The Social Side of College Admissions

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12896036522644752152010-03-11T15:05:55.824-05:00The Social Side of College AdmissionsNews, tips, and ideas about the intersection of college admissions and social networkingVarsity Outreachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266838587670330062noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1289603652264475215.post-71509894772184898812010-03-11T15:05:00.001-05:002010-03-11T15:05:55.880-05:00This blog has moved

This blog is now located at http://blog.varsityoutreach.com/. You will be automatically redirected in 30 seconds, or you may click here. For feed subscribers, please update your feed subscriptions to http://blog.varsityoutreach.com/feeds/posts/default.

Varsity Outreachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266838587670330062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1289603652264475215.post-24737319936588625392010-02-24T14:40:00.000-05:002010-02-24T14:41:35.062-05:00Comparing Options on Facebook for Admissions Offices

For lots of admissions offices, the decision has been made to use Facebook in recruitment and yield efforts. The opportunity to reach such a large number of prospects in one place has become hard to ignore. However, many are not fully aware of the various options they have for promoting their school on Facebook and what the pros and cons of each option are. We've pulled together a brief look at

Varsity Outreachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266838587670330062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1289603652264475215.post-67683316465474357152010-01-05T10:00:00.002-05:002010-01-19T15:28:11.970-05:00Preparing for the Long Haul with Social Media

We want it to be easy. We want our first YouTube video to go viral. We want our blog to have hundreds if not thousands of followers within a couple months. We want our tweeps (and subsequently their tweeps) re-tweeting our Twitter posts, creating a giant echo chamber for our messages. Unfortunately, for 99.999% of us, it just doesn't work like that. For every social media overnight success story,

Varsity Outreachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266838587670330062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1289603652264475215.post-13178234546705920952009-11-02T13:17:00.003-05:002009-11-02T13:23:24.203-05:00Social Media Metrics: Arm Yourself with Evidence

Social media doesn't necessarily lend itself to easily tracking performance like your website or e-mail campaigns do. It's not always possible to figure out how effective a status update on your Facebook Fan Page or a Tweet from a university Twitter account is. That doesn't mean you shouldn't try. We offer a number of ideas for determining the success of your social media efforts. Capitalize on

Varsity Outreachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266838587670330062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1289603652264475215.post-30535803535731357292009-10-12T10:00:00.006-04:002009-10-12T10:00:04.956-04:00Are Social Media Efforts Just Added Expense?

We've given dozens of demonstrations of our Facebook Application for college admission and marketing offices. All but a handful have gotten great responses from colleges, most of whom are looking to do more with social networks, specifically Facebook. The biggest reason folks pass on the opportunity is budget concerns. We've heard some variation of "We just don't have the money for this. Our

Varsity Outreachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266838587670330062noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1289603652264475215.post-39497969050271796192009-09-17T11:30:00.000-04:002009-09-17T11:45:10.321-04:00Varsity Outreach at NACAC: Booth #604

We're heading to the NACAC Conference in Baltimore next week. We're looking forward to exhibiting at this great event. We'll be at Booth #604 so stop on by and say hello if you're going to be there. Raffle for Free Year of Our Facebook Application We're going to be raffling off a free year of our Facebook Application at the conference. Don't miss your chance to win. Just come visit us and drop a

Varsity Outreachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266838587670330062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1289603652264475215.post-80855178693033248112009-09-09T13:30:00.001-04:002009-09-09T13:33:56.022-04:00Only a Week to Our Free Facebook Webinar

Varsity Outreach will be hosting a webinar on September 15 at 2pm ET on how colleges can use Facebook to promote themselves. We will combine useful statistics and an overview of your options with practical, actionable advice regarding Facebook. We plan on covering all the options you have for getting involved in Facebook, including Profiles, Groups, Pages, and Applications. We will highlight the

Varsity Outreachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266838587670330062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1289603652264475215.post-18466141226688564832009-09-01T08:30:00.001-04:002009-09-01T08:30:01.119-04:00Social Media is a Tool, not the End Goal

It's hard to miss all the hype about social media. Stories about Twitter and Facebook are in the news almost daily. Several schools have attracted headlines for launching iPhone applications. The New York Times' The Choice blog just had a story about a site that aggregates and categorizes college-related twitter accounts called GlobalQuad. So you may be thinking, our school needs to have a

