Posts Tagged ‘Admissions News’
How to Personalize Admissions at a Large State University with Social Media
Stacey Kostell, director of admissions at the University of Illinois, is in a unique position: With Illinois being one of the largest state schools in the country, how does she provide prospective students with a personalized view of the campus? From Stacey’s experience, the answer is showcasing the broad diversity on campus and communicating it through enrolled students. While students are still asking the basic questions–How do I get in? What ACT score do I need? When is the application deadline?—Stacey sees social media as an important lens for students to look through to get to know Illinois.
We spent some time talking with Stacey to learn about U of I”s social media program.
Q: Could you explain why social media has such a large presence on the Illinois undergraduate admissions site?
With a big place like this, we wanted our undergraduate admissions site to somehow represent all the different voices our current student body encompasses. After all, the students can sell the school better than we can. The social media integration, such as YouTube, Flickr, Twitter, WordPress and Facebook provide so many different kinds of channels for so many different kinds of students to tell their stories and provide their personal and authentic views of the University of Illinois.
We are also committed to continually improving the site based on what our hits are telling us. If the clicks tell us to make more students blogs, we’ll head in the direction. We have millions of hits, and it only makes sense to keep reorganizing the admissions site based on what information, and in what form, prospective students want to see it.
Q: Why have you chosen to create multiple Facebook pages from Illinois admissions?
We decided that since we’re a big school with a lot of different sets of information to get across, three pages would get the right information to the right students. So we built three separate Facebook admissions pages: one for prospects, one for admitted freshman students and one for admitted transfer students since each group has different needs. The two admitted pages will essentially become their “Class of 2015” pages for students to communicate with each other, ask questions, and comment on posts. The pages work as another lens through which students can learn about the university.
Q: How has social media and online recruiting affected your recruiting strategies?
Traditional recruiting methods, although still useful for many of our needs, are limited and expensive. Online recruiting techniques have allowed us to cast a much wider net. Online college search tools gives us a way to geographically reach students we wouldn’t necessarily be able reach without spending a lot of money using some of the more expensive traditional methods. Cappex’s inquiry production, for example, is displacing some long-established list buys such as the PSAT search.
Q: What advice would you give other schools about online recruiting and social media?
On top of the traditional modes of communication, the social media produced by our own enrolled students provides another opportunity for students to connect with the school in a way they’re comfortable connecting. In the end, whether you’re using online recruiting and social media or not, it’s important to keep your information honest and authentic.
Mobile makes its way into students’ college searches, though e-mail continues to prevail
A new study by Cappex.com shows that students are researching information on college websites from their mobile devices, though traditional channels such as email are still relied upon most to keep students on track during their college searches.
The Cappex study of more than 2,000 class of 2011 and 2012 high school students, as well as 82 college admission officers, also shows that videos are more popular for college searching than blogs on college sites.
Specific findings from the study include:
- 86 percent of 2011 high school grads prefer e-mail for initial contact from colleges
- Just 19 percent of 2011 high school grads want initial direct contact from colleges by cell phone, though 32 percent prefer to continue a dialogue with college admissions reps by cell phone
- 77 percent of 2011 high school grads prefer using a mobile-friendly version of a college’s website, while 23 percent would prefer to download an app from a college
- Class of 2012 high school students are somewhat more receptive to apps: 35 percent would prefer to download an app
- 34 percent of colleges surveyed said that they have created a mobile-friendly version of their website. Of those that have not yet created one, two thirds plan to create one this year
- More than 85 percent of 2011 high school seniors prefer to learn about colleges through video tours and student videos, while just 6 percent are interested in reading college blogs during their college searches
“When it comes to communicating with colleges, students are more open than ever to using their mobile devices and cell phones, though colleges need to understand their preferences,” said Chris Long, president of Cappex. “For instance, students may not want to download an app from every college they are looking at, but they will visit a college’s website using their mobile devices.”
“Colleges need to be sure to set up mobile versions of their sites to cater to growing mobile use among students,” Long added. “Additionally, colleges should continue using tried and true methods such as e-mail to make it easy for students to keep track of their interactions with colleges.”
The white paper summarizing the study can be found at http://bit.ly/irOAhX.
