Virtual Visits: Why It’s Worth Showing Up

One of the reasons our admissions team wanted to start this blog was to offer you tips and advice, but also provide you with perspectives from the “inside.” With that in mind, here is something worth noting: colleges and universities think about you…a lot. We try to find ways to stay relevant (you’re cooler than us), meet you where you’re at (we see you, Instagram), and make things as simple as possible (hello, texting). From planning fun events to giving out free swag to redesigning our website, we want you to find helpful information and have an enjoyable experience.

This is exactly why you should consider attending those virtual visits that colleges and universities keep emailing you about. They are–very literally–created with you in mind. Now more than ever you have direct access to staff, faculty, and students. So here it is, five reasons you should visit virtually:

1. Get face time: With many institutions, including King’s, going test-optional this year, it’s more important than ever to make a great impression on the staff who are making admissions decisions. At King’s, those are your Counselors, and they also attend the virtual visits. Often the virtual visits include opportunities to mingle with the Counselors. So show up! Impress them by participating in conversations. Show them you care about the institution and your classmates. Wow them with your wit! They are definitely taking note.
2. Build your community: I don’t know about you, but I actually miss crowds. There, I said it. Virtual visits are a safe way to be in a large group. But the beauty here is we’re not talking about people you would see at your local Target. These are students from across the U.S. and around the world. You have a chance to meet students who have similar interests to you. Even if you don’t end up at the same school, you can still remain in touch. And who knows, maybe you’ll meet your future King’s roommate in one of our mixer rooms!
3. Get swag: You know how at almost every event adults offer you pizza (or some sort of food)? We want you to come and we know that cheesy goodness is going to seal-the-deal. The thing is we can’t offer you pizza during these virtual events, but we sure can give you free stuff! Some universities and colleges (or college fairs, like the NACCAP fairs) will even offer scholarship drawings for attending. At King’s, we’re doing swag giveaways. So show up–you may end up with some cool socks or a large scholarship.
4. Refine your search: While virtual visits are a time commitment, they are usually more accessible than traveling to see colleges in person (though that is awesome, too). This means you can check out a few more schools that you may not have been able to consider in the past. And then, Lord willing, you may be able to visit us in-person in the spring. These virtual opportunities allow you to explore your options, talk to professors, meet current students, and get your questions answered before you invest in the plane tickets.
5. Have fun: Again, these visits were created with you in mind. If they were built for me, we would all sit around a fireplace video on YouTube and knit. But this is about you. At the King’s virtual visit, there is a chat feature you can engage with, music, time to meet other prospective students and to hear from current students. We found the break out session with the professor and alumni to be one of the most popular opportunities. And again, free stuff. You should attend and be ready to have fun. You don’t need to dress up and your parents can absolutely join!

We hope you join us for our final Inviso Virtual Visit of the season on December 9th, 2020. You can learn more and sign up here!

// Photo by Annie Spratt //