Due to the recent Coronavirus pandemic, many colleges and universities in the United States have shut down their campuses, which unfortunately resulted in campus tours and admitted student days being canceled. Many colleges have ruled out the possibility of in-person visits until mid-to-late April, or afterwards.

While some colleges are deciding to offer virtual tours, this is not accessible for everybody, and the truth of the matter is that deciding where you will spend the next 4 or more years is a personal decision that should be planned and influenced by in-person encounters. Many students cannot truly see themselves on a campus based on photos or videos alone, and this life-changing decision shouldn’t be made from the confines of our homes. 

The main issue is that College Decision Day is known to fall on May 1st every year, with few to no exceptions. By this date, students are expected to officially commit to the college or university of their choice, with a binding decision. This process is usually one that requires a lot of time, thought, and educational encounters like tours and admitted student days. Traditionally, students have dedicated the month of April to exploring their options, but with the previously mentioned cancelations, we now know this to be an entirely different experience. 

College enrollment should be an informed decision, and how can we truly be informed if we are not given the opportunities to explore our options? One month of scrolling through  electronic devices robs students of the personal experience, and prevents them from  being truly informed. Without our admitted student days and tours, we are being forced to make an impulsive decision that may not match up to what is really right for us.

Decision Day is widely known as a date that remains consistent each year, but we can likely all agree that recent events warrant a different response than the norm. Prospective students from past years have not had to deal with this new and impersonal college search experience, and in order to give the class of 2024 a fair process, colleges should accommodate based on the Coronavirus epidemic. This would best be achieved by postponing Decision Day to a further date that we can all agree on.

Accounting for the 1 month delay, a fair date would be around June 1st- this would still allow colleges a fair amount of time to organize the spots for their incoming class by August/September- but any date that allows us the time to explore our options on an open campus would be greatly appreciated.

Prospective students deserve to visit campuses in person, under safe conditions, and they deserve to make an informed decision- one that is not limited to pixels on a screen.