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5 Questions on Digital Media and Admissions with Scott Jones of Wooster
New ways to communicate with digital media are being explored every day in the recruiting world, and Scott Jones of the College of Wooster is determined to make sure that he and his team stay ahead of the curve. Scott has incorporated digital media into the foundation of Wooster admissions, even setting aside a portion of Wooster’s homepage for its social media feeds. By focusing efforts on essential digital platforms, most importantly Facebook and college search sites, Scott has found surprising success connecting with prospective students and getting them to join the dialogue about Wooster.
Q1. What are the latest social media or mobile tools Wooster admissions is using and why?
We wanted to be very deliberate with our social media presence and avoid jumping haphazardly into everything available. So, we laid down the groundwork and devised a plan that would limit which tools we would use to reach out to students. Ultimately, we wanted to use fewer social media platforms, but use them precisely and to their full potential instead of diluting our efforts across the Web.
This discussion led to us narrowing down our major efforts to Facebook and Twitter, which are pretty much the hubs of the social media scene. With our concentrated efforts we can really do it right and aim for consistency, making sure that even if a prospective student finds us through Facebook, or Twitter, or the official school website, we’re giving the same message. So, our main focus at this time is Facebook and Twitter.
Q2. How can “Facebook-ing” be done more deliberately to engage prospective students?
Before we even started posting from our Wooster Facebook page, we had to decide if we should make a separate Wooster admissions page apart from the community institution page. Eventually we chose to drive all traffic to one location, so our page’s audience is everyone from prospective and enrolled students, to alumni, family and parents.
As for posting to our page, we outlined the percentages of the different types of posts we thought would be the most powerful. The majority of our Facebook posts are questions that inspire conversation. We like to give a bit of information while asking questions, but also allow room for the community to respond. This shows prospective students what alumni have to say and also gives prospective students the opportunity to ask questions and interact.
Many times, we drive our posts around Wooster’s Capstone Experience, our independent study program. Alumni talk about their experience with the program and prospective students can get a well-rounded perspective of Wooster right from their computer.
Q3. Are there other digital tools that you use, and how do you feel they complement what you’re doing on Facebook?
Again, it’s about using digital media not to spread your resources too thin, but to really target the audience you want to engage. College search sites make that part of my admissions job much easier to manage. With sites, like Cappex, we have the option to be very specific with the information we provide and target it to the specific students we want to reach. By far, though, the best aspect of college search tools is the follow up. If a student is interested in a Wooster campaign, the follow up is crucial because that’s really where you can connect with them and drive them to our different sites. To my initial surprise, a large number of enrolled students came from the online college search.
Q4. Do you think these tools help further the conversation, start the conversation, or help with yield?
All of the above! We focus in on a couple of tools, like Facebook, and really drive them home. If schools put in the time, the tools will help them find the students, communicate with students, build relationships, and help with yield. If you use these tools to their full potential they can help with the entire funnel: initial inquiry all the way through enrollment and keeping them engaged as alumni.
Q5. What do you think is the most important thing about digital media that admissions officers need to hear?
These platforms are great yield tools. They encourage an organic conversation between prospective students, current students and alumni that never really could happen before. It’s one thing for prospective students to hear good things about Wooster from admissions people, but it’s a completely different thing to hear from people who are simply expressing joy about their experience in college. This happened a lot last year, and it paid off. We enrolled one of the largest classes in Wooster history.
You can see how the College of Wooster has integrated social media into their site at: http://www.wooster.edu/
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3 Ways to Avoid Biting Off Your Nails while Waiting for Your College Admissions Letter
It’s March, and that means that Spring is on the horizon. It also means that college admissions officers are making their final decisions, sealing the envelopes and getting them ready to head off to all of the eagerly awaiting applicants any time now.
On the home front, you’re probably going a little crazy inside. After all, you’ve spent half of your high school career trying to figure out how to get into college, how to score higher on the ACT or SAT, and how to write the perfect college essay.
Your nerves could eat you alive as you refresh your admissions status on your college of choice’s website. So, instead of biting your nails down so low you can’t even open a can of Coke, take our words of wisdom on how to handle the wait for your college admissions letter .
