A new virtual touring website could make picking the right college easier for incoming freshman.

CNN posted a video April 16 about an online university-touring site, Unigo. com, that features pictures, videos and different university reviews in more than 1,600 higher education institutions across America. Prospective college students who use the site can read reviews written by university students and information not normally shared through universities. The site is also constantly updated so students have the latest information available to find the right programs for incoming freshmen. It also features pictures and student reviews that pertain to SIU.

Paul Copeland, undergraduate admissions customer service assistant and campus visit program manager, said it is important for students to know the physical campus before they enroll.

“What we want to do is help students understand what is available here so they can make the right decision,” he said. “Everyone has choices, so we want people to come in with their eyes open and see what is available for the students.”

University tours help students become more familiar with the campus and what faculty expect of students, Copeland said.

“Part of the walking tour is showing the housing area, to give an idea of what the residence halls look like,” he said. “We also set up opportunities to meet with academic departments so they can talk about their programs, research and study opportunities and what class work students will be doing,” he said.

However, being able to virtually view what the campus looks like, where campus facilities are located and the university’s academic programs makes it more available to new students, he said. Although online tours only provide a general campus view, they are helpful in readily making information available to prospective students, he said.

“If you are looking at the academic programs we offer, the virtual tour can point you to certain university facilities like the College of Engineering, College of Education, mass communication, media arts, liberal arts, all those elements are embedded in the tour,” he said. “If someone is just browsing the web and needs insight, the virtual tours can really help you in the right direction.”

Ideally, he said, virtual tours would help convince prospective students to visit the university in person.

Tedgie Morgan, admission counselor and campus visit program supervisor, said it is important to keep up with technological trends because of the new generation of students the university wants to recruit,.

“The students we are trying to bring to the university are a technologically-based generation, and they are more computer and web savvy,” she said “A lot of students start their search online, so it is important that we try to reach out to those prospective students.”

Morgan said many people who want to attend college start their search online, so ensuring the university maintains a web presence is important.

However, she said, as convenient as virtual tours are for students without the time or money to check out universities individually, the tours do not have the same personal touch that comes with an on-campus visit.

“We are all consumers, so we make decisions based on how we feel and how comfortable we are with a product, or if we feel it is a good investment for our money,” Morgan said. “With a virtual tour, you do not get to that personalized touched or feel that you would from a tour of campus in person.”

Some students said online tours are a good option for prospective students to gauge universities’ options, but websites do not replace a physical tour.

Mark Shannon, a freshman from Chicago studying kinesiology, said physical campus tours are more effective than virtual tours because it helps students understand a college layout.

“Virtual tours can help students by giving information like tuition or academic programs, but it definitely takes a tour on campus if you want to see what college life is like firsthand,” he said.

Dante Leveritte, a junior from Fayetteville, N.C. studying radio-television, said on-campus tours are welcoming to prospective students, but virtual tours can help give a more general view of a particular university.

“I used to be a tour guide for the university, so I know guides are a first look into college life for students,” he said. “(Students) are getting some real experience from someone who has been there. I know the online virtual tours are more in-depth than they used to be, and keeping that information updated and open to the public gives a good overview of the campus.”