COLLEGIATE CHOICE WALKING TOURS VIDEOS
A most unique DVD video series of college campuses
While our series looks like something your own high school guidance counselors might have produced, it has been well received by the press. Collegiate Choice Walking Tours Videos has been mentioned in U.S. News & World Report's Best Colleges, Newsweek/Kaplan's How to Get into College, Time/Princeton Review's Best College for You, Money, Kiplinger's, Reader's Digest, New Jersey Monthly, and numerous articles some of which are excerpted below:
The Boston Globe - Jerry
Morris, Travel Editor
"Among colleges my son, Douglas, is considering is George
Washington. For two people to go from Boston to Washington, the cost could
easily reach or go beyond $500. One way to cut that expense is by viewing videos
made by Collegiate Choice. The videos, 30-120 minutes long, are not promotional
but honest tours of some 275 campuses. The video on George Washington, Doug
said, was equal to his visit, and he even learned a few things from the video
that he missed at the school. The sound and lighting on the videos sometimes are
not the best, but this only adds to their candid view, and at $15 for each tour,
they are an excellent way to do some college touring at low cost."
Chicago Tribune - Jeff Lyon, Reporter:
"The
videos possess a home video quality. There are no mood shots or background
music. The camera simply follows the student guides who give the tours and
focuses on the same stuff you'd see and hear if you took the tour yourself.
Aside from the unbiased approach, viewers benefit from expertise of the
questions asked."
The Philadelphia Inquirer-B.J. Phillips, Business Reporter: "I took the tour of Kenyon on Monday - in the convenience of a conference room a few steps from my desk. I requested the Kenyon tour because Kenyon is my alma mater, and I've been back fairly often. The verdict: the video offered a pretty candid and thorough overview. No one should choose a college on the basis of a video, and a real visit would still be essential for any school that one is very serious about. But you could easily eliminate a college or two after viewing a video tour, justifying the cost of a handful."
Chicago Sun-Times-Mi Ai Ahern, Travel Editor: "Here's a tip for families facing the crunch: Collegiate Choice Walking Tours Videos - videos of guided campus tours at more than 300 colleges and universities. Running between 30 and 120 minutes, the tapes are of the handheld variety that won't win any awards for cinematography. But they are also not recruiting videos. They offer a real look by real people. With no actors or fancy soundtracks. Families are left to judge for themselves. I viewed a video of my alma mater, University of Maryland, and found it informative and accurate. It was a nice trip down memory lane, and I even learned a few things."
Wisconsin State Journal-Phil McDade, columnist: "(Collegiate Choice) sticks its nose, actually its camera, into seemingly every nook and cranny of a college campus. You get dormitory rooms, gymnasiums, classrooms, laboratories, libraries, and even the campus chapel. They're usually accompanied for part of the way by a college student and they ask smart questions. Are the dorms co-ed? Are Greeks big here? How serious are students about academics? They don't try to sugarcoat much, either. The video of my alma matter, Macalester College in St. Paul, was taken on one of those raw, windy winter days for which Minnesota is famous. Of course that's Minnesota for most of the year, so they earn points for accuracy."
Boston Globe Magazine - David Cohen, Reporter: "Given what it takes to select a school, these unembellished videos ($15 each) are a bargain."
Syracuse Herald-Journal - Frank Herron, Education Writer: " A group of New Jersey based college advisors visited 300 campuses ranging from Adelphi to Yeshiva with hand held video cameras in tow. The questions asked during a tour of Syracuse University are typical of what's asked at all campuses. SU Dean of Admissions David Smith watched the video, to see how his school fared and judge whether it would be of any help to college-bound high school students. Smith was impressed. "If you want a sense of what to expect on a visit, it's pretty much on target," said Smith."
