You don't have to go to Hawaii to surf for a university

By Herman Lira
Pulse Staff Reporter

There are other means of searching for colleges and universities besides taking economically stressful road trips to many campuses.

With the help of the Internet, students are now able to inspect the campuses of their choice online. This convenient way to search for information on universities has further challenged campuses to attract students.

Tradition and convenience are called into question when a student looks for information on universities. Traditionally, students received invitations from universities and visited a few before deciding which campus to choose.

Convenience-wise, the Internet is becoming a major source for current information on four-year schools. Many universities have noticed this situation, so they have created web sites that provide more information about themselves for the students to access at home or school.

Nowadays, many students from colleges and high schools inspect the campus’ web site to decide whether or not they are interested. Students can also look up information about the university’s financial aid, dormitories, social clubs, courses and majors. Some of the campuses also have message board forums that allow the user to post questions and have them answered in a timely fashion.

Palo Alto’s website is continuously updated to provide important information that is easy to access. Frances Cisneros is the Webmaster for Palo Alto College, and her job is to make sure our site functions correctly. Catalogues and classes are some of the site’s main features currently being updated for the convenience of our students and potential students.

Jennifer Davis, a junior Art major, said, “I go online to jump to other college web sites to find out specific information to see if they are suitable for me. It also beats driving or flying all the way out to the campus just to find out some info.”

Many universities are adding virtual tours of their campus. A virtual tour is a map or movie that lets the student view a schematic of the entire campus. Highlighted areas of the map indicate which buildings or areas have more information.

These virtual tours usually require plug-ins of either RealPlayer or QuickTime in order for the map to function properly. For both RealPlayer and QuickTime, go to the help menu and scroll down to the update feature while you’re online.

Besides searching through the university’s direct web site, students can also surf through other sites, which give information on many campuses. These web sites give advice, plans and requirements on how to get into the university of your choice. Some of these web sites even have a chat service that lets the user talk to students from other campuses.

Here are four websites that might make choosing a university easier. These directory websites are for universities and colleges:

1) http://www.campustours.com This site lets students see a variety of virtual tours from different universities. They also have a small list of applications, financial aid services and events dedicated to helping enroll in the college of their choice. Free membership is required if you wish to use the advance options of the site.

2) http://www.nacac.com This web site provides numerous tips for students, parents and counselors on knowing what to expect from colleges and universities. This site is also a representative of the Online College Fair program, which has a list of schools it sponsors. Live chats are also given that will connect the students to the representatives of the colleges.

3) http://www.collegeview.com This site also has a couple virtual tours from many universities. It provides information on scholarships and financial aid. College View also has a variety of tips for students as well as other information that could be useful.

4) http://www3.galaxy.com/galaxy/Social-Sciences/Education/Higher-Education/Academic-Institutions/Campus-Tours.html There is a large list of university web sites with summaries. There is also a search engine, which allows the student to access any university’s web site in the United States.

The downfall to the sites listed above lies in the intricate layers of links that try to provide too much information. Confusion can occur very easily if the student does not know what category they are looking for.

Another disadvantage of searching for schools online comes from not experiencing the campuses’ environment first-hand. The personal reactions to the weather, students, faculty and campus are features that cannot be shown online.

“I would not like looking for a school online, because I would miss out on all the reactions I’d sense from the people and weather on the campus. Those are experiences I wouldn’t be willing to sacrifice,” said Rosa Gonzales, a freshman Undecided major.

Searching for campuses over the web can be very cost efficient. The need for campus road trips could become a thing of the past, but highly unlikely as of now. But if you’re not the road trip type, jump online and search for the university that suits you best.

Remember, the campus of your dreams may be just a few keys and the click of a mouse away.