After The hard Work:

You’ve spent years preparing for college—countless hours on homework, late-night study sessions, and maybe even the occasional tutor. On top of that, you’ve been juggling athletics and extracurriculars. You’ve checked all the boxes to give yourself the best shot at getting into your dream school.

Now, as a junior or senior, it’s time to tackle a new challenge: figuring out where you actually want to go.

There are two main steps to making that decision:

1. Narrow your list based on your academic profile (grades, test scores, extracurriculars, etc.).
2. Go on a college visit to explore your top choices.

Step one is relatively simple, thanks to resources like Niche.com and other online tools. Step two, however, is where things get tricky. College visits require time, money, and effort—coordinating time off work, budgeting for hotels and transportation, and making sure you’re prepared to ask the right questions that will impact your decision.

But here’s the real question: Does the college tour really deliver the answers families are looking for?

The College Tour: Then and Now

Let’s rewind for a moment.

In the 1940s and ’50s, after the GI Bill was passed, a surge of students began applying to colleges—students who, just decades earlier, might never have imagined pursuing higher education. To meet this influx, colleges started offering guided tours, giving prospective students personalized information while making their campuses stand out.

As enrollments continued to climb, colleges formalized the process. Admissions offices set schedules, hired student ambassadors, and polished every aspect of the tour experience. Dorms, dining halls, and extracurricular activities became centerpieces of campus visits, all designed to impress both students and parents.

Fast forward 80 years, and not much has changed. College tours still offer valuable benefits: they provide a firsthand glimpse of campus life, opportunities to meet faculty and students, and a chance to imagine what it might be like to live there.

Yet, for all their positives, one glaring issue remains: most prospective students and their parents leave tours without having their most personalized questions answered.

Rethinking the College Search Process

For decades, college tours have been the gold standard for narrowing down where to spend four (or more) years of your life. They’re meant to give you a feel for the campus, help you see the highlights, and hopefully answer your burning questions. But let’s be real—tours aren’t always the perfect solution.

Between coordinating schedules, spending money on travel, and crossing your fingers that you picked the right day to visit (rainy days can kill any vibe), the process feels more like a marathon than an exploration. And even when you do make it, you’re often left wondering: “Why didn’t they talk about my important question?”

A Smarter Way to Narrow the List

Here’s the thing: narrowing your college choices isn’t about racking up frequent flyer miles or hitting every dining hall buffet across the country. It’s about focusing on what really matters to you.

Think beyond the postcard-perfect tours. Tools like Vivaday.org allow you to search any university or major and ask current students your questions. Instead of general answers from a tour guide, you’ll get video responses directly from students who’ve been in your shoes—giving you a clearer, more personalized view of what life on campus is really like.

Clarity Without the Chaos

Ultimately, the goal isn’t to see every campus; it’s to make the decision process feel less overwhelming. Whether it’s prioritizing your top questions, digging into the details that mean the most, or embracing unconventional ways to explore campuses, your journey doesn’t have to follow the traditional roadmap.

Finding the right college isn’t about visiting every school on your list. It’s about discovering the one that feels like home—even if you’ve never set foot there.

Hope this was helpful,

See you next week!