The Advocate and Greenwich Time - Geoffrey O'Connell, Travel Editor:"What the videos provide are simple, at times amateurish, walks through some 300 American campuses. But what these videos lack in high-tech quality, they make up for in forthrightness. It is precisely because they are not slick, highly sanitized views of campus life, that they ring true for parents and students. ...The talk is often candid, and the camera is as apt to capture a poorly maintained student center as it is to linger over ivy-covered walls. ...I selected several tours of my daughter's final choices, and she ended up choosing one of the campuses, The University of Colorado at Boulder, after careful consideration and the benefit of a Collegiate Choice Walking Tour. There's an added bonus. Parents can keep the video as a kind of touchstone to the new environs that will be home to their child for four years."
The Bradenton Herald -
Janet Presha, Staff Writer
"I ordered the video of Howard University in Washington, DC,
which I will attend in August as a freshman. I was warned the videos aren't
professional (the counselors did the filming). But the videos depict a real
visit, so I was willing to give the benefit of the doubt. After seeing the
video, I agree with Collegiate Choice. The video provided me with a realistic
view of Howard that could not have been obtained through background music and
flashy scenes. The videos show students hanging out or going to class while
giving information about admissions and housing. If a student is interested in a
school, these videos could answer several questions and perhaps have the student
sold on attending."
Mothering - Joan Logghe,
Video Editor
"This collection of 280 tours is far from slick.
Produced by a group of college advisors and filmed with hand held cameras during
student-led walking tours, the videos vary in quality but are extremely
informative. I followed up my viewing of Carnegie-Mellon University with an
actual tour, and it was deja vu - I knew this place already. A great money
saving idea and a valuable tool to use in the college selection
process."
Daily Herald, Arlington IL
- Jacky Runice, Correspondent
"Visiting college campuses with your teen is
important in order to learn about a particular school and the college experience
in general, but what if Junior has two favorite schools, a couple of maybes, and
a 'safety' college or two? How will you find the time and money to see them all?
What will you do about child care for any younger kids in the house? Answer: You
visit one or two and order Collegiate Choice Walking Tour videos for the other
possibilities. ... I took "Collegiate Choice" up on their offer and watched the
video of the University of Wisconsin at Madison. A few weeks later, my daughter
and I visited the school, signed up for a student led tour and I knew exactly
when the joke about the psychology building was coming up. In other words, the
video was a carbon copy of the tour."
The Times-Picayune, New
Orleans, LA - Siona LaFrance, Staff Writer
"At The Times-Picayune's request,
Rebekah Kuhn, 17, a junior at Cabrini High School, viewed Collegiate Choice
videotapes of Washington University of St. Louis and Davidson College in North
Carolina, two schools in which she has a passing interest, but hasn't visited.
'I did learn a lot by watching the tapes that I would not have known by just
reading the college brochures,' she said. ' I did appreciate Collegiate Choice
asking questions about safety on campus. It's a very important issue, especially
for female students. I also liked to hear each tour guide's suggestions of where
everything - like movies and restaurants - was and where to spend free time.'
She said that while she found the amateur quality of the videos a distraction at
times, 'it actually made me feel like I was on the tour."
Detroit Free Press - David
Lyman, Staff Writer
"And when you consider that it's not uncommon for
high school juniors - a prime age for college visits - to have a wish list of as
many as 10 schools, the possibility for economic hardship looms large. That's
where Collegiate Choice Videos comes in. They're handy. And they provide an
affordable shortcut in college hunting. The 118 minute video of the University
of Michigan, for instance, takes viewers into dorms, classrooms, athletic
facilities, and the student center. It even makes time for a view of the
fraternities and sororities and takes a jaunt around the vibrant commercial
district adjacent to campus. There's none of the lush, everything-is-beautiful
presentation you'd find in an official university video. For one thing, it was
shot on a chilly spring day, long before the leaves returned to campus trees.
But more important is that the videos give a relatively unbiased presentation of
the institutions."
