Screening College Options from Home

The New York Times: "High school juniors hoping to begin college in the fall of 2021 are not able to visit campuses in person, but they and their families have many ways to explore their options while staying safe at home." For example: "The National Association for College Admission Counseling provides information from more than 1,000 colleges and universities on changes to admissions processes resulting from the pandemic. The tool lets students get an overview of resources available at each institution, including links to virtual tours offered ... StriveScan is offering the Strive Virtual College Exploration program through May 8 to take the place of in-person college fairs ... CampusTours offers tours of more than 1,800 schools in the United States as well as tours of schools in the United Kingdom, Canada, China and France." "YouVisit offers tours of more than 600 U.S. schools. The tours offer prompts that pop up asking students for input that is sent to college officials to respond, an attempt to replicate the questions and answers that come up during in-person tours ... YoUniversity: Students can click on tabs such as “safest campuses,” “most diverse campuses” and “top academic colleges,” as well as “best campus food” and “coolest dorms.” ... CampusReel: Students enrolled at colleges can upload their videos to this site for sharing, after being vetted. Students or parents must register to join." "The Gap Year Association offers videos on what it means to take a gap year and is building a new student membership platform — a nominal fee will be required to join — that will give students access to weekly calls to learn about gap year opportunities, said the association’s executive director, Ethan Knight. The website also offers information on accredited gap year programs and counselors."