Virtual admission events expand students’ access

Every Friday afternoon, Naomi Gau dons her business casual attire and walks backward through Hahn Plaza, providing information and anecdotes about her undergraduate experience to prospective students through her job as a Student Ambassador with USC’s Admission Center. But for the past year, she and her coworkers have given tours from behind their laptop screens. 

Campus’ closure in March 2020 forced not only traditional classes to an online format but also events for USC’s prospective student population. Though in-person campus tours recently resumed in June in an altered format consisting of smaller group sizes and a shorter tour route, the pandemic’s forced addition of a virtual facet to traditional college recruitment is one that is here to stay. 

In a statement to the Daily Trojan, David Kirschner, associate dean of admissions and financial aid at the Gould School of Law, wrote that the department first attempted to replicate its pre-existing in-person events into a virtual format. When the school realized the pandemic would not be ending soon, the team developed additional virtual programming, including daily virtual office hours, information sessions on the application process and panels in partnership with other law schools such as Columbia Law School and the University of Oregon School of Law. One event that would not have been possible in person, according to Kirschner, was the “Open Access: Inside Legal Education with Law School Deans” webinar panel which was met with success and will continue on its second year. 

“[The panel] was spearheaded by Dean [Andrew] Guzman at Gould and [included] deans from five other leading law schools across the nation and explored a variety of topics of interest to prospective law students,” Kirschner wrote. “Bringing together six deans from across the country in person would not be feasible.” 

Since April, Gau conducted more than 50 in-person and virtual campus tours via Zoom. Gau said she loves connecting with prospective students and their families, but the virtual format creates limitations on the degree to which Gau can interact with her guests on tours. 

“I don’t want to call it impersonal, but that’s how most people feel about Zoom; there’s just that level of connection that you don’t get,” Gau said. “In person … maybe I’m midway through campus, and I take a pause from just spewing facts [to say] ‘Oh, I actually had lunch here yesterday; this is my favorite restaurant on campus!’ Little back-and-forth stuff is the main difference of virtual programs and in-person programs.” 

However, Gau said she believes online admission events have increased the University’s outreach to prospective students. Compared to an in-person tour — which is currently capped at 18 people, with a prior capacity of 30  — online webinars can host up to 85 participants for a single session. 

Director of Undergraduate Admission Kirk Brennan wrote in a statement to the Daily Trojan that despite the comeback of in-person tours on campus, students’ interest in attending virtual programming “remains very strong.” 

“That’s great for USC because students from all over, including neighborhoods or countries we could never visit, are able to connect with us like never before,” Brennan wrote. 

In a statement to the Daily Trojan, Director of the Admission Center and Visitor Relations Joe Beltran said virtual programming has “been an essential way for [the department] to connect with prospective students and families with limited travel resources and opportunities.” In a standard week, the department provides three information sessions for first-year applicants, one information session for transfer applicants and three virtual tours and panels led by five to seven Student Ambassadors. 

“Touring a college campus is a privilege, so we are happy to continue our Zoom webinars where we ‘bring’ USC and some of our Student Ambassadors to prospective students around the world regardless of their travel means,” Beltran wrote. 

Gau said online programs offer unparalleled accessibility for international Trojans to get a glimpse into USC student life.

“Not everyone can afford to fly to L.A. and a hotel for one or two days. It is very expensive, and it’s a privilege to be able to visit universities,” Gau said. “As tour guides now, we’re very cognizant of that fact. We want to open up as [many] opportunities for prospective students to see the campus and I think virtual programs have been a really wonderful way for us to do that.” 

Expanding outreach also means that future incoming classes of Trojans may become further diversified as more people attend recruitment events virtually. Elijah Jhee, a freshman majoring in cognitive science, believes the Trojan student body has much to gain from increased recruitment outreach.

“There are no physical barriers to online events, so therefore we can allow for people far away, whether it be in the East Coast or literally across the globe,” Jhee said. “I think that’s a really important step that USC should consider if they want to have a college body that’s made up [of] more than just [students from] Southern California.” 

Though Gau said in-person tours allow for greater interpersonal bonding, prospective Trojans have shown appreciation for the options that do exist for them to connect with the University. 

“A lot of times the comments [on Zoom] are just like, ‘Thank you so, so much for doing this. I would not have been able to visit even if we weren’t in a pandemic, so thank you for spending an hour on Zoom with me,’ and those messages are just so heartwarming,” Gau said. “This is why we’re tour guides. We love being able to give back to USC as a whole and that includes our prospective students.” 

Each campus tour of USC, both in-person and online, ends with the “Tommy section,” where tour guides share their stories as to why they chose to attend USC and advice customized to each tour group. Such stories may not come across as personally as they would in-person through an online format, especially because webinars do not have a participant gallery. 

“Seeing those smiles at post-tour, when a mom is crying from our personal story — I resonate so much with it,” Gau said. “[One moment that stuck out to me] was on my very first tour. I had a great group and at the end after I’d given my Tommy Section, there were some tears in the audience. The students are like, ‘I resonate so much with your story,’ and the moms ask, ‘Can I take a selfie with you?’ … I’m a very open person, and I think that’s only a good thing — when people know that other people are going through the same struggle. I love seeing those reactions and I love telling my story.” 

However, Jhee said he thinks online events should be seen as more of a substitute to on-campus programming as USC transitions back to an in-person setting. 

“In a post-pandemic world, it should be that the main event is in-person and online supplements are there to help cater toward people who live far away,” Jhee said. 

Kirschner said that through Gould’s virtual programming, he’s found that virtual events can reach a larger audience because of their ability to be made available on-demand and the lack of barriers to access. Kirschner said that, moving forward, Gould will most likely continue to offer both virtual and live admissions programming.

“Ultimately, I believe the path forward will involve a combination of both virtual and in-person events so that we can reach the largest audience possible while maintaining the personal touch that in-person events foster,” Kirschner wrote. 

For Brennan, meeting virtually will emerge as an essential addition to the college admission toolkit. 

“Nothing can replace connecting with this incredible USC community in person, but Zoom enabling so many to connect with USC is changing the game,” wrote Brennan.