Seniors visit colleges despite empty campuses

PHOTO: Caroline Brennan followed COVID guidelines while touring University of Montana.

By Sarah Griffiths,

BlueDevilHUB.com Staff–

As college application deadlines approach, seniors have begun touring campuses to find their perfect school.

Senior Avital Schwarz visited UC Santa Cruz, UC Santa Barbara, the Claremont Colleges, CalTech and Stanford. 

“I wanted to see what the campuses were like, if I felt like I would be happy there, and if the students there liked it, but most of the campuses were pretty empty because of COVID,” Schwarz said.

The UCSB campus stood out the most to the senior. 

“It is gorgeous and literally right on the ocean. I saw a bunch of people surfing and there were a bunch of murals all over town. It just had an overall really happy, fun vibe,” Schwarz said.

Senior Caroline Brennan visited Montana State University, University of Montana, Gonzaga University and University of Washington with her parents during the last week of September.

“While touring campuses I was honestly trying to grasp a sense of what the vibe is for each school. I feel like no matter how many virtual tours you take or how many pictures you look up you won’t ever be able to get a sense of whether or not the campus is a fit unless you can visit in person,” Brennan said.

COVID guidelines differ between colleges, although many have canceled the usual guided tours.

“Two of the four campuses I visited were still offering guided tours as long as masks were worn the entire time and we stayed socially distant from our campus tour guide. Both of those schools were in Montana where COVID cases are lower. The schools in Washington, Gonzaga University and the University of Washington, weren’t offering guided tours but we were welcome to walk around as long as we wore masks while on campus,” Brennan said.

Schwarz had a similar experience while touring with her aunt.

“Most of the colleges were pretty much empty. We didn’t have an official tour guide with a tour or anything, we just walked around campus,” Schwarz said.

Brennen was in awe of the University of Washington’s campus.

“The University of Washington stood out the most to me because of how beautiful the campus was. The huge brick buildings, greenery, shaded walkways, cherry trees and Greek houses were all so beautiful and made the campus unlike any other I have seen so far,” Brennan said.