Varsity Outreachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266838587670330062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1289603652264475215.post-91809582897623421162009-08-03T09:00:00.003-04:002009-08-03T09:09:27.880-04:00Go Where Your Audience Is

On the Mashable website, there was an interesting article about the friendly Facebook rivalry developing between Texas A&M and LSU for the top spot among college Facebook pages. In the article, there was a great quote that got at the heart of two of the biggest selling points of social media... access and convenience. Kathryn Greenwade, VP of communications for the Texas A&M alumni association

Varsity Outreachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266838587670330062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1289603652264475215.post-21033091241553268262009-07-13T08:30:00.004-04:002009-07-13T08:30:01.045-04:00Bringing Facebook to Your Own College Website

These past few weeks, Facebook has launched two major initiatives that can help colleges bring some of the Facebook experience to their own website. On June 24, Facebook rolled out the Live Stream Box, and followed that up with the July 8 introduction of the Fan Box. Both could be useful tools for colleges, in general, and admission offices specifically. The Live Stream Box You may have seen an

Varsity Outreachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266838587670330062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1289603652264475215.post-67086760824671959312009-06-29T08:00:00.001-04:002009-07-10T10:03:39.804-04:00A Facebook Page... Not Just Another Admissions Website

Unlike the ethereal voice from Field of Dreams repeating "If you build it, they will come" to Ray Kinsella, your strategy for Facebook should not just stop when you create a Fan Page. That is just the first step in an iterative, evolving presence to establish a thriving community around your school. Don't Just Recreate Your Admissions Website If all you do with your Facebook Page is re-post

Varsity Outreachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266838587670330062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1289603652264475215.post-60974341722217048692009-06-18T09:00:00.002-04:002009-07-06T09:27:21.181-04:00The Power of the Unexpected

I was at a meeting the other day for folks working to improve access to college for New York City students. It was our annual wrap-up meeting before summer break and, as is tradition, we brought in a speaker to talk to us and provide a little motivation for the work we do. He was fabulous. He captivated the audience, made us laugh, brought tears to some people's eyes, and left us all feeling good

Varsity Outreachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266838587670330062noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1289603652264475215.post-57006876452391753412009-06-11T09:07:00.006-04:002009-06-11T09:13:02.907-04:00Demise of Facebook a Little Premature?

Everywhere I look, I seem to see reports of the demise of Facebook among teenagers. The standard logic goes something like this: Parents have now found Facebook The fastest growing demographic is women over 55. Teens don't want to be where parents are Inevitably, their parents are going to friend them, throwing open the doors to all the conversations between teens and their friends and all the

Varsity Outreachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266838587670330062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1289603652264475215.post-81264213265536405502009-06-08T14:21:00.007-04:002009-06-08T14:32:29.962-04:00Facebook Pages... The Top 10

We're putting together a directory of college and university Facebook Pages. As a sneak peak, we've included the top 10 U.S. schools by fan count. Drum roll, please... 10. The University of Oklahoma - 15,469 fans 9. University of California, Berkeley - 16,830 fans 8. West Virginia University - 18,490 fans 7. University of Florida - 20,087 fans 6. Indiana University - 33,490 fans 5. Stanford

Varsity Outreachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266838587670330062noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1289603652264475215.post-59877419607574660442009-06-01T08:00:00.006-04:002009-06-01T08:00:30.421-04:00A Marketing Lesson for Colleges from Jury Duty

Now I won't claim that jury duty holds a treasure trove of lessons about marketing to and recruiting prospective students, but I was definitely surprised by one aspect of the process: the Your Turn video, offering a brief outline of the roles and responsibilities of a jury. As I sat in a giant windowless room at the Brooklyn court house, I looked around and saw the majority of people engaged by

Varsity Outreachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266838587670330062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1289603652264475215.post-63469051100599018592009-05-26T08:00:00.002-04:002009-05-26T09:02:49.660-04:00Social Media Is the Solution, But What's the Problem?