1. Get a hobby.
Most high schoolers have access to tons of extra curricular activities. If you’re already involved in something, maybe it’s the musical, the mathletes or lacrosse–whatever it is–pump up your involvement. Make a goal for yourself to improve in something. Challenge yourself to sustain a note longer, do harder math in your head or run a quicker mile. That way, your mind will be less focused on your admissions letter and more about how you can achieve what’s actually in your control at that moment.
If you’re not involved with an after school activity, make your own. There’s one resource most every high school has no matter what and that’s students. Join up with friends who have the same interest as you and form your own club. As long as you’re involved in something that piques your interest, your nerves will have the chance to relax while you await the college’s decision.
2. Treat yourself.
Treat yourself to something that you don’t usually allow yourself but has proven to relax you. Perhaps it’s an extra hour of television, a box of chocolates, or a massage. With the stress of high school and the college search, so many students barely have enough time to just sit down and relax. Allot some time for yourself to do what eases your mind. For some people it might be getting in exercise during a time when you usually force yourself to sit at your desk to do homework. For others, it’s just allowing some time to veg out. Either way, give yourself a little relaxation during the week if you find yourself freaking out about your college acceptance letter.
3. Plan your spring break.
No matter what you’re doing over spring break, you can focus your nervous energy on planning it out day by day. If you’re heading to an exotic destination, do some research to find out which tourist attractions most excite you–snorkeling, ropes course or beachside yoga class. If you’re staying put during spring day, plan out some things you’ve been meaning to do for a while but haven’t had the time–clean out your closet, visit that museum you’ve always wanted to explore. Wherever you go, planning a detailed schedule for spring break will most definitely give you something fun to do while keeping your mind off of that admissions letter.
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Studying abroad: Is it Worth Leaving Your College Campus for?
Getting into your college of choice might be one of your proudest accomplishments. Considering the time it took to find the perfect college for you, get the grades, score high enough on the ACT or SAT, send in all of your admissions materials and figure out how to pay for college, is it really worth it to leave your college campus for a study abroad program? An article in USA Today suggests that maybe staying on campus is as valuable, if not more so, than leaving campus for a foreign experience:
Academics:
Remember high school? You spent days polishing your application essays and nights worrying about a rejection letter from the university of your dreams. You’re at that university now, paying a small fortune for the small class sizes, award-winning professors and diverse, gifted classmates that you dreamed about two or three years ago. And now you’re trying to leave?You have probably already started taking those advantages for granted. Unless you’re considering a semester at Oxford, you might be unpleasantly surprised at the academics at your host school. There’s a reason foreigners come to America’s universities – they really are the best in the world.Classes:
As budgets are cut, so are class schedules. Unless you’re in the biggest major on campus, there are classes that are offered very infrequently – classes that you’ll miss out on. It might be the seminar on women in journalism or on South American popular revolutions. Ever since the spring of my first year, I had been yearning to take a class on natural language processing (don’t ask – it’s really nerdy). I would have missed out on the chance to take that course if I had gone abroad. The kicker is that your junior year is when you start having enough priority to register for the classes that filled up when you were a freshman or a sophomore.
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Traditional Language Programs in Universities Have Declined Steadily Over Decades
Bonjour! Hola! Ciao!
Fewer and fewer undergraduate students are saying “Hello” to the Romanic Language majors. According to The Chronicle of Higher Education college undergraduate majors in German and the Romance languages have been vanishing from American higher-education:
In the 1970-71 academic year, Romance-language majors were offered by close to 76 percent of American four-year colleges. But by 2005-6, only about 59 percent offered them. German programs saw a similar decline: In 1970-71, about 44 percent of colleges offered the major, but in 2005-6, just under 27 percent did so. Leaving aside “secretarial science,” those are by far the largest relative declines discovered by the Riverside scholars.
Would you ever study the romantic languages?
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5 Ways to Network and Make Friends in College
If you’re a high school senior, you have less than a semester left of school and your highly anticipated start of college is on the horizon. After spending 4 years in high school, you might want to prep yourself for the changes you’ll experience going away to college. And one of the biggest changes is making new friends.