Detroit News - Melissa
Preddy, Money Editor
"It's always refreshing to run across an ingenious -
and economical - alternative to a common household dilemma. The most recent
example to cross my desk is $15 videos with the potential to help college-bound
seniors and their families save hundreds of dollars. No, it's not a how-to
primer on financial aid. Rather it's an hourlong, camera's eye tour of the
University of Maine's Orono campus, complete with indoor and outdoor video of
athletic facilities, residence halls and other campus buildings. The counselors
who record the tours are the first to admit that these videos aren't exactly
Hollywood productions. The camera work has a bit of home-movie jerkiness and the
audio lacks consistency as well. But based on the the sample I viewed, the
videos are more than adequate if you want a feel for the size, scope, and
amenities of any campus you're considering. In tandem with lingering shots of
the physical plant, the narrator prompts the tour guide with logical questions
about services, classroom offerings, social life and more. While numerous sites
offer computer-based "virtual tours," the video format seems more comfortable
and convenient for family viewing. The videos are a practical tool for high
school students paralyzed by a plethora of choices, and should help families
winnow down their list to a practical size."
Boston Globe, Bruce Mohl,
Globe Staff Reporter
"The videos take you all over campus, inside dining
halls, dorms, libraries, gyms, and classrooms. They give you a feel for the
campus. I reviewed videos of Tufts University in Medford, Mass. and Occidental
College in the Los Angeles area and the two couldn't have been more different.
Tufts came across as a typical New England campus. There's the classic
quadrangle, historic buildings, and landscaping that consists of mostly grass
and trees. Occidental has white, modern buildings surrounded by fountains and
lush vegetation. At one point in the tour, sprinklers pop up out of the ground
to water the grass. On many videos, you see students walking to class, giving
you an unscientific sense of the racial mix at the school and how the students
dress. Lots of information is also conveyed by the tour guide, everything from
average class size to security, Greek life to dorm life, meal plans to Internet
hookups."
The Reporter Dispatch-White
Plains, NY, Mary Fuller, Educational Travel Reporter
"I reviewed the video of Wesleyan
University in Middletown, Conn. The guide, a sophmore and double biology/theater
major, knew his stuff. He handled pesky administrative questions -' Will my high
school A.P. biology course be credited toward the freshman class here?' - with
patience and grace. Historical vignettes about Wesleyan and an insider's take on
the social life are enthusiastically shared. This, above all, gives viewers a
genuine feel for the character of the university. All of the main buildings and
points of interest are covered during the 97 minute trek around campus. The
cameraperson works hard to capture all the sights the people on the live tour
see. And, in some cases, sights beyond. At a stop in front of a large lecture
center, where class is in session, the group remains outside while the camera
goes in and pans around the room to give at-home viewers a closer look at the
students and professor. These videos are a great way to stip away the fluff and
get an honest look at a school. And it saves money on traveling expenses too.
Videos can also be a useful screening tool."
The Bulletin
Journal-Providence, RI, Keren Mahoney Jones, Staff Writer
"We're here at Northwestern
University,' says a voice, as the camera focuses on a parking garage. 'We don't
usually start with a shot of a parking lot, but this one, here on Clark and
Chicago- when you see it, park here. You won't find another place to park no
matter how many times you drive around.' This kind of helpful, decidedly homey,
advice is what Collegiate Choice Walking Tours is all about. If you have ever
been on a student guided tour of a college, then you know what to expect. After
viewing two videos, Shalise Manza of Tolman High School said 'I think if I had
known about these videos last year, I would have watched those from the schoolsI
was unsure about seriously considering, to get an idea beyond the booklets.'
