Admissions offices use social networking

By Patricia Alex
The Record (Hackensack N.J.)

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Social networking tools — such as Facebook, blogging and Twitter — are fast becoming an integral part of college admissions around the country as students communicate with schools in the way that has become second nature to them.

More than 60 percent of schools are now using so-called social media to recruit and contact students — a huge jump in just a few years, according to a survey done for the National Association of College Admissions Counseling.

And many colleges and universities have recently started or are planning to launch some sort of social media campaign, from "live chats" online to Twitter updates and video campus tours.

Applicants to Monmouth University in New Jersey can now use videos submitted via Facebook — in lieu of essays — to tell the school why they should be accepted.

Online groups set up by Drew and Seton Hall universities let those admitted get to know each other before they ever set foot on campus, and Rutgers University freshmen are blogging for prospective students on school-sponsored sites.

"It's the new and best thing, and you have to do it unless you want to look antiquated," said Peter Nacy, vice president of undergraduate admissions at Seton Hall.

Seton Hall's admissions office last year put up a Facebook page for freshmen enrolling in the class of 2013, offering notices, news and a chance to interact with other students. The site grew quickly and now has nearly 850 members, out of a class of 1,140.

"It doesn't take long at all when you put yourself out there," Nacy said.

A virtual feel

Storm Wycke used such connections in making her decision about where to enroll. She corresponded with current and prospective students and got a virtual feel for the half dozen schools to which she'd been accepted.

"It actually helped me figure out I wanted to come to Drew," said Wycke, now a student on the campus in Madison, N.J.

Schools, and different groups and departments within those schools, have set up myriad Facebook groups over the last few years — everything from pages for math majors to alumni.

Now, despite some hesitation, admissions offices are getting into the act.

Within the past couple of months, Montclair State University's admissions office has launched a Facebook page and opened a Twitter account, said admissions director Jason Langdon.

"Students are so used to communicating this way," he said. "It's their channel. We want to interact with them."

Maintaining the networks is labor intensive — it often requires additional staff charged with monitoring the sites daily and responding to inquiries and posts. And some admissions staffers have said they feel uncomfortable with the casual nature of conversation the medium engenders.

But for the most part, it looks like online social networks are taking their place as a tool in recruiting and admissions.

Professional help

Companies have sprung up on the Web that help students create online profiles suitable for admissions and help colleges reach out to students via social networking sites, some designed specifically for the purpose.

"By next year, college admissions officers won't be able to ignore this anymore," said Kristen Campbell, a director for Kaplan Test Prep.

She said there has been a major shift among students as well. In the past, some were upset that admissions officers might see their personal Facebook pages — often a place for party pictures and off-color banter.

Now, more students are reaching out to schools via Facebook.