Many
years ago, a very good friend of mine was accepted to NYU but put on the wait list at Harvard Law School. She accepted
at NYU and we soon set off on a five week summer trip through Europe. In Barcelona, she heard that she had been
accepted to Harvard. By the time we reached the Vatican, she had decided to attend the prestigious university, but she
had never even visited the school! Now, it’s Harvard and all, so it kind of has this incredible reputation which made
it fairly easy for her to make up her mind…but she did have to give it serious thought without ever having been
there. This article in the
Seattle Times about video walking tours of colleges got me thinking about my friend’s situation from all those
years ago. A video would probably not have been much good to her back then anyway, but what if they can get these videos
on the web?!?!?! Collegiate Choice Walking Tours offers videotapes of
standard campus tours from more than 350 colleges. The simple productions include photos of campus with a recording of
the tour guide’s presentation to visiting prospective students. But since the films are shot by guidance counselors and
are not professional products (Exhibit A: their logo shown here!), they offer a unique perspective on the school and
provide valuable insight to folks who just can’t get there but are interested in attending.