"
Winston-Salem Journal,
Staff Reporter
"Nothing beats visiting a college's campus for
giving prospective students a feel for whether it's a school they would like to
attend. A video can come in handy, though, when students and parents are trying
to decide what schools they should visit in person. And, if a visit isn't
practical, Collegiate Choice Videos can at least give them a taste of what the
school is like. Don't expect a slick production. The sometimes shaky camera work
and spotty lighting and sound can be reminiscent of the video taken at someone's
wedding reception. There's no background music and no tight editing. The price
is right, though. The videos can be quite informative. On the Harvard University
tour, for example, the tour guide shown on the tape is frank in answering a
question about crime. She talks about her fears and what she does to take care
of herself. The Wake Forest University tour opens with a panoramic shot of the
quadrangle. As the cameraman and guide stroll along, viewers get an overall view
of the campus, including peeks into dormitories, and they learn about Wake
Forest's history and character. They also learn about Winston-Salem. Even
Winston-Salem residents who watch the tape are likely to learn something they
didn't already know about the school, and the student tour guide provides
information that wouldn't be available from the university's literature, such as
why he chose to attend."
Sarasota Herald-Tribune,
James Roland, Columnist
"The camerawork is a little shaky and the narration
isn't perfectly scripted. However, the Collegiate Choice Walking Tours videos do
their best to simulate the campus tour you'd have if you made the trip yourself.
Through the videos, you can at least see whether the campus fits your vision of
the college experience. Whether you want a traditional, small-town campus
environment or a more urban setting, you'll see more on the videos than you
would flipping through the pages of a college catalog. On Collegiate Choice's
video of Cornell University, for example, you hear an energenic student tour
guide identifying every spot on campus (including the underground school store
built there to avoid clashing with the much older buildings on campus ) and
advising visitors to check out the restaurants and night life in Collegetown, a
short walk from the campus. Several families might want to go in for a few
copies each and then share them with one another."
Dayton Daily News, Anand
Mathai, Reporter
"The company is frank about the videos' lack of
production quality - there is no editing, no scripting, no special lighting and
no professional camera operators. The videos are made with hand-held camcorders
by college advisors. What they lack in flash they make up for in informational
value. And even Collegiate Choice notes that videos - even its videos - can't
replace actual visits to a school. But at $15 each, Collegiate Choice Walking
Tours Videos can be a cheap screening device for distant schools. Asked for an
Ohio college, the company sent us its Oberlin video. True to company claims, the
video is a simple record of an actual tour. The slightly shaky camera pans
around the areas covered by the tour and advisers pepper the student guide with
the kinds of questions viewers themselves might ask. Overall, the video is
hardly entertaining, but plenty informative if you are interested in that
school."
Las Vegas Review-Journal,
Brooke E. Ross, Reporter
"Emily McPherson is an honors student, cheerleader,
a science club member, and a community service volunteer. Despite McPherson's
jam-packed schedule, one company has made it easier for her to research
universities at her convenience.... The McPhersons ordered 13 videos which they
view in their free time. McPherson says she particularly likes watching for
small details, including what is said about clubs and organizations, campus
appearance and interesting background stories about the schools. 'The videos are
homemade, but they really give me a feel for the campus,' she said. "Watching
the videos helps me realize I really do want to go to these schools,' she said.
'It's reassuring.' Lynn Ann Lescenski, a Durango High School college counselor,
said she is familiar with the Collegiate Choice Walking Tours Videos and
believes the videos can be a useful tool for students interested in attending
college out of state. Emily's mother said she appreciates the videos, because
they reduce some of the stress involved in choosing a school. 'Emily has
interest in different parts of the country, but we're not 100% sure,' she said.
'With the videos you can get a yes/no column going quite quickly.'
"
Honolulu Star-Bulletin,
Susan Essoyan, Education Reporter
"The videos are homespun, with no fancy angles or
background music. The camera even jiggles a bit. But it captures an up-close,
unvarnished look at mainland colleges, without the air ticket. Tricia Shoemaker,
of Haiku, ordered 10 videos for her daughter, a senior, so she could consider
lots of options in applying to college this fall. For students in Hawaii, the
videos offer a shortcut that can help narrow down their choices, she said. 'It
was really great to have them,' said Shoemaker, who learned about Collegiate
Choice Walking Tours Videos from a Seabury counselor. 'I felt like we were
choosing the right college after watching it.' What they lack in finesse, the
videos make up for in spontaneity, unlike the carefully scripted promotions
available from the colleges themselves."
