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College campuses across Vermont are usually full of admitted students and their parents touring campus during April, as high school seniors attempt to narrow their options before the typical May 1 decision deadline.
But due to the coronavirus and social isolation aimed at limiting the spread of the virus, colleges and their admitted students are shifting from the typical campus tours and admitted student days to virtual alternatives.
Champlain College and St. Michael’s have extended their decision deadlines from May 1 to June 1 to allow students extra time to reach their decisions. Across the state, colleges and universities say they are allowing additional flexibility to those who need it.
Tim Reardon, Norwich University’s assistant vice president of enrollment, said he loves showing prospective students the university’s campus. But this year is presenting challenges in the admissions process, he said.
Reardon compared picking a college without visiting to buying a house based on an online profile.
“All colleges in America right now are saying, ‘Hey, you should pick us, but you can’t come see us,” Reardon said. “And that’s tough.”
Norwich has pivoted to online recruitment, and has created a series of webinars in which current students talk about the academics, student life, athletics, clubs and activities. The university has seen spike in traffic to its website, Reardon said.
“The feedback has been really good,” Reardon said. “I think families are jumping on the virtual tour, they’re jumping on a webinar, jumping on the opportunity to connect with a faculty member or staff member and get their questions answered.”
The University of Vermont held a virtual admitted students experience Friday and had more than 600 students from around the world log in to take virtual tours and engage with UVM students, faculty and staff.
“It’s been as busy and as intense as we may have expected, and we’re happy to see that the interest in the University of Vermont is still there, despite all that’s happening,” Ryan Hargraves, the director of admissions at UVM, said.
Hargraves said that the admissions office was working to help connect prospective students with people on campus they are interested in speaking with, and would be willing to work with prospective students individually if they needed more time to make their college decision.
Hargraves said that the university currently did not expect its enrollment to lag due to the crisis at this point, but acknowledged the future is uncertain.
“All of us who are in the enrollment business are uncertain,” he said. “To speculate would be unwise because how things shake out in the weeks and months ahead is going to guide our course.”
Castleton University is stepping up its digital recruiting presence to attract students during the pandemic, Maurice Ouimet, Castelton’s dean of enrollment, said. The school has transitioned its in-person accepted students day into an online event on Zoom, allowing the audience access to ask questions of current students and other guest speakers.
“Obviously, it’s impossible to replicate in an online environment, but we were pretty thrilled with how it turned out,” Ouimet said. “We had a decent turnout of students that still tuned in through Zoom.”
Castleton has softened its deadlines and given extensions to those who need them due to the virus, and has relaxed requirements related to submitting official documentation, Ouimet said.
Ouimet said that engagement with the university was up during the virus, and that Castleton would continue its enhanced online recruitment efforts after the virus.
“It’s really forced innovation in so many different ways,” he said. “We’ll always go back to the basics and have the same kind of program that we have, but this can be used to complement it and enhance it in many ways.”
Middlebury College has updated its admissions website, revamped its virtual tour, expanded its social media outreach and produced webinars featuring staff, faculty, alumni and students, Middlebury dean of admissions Nicole Curvin said via email.
Champlain College has also bolstered its online offerings, reopened its application process for students starting college in fall 2020 and extended its deposit deadline.
St. Michael’s College has extended its deposit deadline and is stepping up its online recruitment efforts, Mike Stefanowicz, the college’s director of admissions, said.
The college’s first virtual open house is tomorrow, and Stefanowicz said the college was expecting more students to attend the virtual open house than the average on-campus event.
“Choosing a college is a decision that involves your head and your heart,” he said. “I think our job is to give all the information that we can to students in a virtual format, and then also try to create that sense of community so that they can see who these people are that are going to support you when you’re at college.”
At Burlington High School, Meg Hughart, director of school counseling, said counselors are meeting via video with students on Google Hangouts and calling them on the phone. The guidance department has been aiming to help students adjust to online learning and ensure the emotional well-being of students with the cancellation of school.
“There’s been a lot of grief, especially for seniors, which I think is completely warranted and normal,” Hughart said. “Then mixed into that, what we call decision anxiety, where they’re hearing back from colleges to which they’ve applied.”
Guidance counselors have been discussing college options and financial aide with students, Hughart said. While the virtual tours colleges are offering are helpful, Hughart said that the biggest challenges for students is selecting a college without visiting.
“They’re fine at this time of change and chaos that we’re in,” she said. “They’re not quite the real deal, and that’s hard for our seniors right now.”
Hughart said she has seen a subtle shift in students’ mindsets during the virus, as students are starting to consider what they are missing about their high school experience and evaluating those values in light of their college decisions.
A couple of students have selected a school closer to home because of the virus, Hughart said.
“They said it really had to do with, what if this happens again?” she said. “And, ‘They’re saying it could be a year and a half of this.’ I think that’s very real.”
