Using Social Media "Smartly" in the Admissions Process

Parrot and Tipton offer a very practical set of suggestions to college admissions offices in regards to implementing social media sites in their article, Using Social Media “Smartly” in the Admissions Process.  The authors offer three main reasons that today there is an increased need for colleges to have a social media presence.  First, the frequency with which traditional college prospects use social media outlets has drastically increased over the past few years.  Second, there are already many pages on social media outlets that are not sponsored by the colleges that allow the general public to talk about their experiences with the college.  Third, school sponsored pages on social media outlets allow recently accepted students a way to connect before classes start.

According to the survey that Parrot and Tipton conducted of five hundred freshman college students, only eighteen percent of the students listed school sponsored social media pages to be “’one of the most important’ or ‘very important’ sources of information in their application decision.”  However, when deciding on which school to actually attend after the application process, twenty six percent of students listed social media outlets as information sources. 

The solution for colleges, get a social media presence regardless of how small.  Then as technology and culture relies on social media more, so should your advertising and recruiting efforts.

Parrot, T. V., & Tipton, S. (2010, September 28).  Using Social Media “Smartly” in the Admissions Process. College and University, 86(1), 51-53.