Seattle Post-Intelligencer,
Gregory Roberts, Reporter
"To narrow down the field, Laura and her mother,
Linda, decided to go straight to video. They ordered videos from Collegiate
Choice, an independent college-advisory firm in New Jeresy that shoots
student-guided campus tours at hundreds of schools. 'You can definately get a
sense of the size, and the type of student who goes there,' Laura said of her
journey by video through quads, student unions, dining halls at more than a
dozen schools. Laura's father is a University of Michigan alumnus, and she felt
she owed it to him to check out the scene in Ann Arbor. But 15 minutes into the
video, she ruled the school out as too big. Macalester College in Minnesota was
too small. Colgate University in New York came across as too heavy in Greek life
and too sports and workout obsessed. As for Pomona and Occidental, Laura said,
'I didn't like the feel of the California schools in general.' No video can
substitute for an in-person visit, a point Collegiate Choice makes repeatedly in
the videos and on their website. But a video can quickly eliminate a school from
consideration, saving the time and expense of a long distance trip. At $15 a
tour, it's a bragain, say the Kanters, for whom the videos primarily served a
narrowing-down purpose. Many colleges produce their own slick promotional
videos, but Laura Kanter said, 'It's advertisement; that's not what you want to
see.' The videos from Collegiate Choice, which has no connection to the colleges
it visits, are decidely amateurish, shot on a hand-held camera with no special
lighting or effects. 'They just seem to ask the right questions,' Laura Kanter
said. 'It's good to get a second perspective.' "
Los Angeles Times, Kathy
Kristof, Personal Finance Reporter
"Amy Packer is a big fan, as is Barbara Barnett, a
Villa Park guidance counselor who has purchased about 150 of the videos to use
as a lending library for her clients. 'It's one of the most popular parts of my
program,' Barnett said. ' It's amazing how colleges have personalities. A
student gets a great feel for a college with (an on-site) tour. They spend two
hours on campus and either say I love it or I will never go there. If the child
can't go to the school, this is the next best thing.' she said. 'Some of my
families have seen 15 or 20 of them.' It both helps and hurts that the
videos are recorded by guidance counselors. They know which topics are important
to students making college decisions and make sure they're dealt with by the
tour guides. But the videos aren't likely to be nominated for best documentary.
There's no background music. no clever editing. When the guide points out a
building to the left, the video camera veers to the left. When there's lots to
see, the video camera swings around catching sideways snippets of students,
buildings, churches and cars driving down the street. 'Let's just say they look
like something your dad might have done.' Still, Packer thinks the benefits
outweigh the limited production values. 'You see the campus. You see the people.
You hear the environment. It gives you an idea of what it would actually feel
like to walk across the campus yourself.' she said. 'You can't get a feel for
that by reading what they have posted on their Web site.'"
Waco Tribune-Herald,
Treavor Knox, Teen Trib. Reporter
"At one point I had a primary school I wanted to go
to and about five or six safeties - colleges that I'd surely have a chance of
getting in to - on my list. So if I wanted to visit those schools I would have
been looking at about $3,200 to $3,500 for all six or seven trips. In my case,
it would be easier and less time and money consuming to just watch the video
versions of the tours. In the video of Rice University that Collegiate Choice
sent to the Trib for review (I am hoping and praying for the acceptance letter
to Rice, too!) the tour showed me exactly what I would see if I were there, such
as the residential colleges and a peak at the dorm rooms, coffee shops and
recreational areas, and various other areas of Rice. The video made me imagine
being there and that really helped; it provided a better view at the college
than view books and web sites. Of course there are flaws to the videos. They are
not Steven Spielberg masterpieces, so if you watch one, don't be surprised by
the lack of commercialization. They don't come with background elevator music
(that might be a good thing), no mood shots, no script and no professional
narration. The camera used to record these college outings was probably a simple
camcorder, so don't expect exceptional film quality. But the videos - which sell
for $15 plus shipping - are really convenient for people who are just starting
the college search, for those who have a lot of colleges in mind, and for
parents who really want to save money."
