Best Admission Uses of Twitter

Hi Michael,

Nice article. I’m very glad to see .eduGuru paying attention to how higher ed institutions are using Twitter to engage prospective and current students.

I am going to be a little self-serving here, which is usually against my better judgment.

Not only am I the web media and marketing manager for Carnegie Mellon’s Heinz College, I am also an alum. I’m proud to say that we’ve been using Twitter (https://twitter.com/heinzcollege) for just over a year, and we have nearly 1,000 followers. Granted, Twitter success cannot be measured on followers, but I was really happy to be second only to UC Davis of those you mention in this post.

We very actively connect with students (current and prospective) and alums. Because I am an alum, our Twitter feed is very personal and - I think - authentic.

All this and we’re only a college within a much larger university (Carnegie Mellon, which also tweets actively at @CarnegieMellon).

Like I said, I usually don’t act in such a self-serving way, but that’s what marketers are supposed to do, right? And I’m really pleased with what we’re doing here at Heinz College in terms of using modern web tools to interact with our community.

Thank you,

Brad Stephenson

Kristen Raves Says:

Great article! I would like to throw in a good word for our school. Butler is a small midwestern school that flies under the social media radar because of our size. I am happy to say that we have been using Twitter for nearly 2 years now and have seen tremendous results from our efforts.

We post everything from prospective and admitted student events to tips for parents and the college search process. We even track how many students register for our events who have come from Twitter.

Check out our twitter profile @gobutler or the rest of our social media at https://go.butler.edu/cs

Happy Blogging and More!
Kristen Raves

Rachel Says:

First off: Great article! I’ve come across too many articles lately talking about Twitter, without much real insight. It’s true (as you mentioned) there have been so many universities boarding the Twitter bandwagon; but not for the right reasons.. they’re using Twitter for the sake of it; which can backfire.

Second off: I’m going to do some (shameful) plugging… I’m a member of the McGill University Alumni and I’m VERY happy to say that our alumni association has started to use social media… “correctly.” They’ve embraced social media, use Twitter, and have even created a social media aggregate - a site that enables the McGill alumni to reconnect with the school and each-other.

Check it! https://www.alumnilive365.mcgill.ca/

Nick Says:

Great article!

Here is a Canadian example… https://twitter.com/humbercollege

We have had a lot of success using TweetDeck with current and prospective students.

Anna CNA Says:

Thanks for this great post Michael Fienen. I’m really very glad to see .eduGuru paying attention to how higher ed institutions are using Twitter to engage prospective and current students.This is very informative blog I’ve come across.

Keep sharing thanks!

Dean J @ UVa Says:

I don’t think Butler flies under the radar at all! You all do a great job, Kristen!

I’d love to know if those behind the Twitter accounts featured have tweeting/blogging/etc as part of their formal responsibilities. I started my admission blog in 2005 on my own, picked up Twitter a little over a year ago, and keep track of and comment on other sites (Facebook, College Confidential, etc.), too. None of this is part of my formal position and the busiest time of the year in the office (application review) is also my busiest time of year online. I know some admission offices have created dedicated positions for this work, but I have no data about how prevalent this is.

I wish I had time to research that!

Andrea Cooley Says:

I work at Des Moines University, an osteopathic medical school. Our prospective student is obviously different than an undergraduate program, but we still know how important social media is in the admissions process. My job title is Online Marketing & Recruiting Coordinator. The position was created last year and I have been in the job a little over 7 months. My responsibilities include blogging, tweeting, Facebooking and managing our online ads and listings including adwords and Facebook ads. If you have questions about my position I’d be happy to answer them! I think more and more jobs like mine will be created in the coming years.
Reply
- Mollie Yoder Says:
  
  Andrea, I would love to hear more about how you’ve been able to track your success in this position. As we move towards tasking our admissions staff with social networking responsibilities, I am looking for the best ways to track these efforts alongside their more traditional communication with students. Any insight you could give would be greatly appreciated.
Kristen Raves Says:

Thanks Dean! We follow yours as well and hats off to UVA.
Reply

Aaron Ragan-Fore Says:

Thanks for the kudos on the University of Oregon’s commitment to Twitter and other social media. We’re glad to have recognition on forums like this one, but gladder still to use these sorts of media to keep the apps pouring in.

If anyone’s interested, I encourage you to check out our new, minty-fresh UO Virtual Tour at https://admissions.uoregon.edu/virtualtour.

John Smith Says:

Good Work!

Student @ MCAT Review Says:

I noticed a while back social media caught on, and every school has their own facebook/twitter page. The schools even hold online chatroom info sessions for their applicants. As a student I thought all this was really fun and convenient.

Shawn Says:

Appreciated, thumbs up.

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Best Admission Use of Twitter - Beth Rhinelander's Colby Blog says:
January 28, 2010 at 1:42 pm
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