Committing to College Based on Online Resources?

As the college commitment deadline approaches, seniors at Peninsula and other high schools across the country are facing the decision of which college to commit to for the upcoming school year. During any normal year, universities worldwide would hold events for admitted students to showcase the range of programs and overall social atmosphere on campus. However, due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, most on-site campus visits, admitted students events and school tours have been canceled, postponed or moved online. This means that most students will not be able to physically visit their potential school’s campus before their commitment deadline. Thus, many seniors are scared that because they are not able to experience their possible schools in person, they may make the wrong decision about where to commit. 

“I am really sad, nervous, annoyed and anxious about not being able to visit because [visiting a school in person] would really help me make my final decision,” senior Jieun Seo said. “It is scary because I do not want to go to a school that is not for me just because I was not able to visit.”

To accommodate for the cancellation of in-person visits, many schools have further provided a variety of online resources for admitted students in order to help them decide where to commit. Such resources include virtual campus tours, calls with representatives, Zoom calls with current students and social media accounts dedicated to incoming students. Seo, who is currently deciding between three schools, has attended Zoom calls for each school. Such Zoom calls are held by current students and faculty, and they cover specific topics, such as housing benefits, academics, financial aid and orientation. 

“These calls are not super beneficial to me as of now,” Seo said. “The virtual resources are not ideal, and I think a lot of the time they repeat information that I already knew and researched.”

On the contrary, senior Elissa Luce explained that such virtual resources did help her decide to commit to studying as an undergraduate student at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly SLO) next year. She particularly became interested in Cal Poly SLO’s “Learn by Doing” philosophy, which combines theory and experience in a learning environment, and Luce realized that this ideology is one that she values in an education. Luce’s decision was also influenced by the social media pages Cal Poly created for the class of 2024, which helped her meet other prospective students and find a roommate for next year. 

“Cal Poly SLO created an Instagram and Facebook page for the class of 2024, which are helping prospective students connect with each other and introduce themselves to others,” Luce said. “[Current students] also provided a lot of good advice and information about housing on the Facebook page, which is really helpful because people are curious about the different dorms at Cal Poly SLO.” 

Many seniors are also relying on video-sharing platform YouTube to view videos current college students have made about specific schools to get a sense of the college’s student culture, campus, activities and more. Although independent student and alumni pages are not associated with each university’s virtual resources, they can help show the variety of perspectives of students at each school. 

Official YouTube channels for specific groups at each university also provide a unique view into their school. Senior Kelly Beaupre, who has committed to play softball at Dartmouth University, explained that the Dartmouth YouTube channel has helped her gain a sense of the softball program. Although the virus is preventing her from physically attending anticipated training and welcome events, she is still able to participate virtually through YouTube videos posted by Dartmouth. 

“Dartmouth Peak Performance, the athletic program, has come out with YouTube videos of bodyweight workouts so athletes can stay fit at home without workout machines or weights,” Beaupre said. “Because athletes like myself cannot play their sports competitively right now or even do traditional lifts and conditioning workouts, these videos help us stay in shape and have helped me connect with my future team.” 

Despite students’ disappointment of not being able to physically experience their potential schools, many Peninsula seniors feel that colleges are providing them with resources to adapt, considering the current social distancing measures. “I think that the virtual resources are adequate to help a student decide where to go as long as they utilize and make the most of them,” Luce said. “As much as it is disappointing, I can tell that schools want us to be as informed and as comfortable as possible and that people’s safety and health is much more important than a college tour.”