Boston University added informational tents Monday at five locations across the Charles River Campus to answer questions and provide assistance to prospective students touring in person.
The informational tents are set up in front of the College of Communication, the George Sherman Union, the Joan and Edgar Booth Theatre and BU Beach, as well as between the Fitness and Recreation Center and Agganis Arena, according to the Dean of Students Office.
Members of the BU administration, including Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore, along with other representatives will be present at each tent to talk to visitors. QR codes are also placed at each tent, allowing visitors to scan them for more information. The tents will be open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. from April 17 through May 1 — also known as College Decision Day.
The University has offered virtual tours in place of traditional, guided in-person visits due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but many prospective students have still been visiting the campus on their own.
BU spokesperson Colin Riley said the University typically hosts interested students on campus to help answer any questions they might have about the school.
“Each year, for the month of April, we welcome accepted students to campus,” he said. “Schools and colleges provide information and have opportunities for students to bring the questions to them and to learn more about the school prior to deciding that they’re going to enroll.”
Riley said BU’s Office of Admissions has made an effort to accommodate prospective students and provide them with information about the university.
“Admissions has done a very good job in providing virtual tours, but also in answering questions,” he said. “Individual schools and colleges have done that as well.”
Sydney Maier, a high school junior from Connecticut, said they spent last weekend touring BU and other New England colleges with their family after having already completed a virtual tour of the university.
“I kind of had a vague idea of the layout of the campus,” they said, “but I did want to go just to walk around to get a feel for the campus.”
Maier said they spoke to representatives at the tent outside of the GSU and noted the staff were very helpful and accommodating.
“I like that they at least acknowledged that there were students who were coming to walk around,” they said, “even if they couldn’t have in-person tours, which was nice.”
Overall, Maier said they enjoyed touring the University and appreciated the experience, even though the weather was gloomy during their visit.
“I just personally think it’s a really beautiful campus and I love it,” they said. “It’s definitely one of my top schools, I would love to go there. Despite the rain and weather, it was generally a positive experience because I felt like I got to feel what it would be like to go there.”
Lakshmi Sinha, a high school senior from New Jersey, recently got accepted to the College of General Studies and said she had toured different schools around the city throughout the weekend, including BU.
“It was really interesting to see all the different college environments and college campuses that were in Boston,” she said.
Sinha noted she particularly appreciated BU’s location in the center of Boston.
“I grew up in the suburbs,” Sinha said, “so I really liked the urban campus feel, and I mostly applied to city schools as well, so that was definitely a plus for me.”
She added she thought the informational tents were helpful, particularly during a time when many admitted students would be touring colleges.
“I think that BU did a really nice job of offering that,” Sinha said, “because a lot of kids now are visiting because decision day is coming up.”
Sinha cited the tents as a safe option for visitors, given the number of students currently on BU’s campus.
“I feel like anything else would be really risky,” she said, “because I know BU’s on campus still, there are a lot of kids there still going to class and stuff. So, it was helpful.”
