Most colleges roll out the red carpet for visiting tour groups, showing their best angles, providing a Disneyland-esque snapshot of perfect college life.

“Visiting UC Berkeley, for example, is more of a ‘sales presentation’ with a college provided guide than an actual college experience,” said Next Step Tours Director, Samantha Stuber.

NST, however, wants to ensure the most realistic experience possible in an effort to provide potential students with a clear picture of what they will expect.

With the mission statement of ensuring student success, they help with the daunting task of choosing the correct California based college to fit their specific needs. Students are able to meet with UC or private college professors, stay in dorms, meet with school groups, speak with students, sit in on classes, attend sports events, etc.

Before that process, however, students must first pick a handful of schools they wish to visit or attend from the thousands of available options. NST can help with that process as well, asking you about your preferred class size, interests (both in school and extracurricular), ideal living situation, and intended field of study.

Recently NST have turned their focus towards helping community college students, not just high schoolers. “We want to cater to the student,” said Stuber, “and most transfer students don’t get the same experience as visiting high school students.”

NST is currently working with DVC student, Amy Putnam, who hopes to be transferring to UC Davis for this coming semester, fall 2016. “Before the NST I didn’t know what to expect and felt a little anxious, but now the picture is starting to come together. It has helped me a lot,” said Putnam. “The NST has given me a lot more to work with. I’ve received tour information from them and now have a tour scheduled at UC Davis and have requested a special ‘animal science’ tour to help prepare me for my choice of major.”

Diablo Valley College’s transfer rate to four-year universities is 67 percent higher than the national average, and is number one in state transfers from community colleges, according to the California Postsecondary Education Commission. However, that alone will not give transferring DVC students the resources they need.

The ‘Transfer Student Success Package’ is available with financial aid options and resources that are customized to the students needs. This specifically includes information regarding financial aid, scholarships, and other financial options that may be available from the university that the student plans on attending. Additionally, regarding help financing, NST just released a Donorbox link where anybody can donate to help fund students college trips and success! In the future, they plan to have scholarships and help pay for students to go to college.

Typical costs for NST services are $250 per college visit, or Transfer Student Success Package: $399. DVC students, however, are welcome to use the promo code ‘FINDYOURCOLLEGE’ for a $50 discount on all services. This means that the price for the ‘Transfer Student Success Package’ would be $349, and the each college visit would be discounted to $199.

It is NST’s hope to work alongside DVC students to fill in the gaps and provide a launching pad for all students looking to attend a four-year college.