ISU to be featured on Amazon Prime show ‘The College Tour’
By Darnysha Mitchell, Heart of Illinois ABC I April 6, 2022
NORMAL (Heart of Illinois ABC) – A TV show highlighting colleges across the country has made its way to Central Illinois.
Illinois State University will be in the spotlight on the Amazon Prime show ‘The College Tour’.
Crews have been in pre-production for the last two months getting to know the Twin Cities and the campus and will be filming for the next five days.
Show host Alex Boylan said the ISU campus makes Normal one of the top college towns in the country.
ISU to be featured on Amazon Prime show ‘The College Tour’
WAND News I April 6, 2022
JU alumnus on filming ‘The College Tour’
News 4 JAX I April 5, 2022
We speak with host and executive producer of “The College Tour,” Alex Boylan, about the process shooting in Jacksonville.
Amazon Prime features FAU in The Buzz: Jacksonville University featured on ‘The College Tour’ series on Amazon Prime
First Coast News I March 31, 2022
WHY YOU’LL SEE ME IN ‘THE COLLEGE TOUR’
By Sam Wilk, The Montclarion I March 30, 2022
If someone had told me a year ago I would fall in love with Montclair State University, I wouldn’t have believed them – falling in love with your school during a global pandemic is as hard as you might think.
When I was first applying to schools, I knew I would go to a public university, but I definitely did not want to. The environment in my high school made it seem like going to a public university wouldn’t provide nearly the same level of education as private institutions. When I started to immerse myself at Montclair State, I realized how wrong they were.
That’s why when I was approached to represent Montclair State as part of “The College Tour,” a streaming show that lets prospective students take a virtual tour of colleges and universities, it wasn’t even a question.
I started at Montclair State remotely in the fall of 2020. I believe you can’t become attached to a school if you don’t get to know it, so I started putting myself out there through community service projects with the Bonner Leader Program at Montclair State.
In fact, during our first in-person event on campus, I randomly met the person who would soon become my best friend. When I returned to in-person classes as a sophomore, I was so excited I felt like I could skip to class. I’d realized that at Montclair State you can make friends with almost anyone — the friendly atmosphere here is contagious.
I had no reason to be nervous about coming to Montclair State, I just didn’t know what was ahead of me. While getting to be on a show like “The College Tour” is cool, it’s something I wanted to do because if there’s a prospective student trying to find where they’re going to spend the next four years, I’m glad I can be a window into that future. It’s like being able to tell them, “you’re going to enjoy yourself if you take every opportunity that comes at you.”
During my time at Montclair State, I’ve had the opportunity to do things such as help rebuild homes, assist in facilities for people with developmental or physical disabilities and feed the homeless in Atlantic City. Through the course of these service projects, I formed a family-like bond with my fellow Bonners as we put our efforts into causes bigger than all of us.
Looking to the future, I can’t imagine having a career that doesn’t involve me giving back to the community and watching people grow. The only way we’re going to become the best version of society is if we take care of our communities, and Montclair State helped me see that.
Even if community service is not your thing, the environment Montclair State provides for its students is an experience any young adult can benefit from. I’m now a sophomore and have already become so much of the person I’ve dreamed of becoming, and I can’t wait to tell prospective students about it on “The College Tour.”
Jacksonville University to be featured on ‘The College Tour’
By Max Marbut, Jacksonville Daily Record I March 30 17, 2022
The Amazon Prime television series is hosted by JU alumnus Alex Boylan.
Jacksonville University announced that “The College Tour,” a TV series streaming on Amazon Prime that highlights universities across the U.S., is filming on campus through April 5 for the final episode of its fifth season.
The show is hosted by Alex Boylan, past winner of “The Amazing Race” and a class of 1999 JU alumnus.
He had the idea to create the show after taking his niece on a college tour in Los Angeles two years ago.
“Many things have changed since I was enrolled at JU, but what hasn’t changed is the unique culture here on campus. We’ve already met so many fantastic students and faculty who embody that JU spirit, and I’m so proud to share their stories with the world,” Boylan said in a news release.
