Touring Olivet during the pandemic

Come on down to Bourbonnais, Illinois, and tour Olivet Nazarene University in hopes of finding your home for the next four years.

The first step in setting up your tour is going to Olivet’s website and finding the tab that says Schedule a Visit here. On the website, you will type in your name and select either the on-campus tour or the newly offered Online virtual visit.

“I one-hundred percent recommend the in-person tours, there is something about physically being at Olivet that you just don’t get when you do the online tours,” says Admissions tour guide Steve Ringstrand.

According to Junior tour guide, Kole Bowling, the tours usually last 1 hour.

During the in-person tours, you will visit buildings such as the chapel, the recreation center, the dorms, Benner Library and you will get to experience a tasty meal in the cafeteria. After your meal, you might be craving some coffee and want to head over to the Starbucks which is located directly across from the cafeteria in Ludwig. However, before the tour begins you will walk past the eternal flame of Olivet and there your tour guide will provide the history of the flame and will also tell you a little bit about themselves.

Depending on your incoming major, more buildings will be added to your tour, such as Shine.FM and the communication building (located behind the library) for communication majors. You may even schedule a meeting with a potential future professor. Right now, during the pandemic, you have to wear your mask the entire time during the tour and any other meetings you may have.

Because of the coronavirus, there are tour restrictions such as wearing masks, not being able to do as big tours compared to the past, and all are socially distanced. If you are uncomfortable with the in-person tours, you are welcome to the online tours. During the online tours, you will be able to watch videos that will give you a tour of every building on campus, there is even a cartoon version map of the campus you can view.

Having trouble deciding whether to physically take the tour in person or from the comfort of your own home? According to Forbes.com, “An applicant who visits shows more demonstrated interest than one who doesn’t, and so forth. Many colleges factor in demonstrated interest to admissions and aid decisions, wanting to admit applicants who will enroll. The idea is to have better planning and to improve the yield, the percentage of admitted applicants who enroll.”

The best part of the in-person tour is the connection that is made between the tour guide and the student.

Kole bowling

Another important aspect of college is knowing the size of the students, you might like big universities or the smaller ones. Olivet is among the smaller universities as 4,986 students are currently enrolled at Olivet. According to Ivywise.com, “Physically placing yourself in different types of college environments may help you determine what kind of learning atmosphere is most appealing to you.” You might change your mind based on the size preference after you physically visit the campus or take the online tour.

If you plan on taking the in-person tour, below is a copy of the university’s map.