This post from the Uloop blog gives college students 5 easy ways to network and make friends in college:
Switch It Up
Although it is very easy to be a part of the same organizations that you have been a part of for your entire life, it is more beneficial to branch out to various organizations that have different backgrounds, connections, and client bases than your own. For example, even if you are not politically driven it may be rather prudent to join Young Republicans, Campus Democrats, etc. Or on the flip-side, if you have been a part of a politically affiliated organization for a long time, then maybe you should switch it up and join the Adventure Club or Fencing Club. By doing this, your face and name gain recognition across demographics.Approach the Unfamiliar
Oftentimes people get so wrapped up in their own lives that they forget that there are six billion other people on the planet. Yes, friendships are amazing, especially the lifelong ones. However, someone that you have known since pre-school will not vanish if you do not hang out with them for a couple days. Be approachable and approach those that you don’t know. For example, if someone is wearing a shirt that says “Combat Airsoft” you may feign interest in order to spark a conversation which could lead to a friendship. No one ever got anywhere by staying in their shell, and neither should you.
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3 Valentine’s Day Ideas a Student Can Afford
Happy Valentine’s Day! Here are some Cappex words of wisdom on how to woo your Valentine on a serious student budget.
3 Valentine Ideas for College or High School Students on a Budget:
1. Snail Mail – Not even college admissions use the ole’ U.S. Postal Service anymore. Everything is digital, even college acceptance letters! But, receiving a sweet letter in the mail that is not a bill is definitely a treat. So make your own card, buy a stamp, write your heart out to your Valentine, and you’ll only be out 44 cents!
2. Cook a Dinner at Home – You don’t have to go out to enjoy a decadent Valentine’s dinner with your Valentine. If you’re a college or high school student on a budget, you don’t need to impress your Valentine with a fancy French dinner, just cook up something at home! Not only will you save moolah, but you will impress your Valentine with your new found culinary skills. *Hint* Easy recipes are as simple to find on the Internet as scholarships are using Cappex.com!
3. Picture You Two Together - If you want to present your Valentine with a nicely wrapped gift but still stay on your college or high school student budget, a picture frame is the way to go. You can find affordable picture frames at tons of places. Plus, the most personal part of the gift is the picture you place inside. It’s an affordable gift that has meaning to it, and it’s definitely better than your other affordable and personlized option: the illustrious mix-tape.
So happy Valentine’s Day! And if none of the above options work for you, why not find some scholarships to save your Valentine money on college? That’s probably the best Valentine they’ll ever get!
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College Application Rates 2011: Which Schools Saw A Decline?
We heard before that with the economy the way it is, more and more people have been on the college search train and that application rates have actually seen a staggering increase at colleges and universities across the country. But, the The Huffington Post informs that some schools have seen the opposite. What do you think this means for admissions? Do you think applying to a school with a lower application rate will help with you get in? Or applying to a college with an increased application rate will make it harder for you?
Here are the colleges that saw a decline in applications for the 2015 class:
- Tulane University: -13.65%
- SUNY Stoney Brook: -11.91%
- Grinnell College: -7.61%
- Wesleyan University: -6.07%
- Elon University: -6.06%
- Lafayette College: -3.16%
- Rutgers University: -2.29%
- University of Maryland College Park: -1.69%
- Colgate University: -1.37%
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Crazy College Stories: College Professor Sticks A Camera in His Head Only to Find Camera is Not Wanted
It’s time for, drum roll please, a crazy college story! College and university life is definitely the time for trying new things, but where does it go too far? 
Would sticking a camera in your skull suffice to say the experience has “gone too far”? At New York University, arts professor Wafaa Bilal, recently implanted a camera in the back of his head only to realize his body did not want it. According to The Huffington Post, “[Bilal] underwent surgery on Friday after his body rejected one of the titanium posts anchoring the device to his skull.” The article goes on explaining:
Late last year, Bilal had the digital camera inserted into a two-inch hole drilled into the back of his head. According to The Chronicle of High Education, the body-modification artist who performed the surgery also installed three posts between Bilal’s skin and skull to root the setup in place.
Bilal intended to wear the camera around for a year as part of an art project, titled “The 3rd I,” commissioned for the opening of the Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, reports the AP. “But the setup caused constant pain, because his body rejected one of the posts, despite treatment with antibiotics and steroids,” The Chronicle now writes.
The troublesome post has been removed, but the other two remain. “I’m determined to continue with [the project],” Mr. Bilal said, according to The Chronicle.
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