The College Tour gives prospective college students a look inside universities from around the world through the eyes of current college students.
Boylan and a production crew will film 20 segments with students, faculty, alumni and senior leaders for a 60-minute episode highlighting Jacksonville University and Northeast Florida
The episode is expected to air in early August.
Clinton student appears in ‘College Tour’ episode
By Sam Wilk, The Montclarion I March 30, 2022
MONTCLAIR, N.J. — Jennifer Burlage of Clinton was one of 18 students selected to participate in an episode of “The College Tour,” an Emmy-nominated show available on streaming platforms that allows prospective students to travel virtually across America for an inside look at colleges and universities.
A crew from “The College Tour” visited Montclair State University campus last October, taping more than a dozen segments that cover campus life, academics, internships, research and service opportunities.
In the episode, Burlage, a dancer, chats with prospective students.
Burlage’s segment can be viewed at thecollegetour.com/episodes/montclair-state-university.
Montclair’s episode is part of Season 4 on Amazon’s streaming service, IMDb TV, on The College Tour’s app (Android, iOS) and website, Roku, Apple TV, LG Smart TV, Samsung Smart TV, Sony, Philips Smart TV, Amazon FireTV and Android TV, as well as on Montclair’s YouTube channel.
Red Carpet Rollout
Montclair State University Press Room I March 28, 2022
On screen and off, students and alumni shine at The College Tour premiere
Rolling out the red carpet ahead of The College Tour’s Season 4, the student and alumni stars of Montclair State University celebrated on March 24 with an Oscar-worthy Watch Party.
With the cameras rolling, the cast treated a live and at-home audience to clips from The College Tour and 20 different stories about what life is like at Montclair.
Complementing the on-screen cast, students worked behind-the-scenes filming the live broadcast and reporting a story they would title “Soaring and Streaming.”
The full episode is available on the University’s YouTube channel and website.
The national rollout on Amazon Prime Video launches in April, with the episode streaming on a number of platforms, including Roku, Apple TV and Sony, and The College Tour app.
PHOTO GALLERY
Photos by University Photographer Mike Peters.
Hillier College Students Share Their Experiences on Amazon College Tour
ByVesna Veljasevic Dimitrijevic, NJIT I March 24, 2022
The University of Oregon is featured on a new episode of The College Tour, a video series that explores universities across the
The New Jersey Institute of Technology is the first college in New Jersey to be featured in The College Tour, an Amazon Prime TV series produced by Emmy-nominated producer Lisa Hennessy and hosted by Alex Boylan. Each 30-minute episode provides a unique video tour of one US university, offering an insider perspective of the campus life, academics, athletics, all through student testimonials.
In the “NJIT episode” of The College Tour, two segments feature students of the Hillier College of Architecture and Design.
Casey Crown, an Architecture major, is featured in segment NJIT – Makes Design That Matters, in which she shares how NJIT was the perfect college choice. Crown expresses how grateful she is for the resources provided by the college, especially the studio faculty who would sit down with her and provide valuable guidance for her projects. She also enjoys the camaraderie at the studio, where students of architecture spend the most time.
“I will say my experience at NJIT was incredibly full and I’m amazed at how much I’ve been shaped as a professional and as a person. I’m so happy that my segment on The College Tour gave me the opportunity to reflect on all that I’ve experienced, and share with prospective students,” said Casey.
Suzanne Hlinka is a Digital Design major, featured in segment NJIT – Makes Gaming A Career. Hlinka explains how NJIT helped her explore beyond her imagination. While at NJIT she participated in projects from designing apps to AR, VR, 3D modeling and game design. As a digital designer she focuses on user experience design where she studies process making, storytelling and world building.
“I am very proud of our students and their achievements, and it is very rewarding to hear from them about their positive experience at NJIT and the Hillier College of Architecture and Design. The hard work, enthusiasm, and success of our students, faculty, and staff is what earned NJIT and our college high national rankings, and I think our prospective students will appreciate getting this insight directly from their peers,” said Branko Kolarevic, Dean of the Hillier College of Architecture and Design.
