowledge that I’ve learned at Collin College back to my career and community and offer gold-standard medical care. This is thanks to our team of passionate professors who strive to make Veterinary Technology students successful!” Marylaisis Hernandez Major: Criminal Justice • Year: Sophomore Hometown: Plano “Whatever major you choose, you won’t just learn about it at Collin College, you’ll get hands-on experience and guidance throughout the entire process. From first-year academic coaches to job offers after graduation, they’ve got your back!” Temiloluwa Ogunleye Major: Computer Science • Year: Junior Hometown: Akure, Nigeria “From counseling to transfer and career guidance, Collin College has provided me with the necessary resources that will be crucial to my professional and personal growth moving forward.” Alisha Nunley Major: Kinesiology • Year: Freshman Hometown: Bedford “Collin College has been a blessing for my journey and has truly impacted me as a person. Being a student athlete is such an important, unique, and exciting opportunity!” Daniel Stewart Major: Education • Year: Sophomore Hometown: McKinney “Collin College is such an impressive place for education right here in my hometown. There are many campuses throughout the county, which makes education accessible for everyone looking to continue their education, no matter how busy your lifestyle.” Caleb Smith Major: Business Administration • Year: Freshman Hometown: Frisco “When it came time for me to transfer, Collin College made the process so smooth. They helped me enroll in classes that would easily transfer over to my future university. My time at Collin prepared me to take the next steps in furthering my education.” Jordan Rourke Major: Nursing • Year: Alumna Hometown: McKinney “I knew I wanted to pursue a bachelor’s degree in nursing, and it was a no-brainer when I found out I could continue at Collin College to achieve that. With low-cost tuition, flexibility, and on-campus support, the decision was easy.” Giovanni Delgadillo Major: Respiratory Care • Year: Freshman Hometown: Plano “Collin College has been serving its communities for more  than 30 years and has allowed countless students, like me, to achieve their academic goals without having to compromise their living.”  Amrita Singh Major: Business • Year: Sophomore Hometown: Allen “Wherever my future academic journey takes me, I know that I can thank Collin College for giving me a jump start and a wonderful experience as a Cougar.” Brooklyn Higa Major: Welding Technology • Year: Freshman Hometown: Oceanside, California “Being able to operate welding machinery and perform uniform welds are my two interests combined in one. I am so grateful for the hands-on experience and education I’m getting at Collin College.”

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Chinese American family meets descendants of the Black couple who rented to them when no one would

CORONADO, Calif. — Standing on their lawn, members of the Dong family waited to meet the great-grandkids of a Black couple who rented a home to them a generation ago, when laws favored white residents. It was their first meeting on storied land. 

In 1939, Gus and Emma Thompson, a Black entrepreneurial couple, agreed to rent and eventually sell the house they owned to the Dongs, a Chinese American family. 

The Thompsons’ decision touched off an upward trajectory in their lives, said Ron Dong, 87, who grew up in the house with his parents and three siblings. On Monday, the Dongs welcomed the Thompsons’ great-grandchildren back to the home where their lives intersected. The meetup was ahead of a dedication ceremony to name San Diego State University’s Black Resource Center after Emma and Gus, who was born into slavery in Kentucky.

“Oh, my gosh, we are so glad to be meeting!” Janice Dong, Ron’s wife, told Ballinger Gardner Kemp, 77, and Lauren Kemp Few, 66, the Thompsons’ great-grandchildren. The two families embraced in a tangle of open arms. 

In March, the Dongs announced they were donating $5 million to Black college students using proceeds from the sale of the house and the eight-unit apartment complex next door. It was a way to thank the Thompsons for helping them get established in American society, they said. 

Before the house sells, the Dongs wanted to give the Thompsons’ great-grandchildren a tour. Walking through the three-bedroom home, Few said she could feel her ancestors’ presence. The living room was lined with pictures of her grandparents from a Coronado Historical Association exhibit about the city’s Black history .

“It’s a bit overwhelming,” Few said as she wiped away tears. When she heard about the Dongs’ plan to donate proceeds from the sale to Black college students, she was struck by their generosity. 

“You don’t hear about these things,” she said. “You just don’t.” 

The two families, who live out of state and in different California cities, returned to Coronado on Monday in honor of the couple who built the house. Later that day, the Dongs and Thompsons’ great-grandchildren cut a ceremonial ribbon for the new center at SDSU.

It’s the American dream, said Lloyd Dong Jr., 82, Ron’s younger brother.

“The Thompsons gave my parents a foundation to owning a house and sending their kids to college,” he said. “Selling the house and donating it to the Black community for their education is a good thing.”

The Dongs’ property, which includes the apartment complex next door, was listed for $8.5 million . The sale recently fell out of escrow. The Dongs are working with the Coronado Historic Resources Commission to determine the home’s historic designation before they put it back on the market. 

His childhood home holds sentimental family memories but no official historical value, Ron Dong said. To create more living space for the family of six, his father, Lloyd Dong Sr. — a gardener from Central California — made many changes to the house, including the front exterior. 

The walls once resonated with the sounds of Ron Dong’s teenage friends’ enjoying home-cooked Chinese dishes made by his mother, Margaret. Now the house is mostly empty. The family held an estate sale to sell the “pure vintage” belongings, said Janice Dong, 87. 

The history of the house dates to the late 19th century, when Gus Thompson traveled from Kentucky to California to work at the Hotel Del Coronado . He built the house and the next-door barn on C Avenue in 1895, before the city’s racial housing covenants restricted Black residents and other people of color from buying or renting properties in the neighborhood. In what Kemp, his great-grandson, called the spirit of defiance and the resolve to help others, Thompson converted the upper level of the barn into a boarding house for the vulnerable. 

In 1955, Emma Thompson sold the Coronado home and the barn next door to the Dongs, who became the first Chinese American family to purchase real estate in Coronado, said Kevin Ashley, a Coronado historian. 

It is a piece of land that since the 1890s has been owned only by either a Black or a Chinese American family, Ashley said. 

The Dong and Thompson families say they were both marginalized people trying to make it in a land that didn’t see them as full citizens, so they supported each other. Now the Dong brothers are carrying on the spirit.

The Thompsons and Dongs’ decision to pay it forward, said Christopher Manning, SDSU’s vice president for student affairs and campus diversity, embodies the activist Grace Lee Boggs ’ words: “The only way to survive is by taking care of one another.” 

The $5 million gift will be used to enhance the center’s academic efforts, grow its mentorship program, advance support for mental health and upgrade facilities, Manning said. 

At the dedication ceremony, Lloyd Jr. leaned against the square building sign with Thompson’s name watching students walk by with teal shirts emblazoned with the Thompsons’ likenesses. 

Nearby, Kemp leaned in to repeat words he first said at their meeting at the Coronado house:

“Your parents would be so proud.”

Lynda Lin Grigsby is a freelance journalist and editor who writes about the intersections of race, identity and parenting.