Admissions: Tourin’ It Up

College tours are meant to do two things: show off the best parts of life at a given school and generate interest in the university to as many prospective students as possible. From my experience as millennial undergraduate student, my college search began online. I didn’t even visit the school I would ultimately attend in person until after I had been admitted. I did, however, frequent its admissions homepage and watch what other students were saying on our admitted students group on Facebook. Virtual tours and social networking are increasingly important as my peers and I rely heavily on what we can see and experience online. For those schools that we deem worthy enough to visit in person, the more innovative the college tour, the more likely we are to remember it and thus attend in the fall.  The University of the South, known locally as Sewanee, is a strong environmental college that recognizes how to highlight the most unique quality of their school by giving prospective students a hands-on tour.

Located in Sewanee, Tennessee high on the Cumberland Plateau about an hour and a half hour southeast of Nashville, The University of the South gives prospective students the opportunity to take a guided tour of “The Domain,” the natural terrain on which the campus was built. An expansive piece of preserved natural landscape, The Domain allows students to hike through 13,000 acres of undisturbed trails, rock climb, walk through caves wrought with original Native American artifacts, kayak or swim in an expansive man-made lake, or simply bask in the beauty few other college students have access to. With such a unique feature of campus, why wouldn’t the university want to show it off to prospective students? 

Before visiting campus, prospective students are urged to plan at least half a day for their tour—and to bring sturdy outdoor shoes. Upon completing a tour of campus, students and parents are given the opportunity to do a hike accompanied by a student guide. This informal continuation of the tour not only lets students see a unique feature of campus, but also gives them a place to ask a student guide questions in a social setting that they may not have felt comfortable asking in a large group.

Other colleges and universities that have made their tours unusual and thus memorable for students are Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn. and Alfred University in Alfred, NY. Gustavus gives a more comprehensive tour to students who return to campus for follow-up tours focusing on providing insight into school traditions such as sitting in the student section at basketball games, stories of ghosts in the library, sledding on lunch trays, and twirling a cube of modern art on campus with the letters BCAD.  According to Gustavus tradition, whichever letter lands face up will be the incoming student’s first grade at the university. Alfred allows prospective students the opportunity to ride a seven person bike for campus tours rather than walking.

The characteristic these schools have in common is a creative tour experience completely unique to the assets of their university. Many schools are starting to recognize the need for innovative college tours—from riding a seven person bicycle or hiking in the hills of Tennessee to providing a comprehensive view of campus via online college tours. The online option is a great way to engage prospective students, making your university intriguing enough for them to want to visit in person. More information on how to accomplish this feat is available on our website.