As many students plan to transfer to a four-year college, LMC offers various campus tours to help find the school that is right for them.

“Everyone is looking for something different from their university experience and a student won’t know which campus suits their wants and needs until they visit and learn about their programs, majors, and overall campus vibe,” said Sandra Parsons, Transfer Academy program coordinator.

In the 2023 Fall semester, students toured California State University, East Bay, University of California, Berkeley, HBCU Caravan, Sonoma State University and Dominican University hosted by the Transfer Services.

Each tour includes a series of presentations hosted by the school’s admissions office and one of the programs at the school.

This is also included in the campus tours offered by the EOPS program.

 “Students are also shown their way around a campus by a student tour guide, which helps them get a feel of all the major landmarks,” said Andrew Murphy, EOPS program coordinator. 

Murphy said some university students also speak at student panels where they discuss their own experiences and answer questions.

Melanie Garcia, a student at LMC, said she attended the tour with others in Puente, another program at LMC that hosts tours for their students. Here, they were given a schedule of activities  students could choose from based on their interests.

The activities offered at all campus tours are designed to help students become familiar with each university and to show them their options. Murphy said the goal is to make them comfortable with the transferring process. 

Transfer students seeking information on schools can get a closer look while at the tours. “Visiting the campus made it easier to learn about the programs, tuition, and housing at UC Merced,” said Garcia.

“I feel like you could just ask around if you had more questions in person,” she continued. “It’s easier than doing it on your own and being lost.”

Seeing a university in person also helps students get an idea of whether or not they would enjoy the school’s environment.

“Before a student decides which school they want to transfer to, it is helpful to visit several campuses to see which ones feel like home and which ones don’t,” said Parsons.

The EOPS program visits schools that will offer a comfortable environment to their students.

“We try to choose colleges that would have a diverse population so students will feel like they belong,” said Tatiana Pak, EOPS program coordinator.

They also cover the costs of tours so their students can attend.

“It’s easy when the program pays for transportation and accommodation,” Pak said. “A majority of our students would not afford this trip without the help of the program.”

University tours hosted by the Transfer Services are also free with transportation and lunch included. They will be visiting University of California, Santa Cruz, University of California, Davis, University of Nevada, HBCUs, and California State University, Monterey Bay this semester. 

If you are interested in attending a tour, you can visit the Transfer Services page on LMC’s website at https://www.losmedanos.edu/transfer/CampusTours.aspx