April vacation is usually a popular time for prospective students to visit colleges, but as you know, not every student has the means to visit the colleges they want to in person. Many colleges and universities already offered virtual tours on their websites to take students into classrooms, residence halls, and other prominent campus buildings—but more realized the necessity of offering this digital resource to students conducting the college search after the pandemic left students stuck at home unable to complete their research. Now that there is rarely a school without a virtual tour, we have a way to make them even more fun and engaging.
Make your virtual campus visits more fun!
We know videos and virtual guides can’t replace the feeling of stepping foot on campus, asking your questions face-to-face, and exploring on your own terms—but they’re a helpful and convenient replacement if you can't travel due to finances or other circumstances. You may remember our version of Campus Visit Bingo, and we made a companion game. Since you can’t see all the fun stuff you might see in real life on a virtual tour (like students walking around campus in their pajamas), we’ve designed a new version that you can play along as you’re touring online: Virtual Campus Visit Bingo!
How to play the game
Just visit this link to generate a unique Bingo card. On each card, you’ll find common campus tour highlights like library, dorm room, dining hall, classroom, and other things that can still be found during a virtual tour. But this version also includes B-roll and other content you may encounter on a college’s website, including aerial shots, student interviews, sports footage, and more.
When you generate your Bingo card, you’ll find a random selection of the following:
- Admission office
- Aerial shot of campus
- Animal (like squirrels running around campus)
- Bicycle
- Body of water (like a fountain, pond, lake, ocean, etc.)
- Campus quad or central green space
- Career center
- Classroom or lecture hall
- Coffeehouse
- College mascot
- Computer lab
- Dining hall
- Dorm room
- Fall foliage (a must for New England campuses)
- Frisbee game
- Gym or fitness center
- Health center
- Library
- Performing arts center
- President or dean
- Professor
- Science lab
- Sports team
- Stadium (indoor or outdoor)
- Statue
- Student Union building
- Student interview
- Swimming pool
- Virtual tour guide
Keep a separate window with your Bingo card open while you’re browsing around a college’s website or taking a virtual tour. When you spot one of the items on your card, just click or tap the square to mark an X. Get five X’s in a row horizontally, vertically, or diagonally to win!
Related: CollegeXpress Featured Colleges With Virtual Campus Tours
All the cool kids take virtual tours
Don't let your inability to visit colleges in person get you down! You can still have a lot of fun and learn about your schools of interest from the comfort of your own home while saving a few bucks. Exploring through virtual tours may even at least make it feasible to go on one or two in-person tours for your top schools once you narrow down your list. It's important to mix and match your college search resources to find a great school for you.
If you’re looking for other things to do on your virtual campus tours, check out our List of Essential Campus Visit Questions to see what you can ask admission officers and current students over email or chat.
