High school seniors are choosing colleges sight unseen The pandemic has radically changed the way high school seniors apply to colleges, preventing many from physically touring and forcing them to rely on online information and virtual conversations to decide where to spend their next four years. Share Ella Stanley of Cape Elizabeth applied to and was accepted at Wellesley College, near Boston, but has not been able to tour the campus. Photo by Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer While trying to make one of the biggest decisions of her young life – picking a college where she’ll spend the next four years and set the foundation for her future – Ella Stanley had to resort to a drive-by.