According to Social Media and College Admissions: The First Longitudinal Study, 61 percent of four-year colleges have a social networking presence. I definitely believe that social networking, specifically Facebook, is a golden marketing opportunity for colleges and grad schools. There are very few places where you can reach such a large population of prospective students without paying for that

Varsity Outreachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266838587670330062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1289603652264475215.post-49356738292580615712009-05-18T08:00:00.003-04:002009-05-20T13:36:37.021-04:00Herding and Community Building

While reading the book Predictably Irrational, I came across the concept of herding, where "we assume that something is good (or bad) on the basis of other people's previous behavior, and our actions follow suit." The author Dan Ariely uses the example of restaurants. If we walk by a restaurant with a line, we assume it's good. If the line is really long, we assume it's great. You have never

Varsity Outreachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266838587670330062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1289603652264475215.post-71729566373225530002009-05-11T09:15:00.000-04:002009-05-11T09:15:03.185-04:00Let Your Hair Down with Social Media

Several college admission offices have embraced the potential of social media. Davidson used Twitter and Google Maps to give a snapshot of where applicants were from and a snippet of what they had to say in their admission essays. The dean of admissions at George Mason maintains a lively and informative blog (filled with candid commentary about college admissions). However, many admission offices

Varsity Outreachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266838587670330062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1289603652264475215.post-32077912227875878162009-05-04T11:50:00.005-04:002009-05-04T15:13:41.876-04:00Social Networking Bigger than E-mail

According to a March 2009 Nielsen Report, internet users now spend more time on social networks and blogs than on e-mail. Social Networking now accounts for 10% of all internet time. It's not just that more people are using sites like Facebook. They are also spending more time on these sites. Shift to Social Networking is an Opportunity While interacting with prospective students on Facbeook may

Varsity Outreachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266838587670330062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1289603652264475215.post-50663947704681297062009-04-30T14:00:00.005-04:002009-04-30T14:06:09.745-04:00Using Technology to Substitute for In-Person Interactions

Nothing can fully replace face-to-face interactions. An exchange of instant messages will likely never have the same impact as an in-person conversation. An e-mail isn't the same as a phone call. However, with state governments slashing budgets and college endowments taking major hits, the search for cost-effective recruitment solutions is becoming more important than ever. The slumping economy

Varsity Outreachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266838587670330062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1289603652264475215.post-62140517236495389452009-04-24T14:02:00.005-04:002009-04-24T14:07:16.573-04:00The Risk of Over-Moderating

Yesterday, I tuned in to a live stream of a presentation from the folks over at .eduGurus, entitled Social Media Storytelling. My hats off to the six folks who collaborated on the presentation (and made great use of technology, video conferencing in five of the participants and live-streaming out the presentation). They made a number of great points while sharing anecdotes from their own

Varsity Outreachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266838587670330062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1289603652264475215.post-39460305379093390482009-04-23T10:11:00.008-04:002009-04-23T10:19:55.994-04:00Facebook Study Making Headlines

There's been a lot of press coverage about a study correlating the use of Facebook with lower GPAs. The study, carried out by two PhD students, surveyed 219 undergraduate and graduate students at Ohio State. Wait to Sound the Alarms Based on the headlines themselves, you'd think that Facebook makes students dumber. However, the study does not claim any causality, and the reports' authors have not

Varsity Outreachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266838587670330062noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1289603652264475215.post-70187470425304307212009-04-20T15:00:00.000-04:002009-04-24T14:18:45.928-04:00Segmenting Your Audience on Facebook

Facebook has just surpassed 200 million users. It's hard to ignore an opportunity like this for your college or university to reach such a large audience... all in one place, especially when more and more people are using Facebook to communicate socially in lieu of e-mail. So let's assume you get over the initial hurdle and decide that it's worth it for your school to be on Facebook. The next

Varsity Outreachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266838587670330062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1289603652264475215.post-24409106450867278802009-04-15T15:30:00.000-04:002009-04-20T15:26:52.099-04:00Are Facebook's New Public Profiles a Good Thing for Colleges?

Facebook recently made some major changes to their Pages (now called Public Profiles), which are profiles for organizations like colleges, businesses, music groups, and other celebrities. They've essentially made them more like personal profiles, giving the Wall greater prominence. This seems to be a response to the growing popularity of Twitter, which emphasizes quick snippets of information.

Varsity Outreachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266838587670330062noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1289603652264475215.post-31350244227242509962009-04-14T17:00:00.001-04:002009-04-14T17:31:49.093-04:00We're Launching a Blog

At Varsity Outreach, we have decided to launch a blog called The Social Side of College Admissions to share news, insights, and our random musings about the intersection of college admissions and social networking. Social networking is now a staple for high school students. Many spend hours every week connecting with friends, playing interactive games, and more on social networking sites like

Varsity Outreachhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14266838587670330062noreply@blogger.com0