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Occidental College, a small liberal arts college nestled just minutes from downtown Los Angeles, California, has developed a Flash-based admissions presentation that succeeds in providing a compelling two-minute overview of the institution to prospective students. As more and more students venture online to conduct their college searches, online admissions presentations are becoming a popular way for schools to court and attract potential applicants.
Web sites have become most colleges' central information and public relations tool, and surveys of prospective students indicate that four in five will log on to school Web sites prior to ordering their printed materials (viewbooks/applications). Furthermore, many prospective students, parents, visitors and even alumni will seek out the virtual tour or university presentation first in order to get a visual overview of the institution. Virtual tours, which once were comprised exclusively of photographs and text descriptions of campus buildings and landmarks, are evolving to meet the needs of the modern college Web environment. Today many schools are architecting simple, yet persuasive, online admissions presentations that try to make a coherent case for why a student should consider attending the college. Utilizing student audio narration, music and slick campus photographs, these online "mini-tours" strive less for an exhaustive treatment of the campus and instead serve as two minute college commercials.
Occidental College's admissions presentation is a splendid example of the new style of online college tour. Occidental's promotional piece is divided into four distinct sections - Academia, On Campus, Beyond Campus, and Diversity - but the presentation runs like a movie unless the visitor wants to jump to particular section. Student tour guides provide informative narration, and university photographs help visitors visualize life on this sunny California campus. During the loading of the file and throughout the tour, quotes and facts about Occidental fade in to help acquaint parents and students with the college. And at any time during the presentation, visitors may click the "I want more info about Occidental" button in the lower right corner of the tour, fill out a short form, and receive printed materials from the college.
Students and parents together hail these new presentations for providing a short general overview of the college, its programs, facilities and approach to education. Universities have traditionally relied on short 'About Us' pages, Mission Statements and their virtual tours to provide a general online summary of their institutions, but presentations like Occidental's are fast becoming a core component of .edu Web sites. As college Web sites adapt to attract an ever more Internet-savvy student, virtual tours are likely to move from simple campus expeditions into sophisticated multimedia marketing vehicles.
Occidental's short but informative admissions presentation depicts an inviting and invigorating academic environment. The CampusTours Awards Committee found this to be a tremendous tour, worthy of the CampusTours Four-Star Virtual Tour Award!
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