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If you are in the midst of the college decision process or navigating potential colleges to apply to, the new year marks the start of a new adventure. With the looming decision of where to spend the next few years of your life, there are many factors to consider. As a campus tour guide, I truly believe the key to discovering what a college holds for you lies in taking part in an online or in-person campus tour. Whether you explore campus from the comfort of your home or venture onto campus in person, a campus tour will provide you with valuable insight into the vibrant campus life that waits for you. It’s an opportunity to understand the amenities, academic opportunities, and campus culture, allowing you to make the most informed decision about your future.

With that being said, let’s delve into the various reasons you should tour campus, highlighting the benefits of both an in-person and online tour.

Touring Campus From Home

Customize the tour to your interests

The University of Michigan online tour of campus allows prospective students to explore various locations across each of our Ann Arbor campuses. While our in-person tour is primarily on Central Campus, our online tour allows you to view buildings that are not included on the in-person route. Additionally, our online tour allows you to customize your experience so you can focus on the buildings that interest you most. For instance, if you are particularly interested in the School of Nursing or the Ross School of Business, you can explore those locations in detail. While we encourage you to explore a variety of buildings to get a broader sense of campus life, the online tour gives you the flexibility to prioritize the places that matter most to you.

A financially feasible tour of campus

Depending on where you are visiting from, campus tours can require a lot of additional time, money, and planning. We understand that an in-person visit is not accessible to every prospective student, nor may it be a top priority. If you are considering U-M but do not want to travel to see the school in person, our online option can be a good compromise. The online tour is a free website that requires no additional effort or financing to view. Without the additional costs of gas, hotel rooms, and parking, you can take a tour of campus stress-free.

Return to campus time and time again

In-person tours are often a one-time experience for many prospective students. While they provide valuable insights, there’s always the chance that your interests may change later on. If you visit campus with a particular major, career path, or social experience in mind, and later find that your focus has shifted, you might wish you had paid more attention to different aspects of the tour. Fortunately, our online tour allows you to “visit” campus as often as you want. If you’ve forgotten information about the school or would like to revisit certain buildings, you can do so at any time. The flexibility of online tours is certainly a key component of why many students may prefer to do so.

Tour Campus In-person

Get the inside scoop

Easily the best part about touring campus in person is hearing about the student experience firsthand from a student tour guide. Each of the guides has their own unique experience at U-M, which is reflected in the stories they tell, their campus involvements, and their answers to your hard-hitting questions. No tour will be the same, reflecting our diverse array of opportunities on campus. Some tour guides may be involved in our research scene, spending their weekday mornings in the laboratory, while others may have a deeper interest in the social sciences, theater, or film. Regardless of who you tour with, they will have firsthand experience at U-M, acting as an excellent resource. Furthermore, the tour guide program works directly with the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, whose professional staff keep us informed on important updates for U-M admissions. While tour guides may not have the answer to every question regarding admissions, they will know the resources to point you in the right direction.

Discover campus unfiltered

On a campus tour, what you see is what you get. It is not a mission of the university to hide aspects of campus such as the weather, student activity, construction, etc. Attending a campus tour gives you an unfiltered look at what daily life is really like, allowing you to decide which aspects of the campus resonate with you. Experiencing the campus firsthand and seeing current students in their natural environment helps you understand if you can envision yourself thriving there.

Get additional information about student life and academics

Along our U-M in-person tours, you’ll not only explore the campus buildings and locations, you will also discover an abundance of resources designed for our students. For example, the Michigan Union has several offices on its upper floors, including CAPS (the Counseling and Psychological Services Center) and the Spectrum Center, one of the oldest LGBTQ+ resource centers on a college campus. While these resources are available online, you may not realize the full scope of services offered or how to access them unless you hear about them firsthand on a campus tour. Many of these details are best shared by current students who are familiar with the resources and can provide valuable insights that you won’t find online. The same principle applies to many aspects of the university, including academics. Parents and students usually visit with a lot of questions surrounding college advising, registering for classes, and what classes are actually like. Each of these questions will be most beneficial to hear from a student who has coordinated with their advisors and understands the academic experience.

Regardless of how you choose to visit campus, campus tours are an extremely fun and exciting way to make your college selection. We encourage you to explore campus in whichever form is most compatible with you and your needs. Most importantly, be intentional with your campus tours and utilize them to the fullest extent. You never know where it may lead you.