As an admission counselor, I used to cringe when I heard this from a prospective student. It’s not that I’m controlling (ok, I am controlling) but I want every student to have a consistent positive experience at my institution, or at least a chance at one. This is why we organize campus tours. In my experience, most students who attend my institution have taken a campus tour prior to enrollment. It’s a hands down key element to the college decision.
Prospective Students Want the Down-Low
Still, there is a reason why students have their friends show them around campus. They know their friends, and they share a lot in common with them. They will trust the opinion of their friend as it would be similar to their own in the same situation. Plus, we need the secret information. Where are the $1 fish tacos? How can I print stuff for free? I’ve heard all the good news, what are the negatives. Student Blogs, left relatively unedited, are extremely effective for giving prospective students inside information.
Leave Them Alone
Freshness is entirely more important than the number of bloggers you have, their posting frequency, or even content. I’ve referred to spam filters built into teens and twenty-somethings and blogs can definitely activate the canned alarm if the content is edited. Visitors to a Student Blog site are hoping to hear the real story of student life at your place. Let them hear it. I’m a big fan of correct spelling and punctuation and I review our student’s posts for these errors, but I leave the content alone. You can be sure that your student blogs will reflect favorably on the institution by carefully selecting your bloggers.
Spread the Appeal Around
So you’ll need to pick a group of student authors who differ by degree program and who are involved in different areas of activity (We have a London Semester Blogger). If they’re fluent in Spanish, have them blog in that language and include an English translator in the menu column (not that translators work that well). Let them write in their own voice. Gangsta, Like… Like… Like…, or all lowercase letters, there will be some student that sees themselves in a post, and they might even like what they see.
I Know Nothing
Through tracking stats and watching the students post, I’m learning more daily. There’s a definite way to go about setting up a blog, and there are an overabundace of how-to sites. I may even post my suggestions. Word.
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