The College Tour: Coming Soon on an App Near You
Montclair State University Press Room I March 14, 2022
A watch party on March 24 provides for a sneak peek of Montclair’s big moment
Watch the live stream on Youtube.
There’s a tradition among students who perform as Montclair State University’s mascot, Rocky the Red Hawk: it’s a secret until they cross the graduation stage wearing bright yellow talons to make the “big reveal.” But for one member of Team Rocky that unveiling will be happening on multiple streaming platforms when he unmasks on the television series The College Tour.
“This is the coolest kind of reveal for Rocky that you could do,” says Sean Risch ’22, who graduated in January with a degree in Theatre Studies. He represents Montclair along with 18 other students and alumni in the University’s hour-long episode that begins running in April on Prime Video, IMDbTV and additional channels. “Being Rocky was a personal thing and sharing that with America is just … awesome.”
Ahead of the national rollout, Montclair is offering a sneak peek of the program – and Rocky – introducing the cast and taking viewers behind the making of The College Tour at a premiere on Thursday, March 24. The watch party will include a reception beginning at 6 p.m. in the lobby of the School of Communication and Media and an in-person and live-streamed program (on the University’s YouTube channel) at 7 p.m. in the School of Communication and Media’s Presentation Hall.
A crew from The College Tour visited campus last October, taping 20 different segments that cover all things Montclair, including campus life, academics, internships, research and service opportunities. “The crew let me be my complete, authentic self,” recalls Nikki-James Soto. “I like to try new things and meet new people, but I didn’t know what I was walking into.”
Soto is a senior with a double major in Psychology and Elementary Education and, as part of Montclair’s 4+1 program, will earn her Master of Arts in Teaching next year. Putting herself in front of a camera wasn’t part of her college plans.
“I want to be a teacher. I want to work with kids. I never thought that I’d get a chance to do any sort of production,” Soto says. “But I had such a fun time and was able to have friends be a part of it too. This is something we’re going to have a memory of forever.”
Produced by Emmy-nominated and award-winning TV producers, The College Tour helps prospective students around the country travel virtually across America for an inside look at colleges and universities. Montclair’s episode is part of Season 4 on Amazon’s streaming service, IMDb TV, on The College Tour’s app (Android, iOS) and website; Roku, Apple TV, LG Smart TV, Samsung Smart TV, Sony, Philips Smart TV, Amazon FireTV, Android TV and Montclair’s YouTube.
A crew from The College Tour visited campus last October, taping 20 different segments that cover all things Montclair, including campus life, academics, internships, research and service opportunities. “The crew let me be my complete, authentic self,” recalls Nikki-James Soto. “I like to try new things and meet new people, but I didn’t know what I was walking into.”
Soto is a senior with a double major in Psychology and Elementary Education and, as part of Montclair’s 4+1 program, will earn her Master of Arts in Teaching next year. Putting herself in front of a camera wasn’t part of her college plans.
“I want to be a teacher. I want to work with kids. I never thought that I’d get a chance to do any sort of production,” Soto says. “But I had such a fun time and was able to have friends be a part of it too. This is something we’re going to have a memory of forever.”
Produced by Emmy-nominated and award-winning TV producers, The College Tour helps prospective students around the country travel virtually across America for an inside look at colleges and universities. Montclair’s episode is part of Season 4 on Amazon’s streaming service, IMDb TV, on The College Tour’s app (Android, iOS) and website; Roku, Apple TV, LG Smart TV, Samsung Smart TV, Sony, Philips Smart TV, Amazon FireTV, Android TV and Montclair’s YouTube.
PHOTO GALLERY: Meet Some of the Stars of The College Tour
Watch the livestream of the episode’s premiere on March 24 on YouTube.
Register to attend the watch party in person.
Story by Staff Writer Marilyn Joyce Lehren. Photos by University Photographer Mike Peters. Videos by Videographer Christo Apostolou.