Tag Archives: smart college visit

college planning, college visits

Smart College Visit introduces mobile app

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If you are planning to visit Virginia Tech, Smart College Visit has just made it easier. In today’s world of mobile technology and instant information, it’s great to see this mobile offering from Smart College Visit who knows the critical part that college visits play in the admissions process.

Prospective students, their families, friends, returning alumni, and anyone visiting Virginia Tech’s 2600-acre Blacksburg campus can now have an electronic map, driving directions, a walking tour, admissions information, restaurant and hotel information, historical sights, and more available literally at their fingertips via the “Visit Virginia Tech” mobile app.

“The campus visit is very important in higher education marketing,” acknowledged Melissa Richards, director of marketing and publications at Virginia Tech. “Virginia Tech works very hard to make every visitor’s experience the best it can be. We seek innovative and interactive ways to forge personal connections with our audiences. A mobile app is a smart way to engage visitors before, during, and even after they come to campus.”

Published by Smart College Visit, Inc., this navigational and travel planning guide to campus features the university’s admission requirements, campus tour and information session schedules, on-campus and off-campus dining directories, and area accommodations as well as turn-by-turn directions to nearly every building on campus, parking lots, athletic facilities, and residence halls.

A self-guided walking tour and Virginia Tech wallpaper backgrounds are just two of the app’s features designed to connect the visitor with the university.

“Visit Virginia Tech” is published by Smart College Visit, Inc. in partnership with Virginia Tech and is available free on iTunes–search for “visit virginia tech.”

college visits, Uncategorized

College Helper #1-Smart College Visit

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Kelly Queijo, owner and founder of Smart College Visit, has the dubious honor of being my first College Helper. (Apologies to Kelly for putting her face in a humiliating elf suit…BUT…it did fit the theme!)

Kelly is awesome beyond awesome. If you’re a parent of a college-bound teen, you want to become her friend on Twitter and Facebook. In my mind she’s the authority on college visits. Not only does her website highlight various colleges in Smart See, Smart Do (giving you inside information and little known facts), but her Parent-to-Parent section offers real life parent experiences related to the college visit itself. You can even search for hotels near the college and make your reservations right on her site.

If that isn’t enough, Kelly hosts #CampusChat on Twitter every Wednesday night at 9PM EST. She has a variety of guests that help parents and students learn more about the college admissions process and also often hosts Open Mic nights around a specific topic of conversation. On Wednesday, she posts recaps of those chats and if you missed it, you can get the key points.

SmartCollegeVisit.com is every parent’s friend–bookmark the site, get to know Kelly, and spend some time reading her parent-to-parent articles. They are packed full of experience (the good and the bad) related to the college search.

Thanks Kelly for making college visits your forte and helping parents understand the importance of this part of the college admissions process!

admissions, college planning, parenting

Parents–Upcoming #CampusChat Topics

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I just received the agenda for the upcoming #CampusChat discussions. If you’re a parent of a college-bound teen (or even a parent of a college student), mark your calendars for some great information and some eye-opening realizations about college preparation.

#CampusChat is hosted by Kelly @collegevisit who is the founder of SmartCollegeVisit.com. She works hard to find guests that are timely and helpful in the college search process, and especially helpful for parents.

Here is a list of upcoming guests and topics (Wednesdays at 9PM EST):

11/3 – Carol Christen – “What Color is Your Parachute for Teens”

11/10 – Jeannie Borin – http://www.college-connections.com/

11/17 – Harlan Cohen – The Happiest Kid on Campus: A Parent’s Guide to the Very Best College Experience (for You and Your Child)

11/24 -Thanksgiving break-Happy Turkey Day!

12/01 – Tim Gasper, social media guru for Marquette University

12/08 – Maureen Tillman – http://www.collegewithconfidence.com/ (also writes for a regional NY Times news outlet)

admissions, college guidance, college planning

Campus Chat on Twitter

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Smart College Visit is hosting a chat on Twitter this Wednesday and it should be great advice and information for parents of college-bound teens. Here are the details from their website:

On Wednesday evening at 9 PM, Eastern, May 5, SmartCollegeVisit will host #CampusChat on Twitter.

#CampusChat is the hashtag phrase we’ve defined in Twitter-speak to track discussions related to college-bound students and their families.

#CampusChat is hosted and moderated by @CollegeVisit.

With the May 1 Candidate’s Reply Date having just passed, Wednesday’s #CampusChat welcomes three parents with teens who just accepted offers of admission as featured guests. The parents will talk about the college decision-making process for them and their children.

Any parents, teens, college admissions officers, counselors and anyone who is interested and passionate about college admissions are invited to join the conversation.

Here’s how:

Follow SmartCollegeVisit on Twitter, @collegevisit.

On Wednesday night, May 5, at 9 PM, Eastern, track the hashtag: #CampusChat using tools such as TweetChat or WhatTheHashtag. For more information about how to use these tools or how to keep up with or follow a chat, read: 3 Easy Ways to Keep in Step with a Twitter Chat.

I’m looking forward to participating in this chat–SEE YOU THERE!

college guidance, college planning, parenting

Top 5 College Visit Sites

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With the widespread use of online videos, previewing college campuses has become a “must do” for parents and their college-bound teens. I like to call it “test driving” before you actually set foot on your narrowed down choices.

Here are my TOP 5 picks for those “test driving” sites.

smartcollegevisit

1. Smart College Visit-The educated way to visit a college campus and your one-stop site to find everything you need to know before the visit. With parent-to-parent stories, Smart-See-Smart-Do campus evaluations, travel tips and a place to search for the perfect hotel accommodations, Smart College Visit is committed to providing you with all the information you need to prepare for that all-important college visit.

youniversity

2. YoUniversityTV–Make a stop here to preview campuses, get a campus map, and view user submitted videos of campus life. The videos are more than campus tours; giving you a picture of life in and around the college.

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3. University Parent–Connect with the college campuses and download a college specific brochure with information about the surrounding area: hotels, off-campus housing, and storage facilities. Read what Sarah Schupp, the founder, said about her site:

University Parent-Your Parent Resource

collegeweeklive

4. College Week Live–This site is actually a “virtual” college fair site which is great for chatting with students, admissions officers and faculty. You can also direct-link to college websites through the college fair hall. Their spring college fair is coming up on March 24-25 and campus reps will be in attendance to answer your questions.

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5. Collegiate Choice–These DVD tours are videotaped college tours. Each tour is over an hour long and gives you an excellent idea of what a campus tour is like. Use this resource to narrow down your college tour choices. They are especially helpful when you are looking at campuses that require travel and enable you to see all types of campuses throughout the country. This is what Cliff Kamron had to say in a recent guest blog post:

10 Things we learned from videotaping 1200 college tours