Prospective students across the country will soon be able to see the Potato, the French Fries and other UF landmarks from their homes.
UF’s director of social media Todd Sanders said in about one to two weeks, UF will give virtual tours of campus using Periscope, a video-streaming app.
Sanders said Periscope allows users to ask questions, so they’re expecting tours to have a flow similar to in-person tours.
"You’ll get to see campus in its real environment, not something that’s been produced and edited," he said.
UF music freshman Macy Schmidt said a Periscope tour would have been helpful, but she ultimately chose UF when she traveled from Houston, Texas, to tour the campus and speak with professors in her major.
"I think that, in general, that would be a really cool way to save money because Lord knows I fly back and forth way too much," the 18-year-old said.
UF spokeswoman Janine Sikes wrote in an email that UF tweeted about the Periscope tour Sunday to gauge interest in it.
Becca Chadwick, a high school junior from Pewaukee, Wisconsin, said she will be watching the tours when they begin. She said she hopes to attend UF to major in biology and later apply to the veterinary program.
"Since I live in the Midwest, it’s a struggle for me to hop over to UF and tour it," the 16-year-old said. "It’d be nice to have that student view of the campus."
Contact Alexandra Fernandez at afernandez@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter @alexmfern
