When in Rome...or on the internet.
l love to travel. It is definitely one of my greatest passions in life. However, through all of my travels, I have discovered a sad truth. You just can't see it all. You have to be selective of where you put your time and resources on any trip - because they are limited. A trip to Rome is a perfect example. One could easily spend an entire week simply exploring Rome: St. Peters, The Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, Sistine Chapel, or simply enjoy all the fine dining. The problem is, if you spend a week in Rome, it is doubtful you will be able to explore the rest of Italy. So you will miss Florence, and Venice, and Sienna.
Visiting potential schools is much the same. You may have 5 schools you are seriously considering, but two are on the east coast, one in the mid west, and two are on the west coast. In this situation, it just isn't feasible to visit them all. Although it can never replace an actual on-site visit, virtual campus tours are a great resource to help you narrow down your actual on-site visits to a manageable amount. By getting a glimpse of campus life, it can help you determine if you think this might be the school for you and want to investigate it further. These tours can range from professional videos produced by the schools themselves, to amateur videos from actual students who give more of an insider's view. Then there are third-party tours produced by websites who try and give more of an impartial view of the schools they are showcasing. Some of these sites can be found on my Virtual Tour page. See if any of the schools you are considering are on there. You will be pleasantly surprised.