About.Com, Jay Brody, Your
Guide to College Admissions
"There couldn't be a simpler premise: videotape
college walking tours so that students who can't make the trip can get a good
sense of each campus. And for those students who are engaged and truly curious
about a school, these videos provide a tremendous service. There's no substitute
for an actual college visit, but I enthusiastically recommend Collegiate Choice
Walking Tours to those truly interested in learning more about a particular
college. Collegiate Choice doesn't pretend that its walking tours are anything
more than what they appear to be: simple, home-video-quality recordings of
actual campus walking tours - the kind you go on when you visit a college with
your family. However, this Northeastern college advising firm has found a niche
providing these tours to families who understandably find that they can't visit
every college in person. The videos may not be pretty, but they let you see and
hear about the campus and that's the most important thing. Will it work? I think
most students who have already bought into the college selection process will
benefit - possibly greatly - from watching these videos."
Examiner.com, Lauren Starkey, College Admissions Examiner "I just visited my alma mater, Trinity College, this morning without getting in the car and driving the 230 miles between my home and the campus. The $15. tour video I watched gave me a great current snapshot of the school, including required courses, sports teams, students’ community involvement, dorm rooms, dining halls, and more. Collegiate Choice visits schools (350 and counting) in the United States, Canada, and Europe, and tapes actual campus tours, complete with student guides and prospective freshmen and their parents. Since my daughter went through the college admissions process just last year, I took these tours recently—what’s better about the videos is that the cameraman knows great questions to ask the guide and fills in the blanks after the tour by visiting the buildings and locations the tour guide skipped.Another selling point, and why I’m writing about the videos on Money for College Monday, is the price. When Emma and I traveled to and around the mid-Atlantic states checking out the schools she was interested in, it cost close to $1000. for fuel, hotels, and meals. Collegiate Choice tours are not a substitute for the real thing, but they can help you eliminate some schools from your list without leaving home and without spending hundreds of dollars.You’ll not only get to see what the campus looks like, but you’ll hear students talking about the food in the dining hall, the plusses and minuses of campus housing, what the social life is like, and safety concerns. While the quality of the guides, as with actually tours, varies, the information you can glean from watching can help you hone your list of schools and make more informed, less costly college application decisions."
Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Maureen Downey, Education columnist "Collegiate Choice Walking Tours Videos sends one of its staffers - all college advisors from New Jersey - on the college's own tour equipped with a hand held camera and some good questions. The result is an amateurish video - which the company readily admits - but a pretty true view of the college. I just finished watching the 70 minute tour of my alma mater. I could barely recognize the place with all the new construction. I watched with particular attention as I was once one of those earnest student tour guides. The young woman who led the tour that Collegiate Choice happened to take at my old college was far more informal than I was, and probably franker, admitting that she could not get all her classes and the dispiriting male-female ratio of two to three." "You hear all the questions the parents on the tour ask. One thing about watching or attending college tours; it's always the parents who ask the questions."
Calgary Herald, Lisa Monforton, Reporter "A couple of DVDs landed on my desk recently - one on the University of Toronto and the other for Rollins College, a small school in Florida. Both DVDs are at least an hour long, give a solid overview of the campuses, and in no way are promotional videos. The group of advisors take a tour with a volunteer student guide, asking impiortant questions along the way. They cover class size, course load expectations, dormitories, transportation, nearby entertainment, the politics and makeup of the student body, and even the city's weather. The makers of the DVDs are upfront about the fact that they are not professional film makers, and the DVDs are not meant to replace an actual visit. Rather, the group is interested in giving parents and prospective students a sense of what the school has to offer, and its ambience. The DVDs have a homemade movie quality to them, but in both instances, they provide an adequate snapshot of campus life, and at the very least might help narrow down the choices for a fraction of the cost of actually travelling there."
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