Spring, with warmer weather, is a great time for prospective students and parents who want a more intimate look at the Blue Raider campus to visit MTSU in person.

Erika Sanders and her mother, Karen, discovered that recently, when they came Murfreesboro from Hendersonville, Tennessee, to check out the university on one of the daily campus tours.

High school and prospective transfer students have an abundance of opportunities to visit in person and examine the campus of the largest Midstate university, even as masks, social distancing and other coronavirus-related safety protocols remain in place for all to follow.

MTSU Blue Elite tour guide Miura Rempis, center, talks about Peck Hall, home to the English and history departments, during a recent in-person daily campus tour, while visitors wear masks, practice social distancing and follow other COVID-19 safety protocols. There are plenty of opportunities for prospective students and guests to take tours this spring. (MTSU photo by Andy Heidt)

Daily campus tours are offered four times a day — 9:45 and 11 a.m. and 12:15 and 1:30 p.m. — Monday through Friday throughout the rest of the spring and some Saturdays, too. One prospective student can bring up to two guests. 

Considering MTSU and its School of Nursing from among the top two colleges on her list, Erika Sanders, 17, a senior at Pope John Paul II High School in Hendersonville, said she “thought the tour was pretty interesting. I learned a lot about everything.”

She quickly added, “so I’ve heard” when it was mentioned the MTSU nursing program is among the best in the nation.

“MTSU is pretty high up there, and I’m going to make a decision soon,” she added.

Sanders met the Dec. 1 application deadline to receive a guaranteed scholarship, which she has received and she said will help defray her educational costs.

Sister and brother Nicole and Evan Sanders attend MTSU now; both are in the Department of Engineering Technology. Nicole, a senior, is pursuing a mechatronics engineering degree, while Evan is a freshman studying mechanical engineering technology.

A little rain can’t stop MTSU Blue Elite student guide Miura Rempis from providing details on what the campus has to offer during a recent in-person daily campus tour. Tours are offered four times daily and on some Saturdays throughout the spring. (MTSU photo by Andy Heidt)

A tour guide’s perspective

The Sanderses took a tour led by senior biology major Jillian Sherer of Murfreesboro. She’s in her third year of guiding prospective students and their families around campus and never took a campus tour herself, declaring that “MTSU was the only school I applied to.”

“I love it. It’s super fun,” Sherer, 21, said of leading tours. “I like being part of peoples’ decisions and I really enjoy talking to students.”

Sherer, who is in the middle of applying to medical schools, sports a special tattoo, words her father, Brad Sherer, often says: “Make it Happen.”

Susan Sherer, her mother, has bachelor’s and master’s degrees from MTSU.

About daily campus tours

Guided campus visits include an approximately one-hour walking tour led by a Blue Elite member (current students) and an opportunity to speak with an Office of Admissions representative at the end of the tour.

In-person tours, which can accommodate up to 20 people per group are held rain or shine and are a main attraction.  To learn about coronavirus precautions, to register and more, go here.

Blue Elite tour guides walk visitors past campus housing, including the high-rise dorms such as Corlew Hall. Because of COVID-19, visitors are not permitted inside. Only students and staff who live and/or work in the dorms are allowed to enter.

MTSU student tour guides Ashley Conser, left, and Miura Rempis lead a recent in-person daily campus tour group  past Keathley University Center in the heart of campus. Tours are scheduled four times daily and some Saturdays by the Admissions Office. Masks and social distancing are part of the COVID-19 safety protocols tour participants must follow. (MTSU photo by Andy Heidt)

CBAS Science Saturdays

For the science-minded, the College of Basic and Applied Sciences continues to offer CBAS Science Saturdays to showcase the buildings housing 10 departments.

At least two tour dates — March 27 and April 10 — remain with 9 and 11 a.m. tours available each day. To register, go here.

Participating MTSU departments and schools include aerospace, agriculture, biology, chemistry, computer science, concrete and construction management, engineering technology, geosciences, mathematical sciences, and physics and astronomy.

Masks are required, and group sizes will be limited to allow for social distancing.

Virtual tours

Billy Pittard

Virtual tours became vital to recruiting efforts in 2020 because of COVID-19. The Department of Media Arts provided the newest, a “Magic Media Tour” via Zoom that Chair Billy Pittard said will be live several more times in upcoming weeks.

To learn about the upcoming live Zoom events, which feature Media Arts faculty and facilities where students receive hand-on training on state-of-the-art equipment, email mediaarts@mtsu.edu.

More MTSU virtual tour opportunities are available here.

An early stop for the daily campus tours at MTSU is a visit to the Student Union. Student guides Miura Rempis, left front center, and Ashley Conser lead this recent in-person tour for the Admissions Office. Tours are offered four times a day throughout the week, plus some Saturdays, and masks and social distancing are part of the COVID-19 safety protocols. (MTSU photo by Andy Heidt)

Coming this fall

MTSU plans to return to in-person True Blue Preview days this fall. Two events are scheduled: Saturday, Sept. 25, and Saturday, Nov. 6.

During those event, visitors can enjoy the full campus experience with top university officials welcoming future Blue Raiders to MTSU.

Opportunities are available to participate in academic and department presentations, receive information on financial aid and scholarships and choose from many different special interest sessions.

The True Blue Tour will return with in-person events planned for nine cities across Tennessee. Organizers also plan to take MTSU back on the road to Atlanta, Georgia; Birmingham and Huntsville, Alabama; and Louisville and Lexington, Kentucky.

Prospective high school and transfer students will meet with advisers, deans, Provost Mark Byrnes and President Sidney A. McPhee  and have an opportunity to win prizes. More details will be available soon.

—Randy Weiler (Randy.Weiler@mtsu.edu)

MTSU Blue Elite student tour guide Miura Rempis, center, talks to visitors during a cloudy, windy, in-person daily campus tour stop focusing on Kirksey Old Main, the longtime home of the university’s computer science and  mathematical science departments. During campus tours, prospective students and their guests must practice social distancing, wear masks and adhere to other COVID-19 safety protocols. (MTSU photo by Andy Heidt)

Tour guide Miura Rempis, center, watches while fellow guide Ashley Conser, right, takes a photo of a recent in-person MTSU daily campus tour group at the Blue Horseshoe in Walnut Grove near Peck Hall. The tours, which are led by Blue Elite students, last approximately one hour. (MTSU photo by Andy Heidt)