Facebook and college search

It's not exactly breaking news that the college search process has gone digital. The growth of "ghost" or "phantom" (unnecessarily spooky names, but appropriate given the Halloween season) applications -- those from students who have never asked for information on a school before applying -- is booming and will continue to do so as better info. is available via the web and they continue to get bombarded with printed material.

So, it makes sense that Facebook, which is so hooked into the college environment would feature some great apps that can both enhance the search process and even make it fun. There are a bunch of apps out there, from College ToolKit and SkoolPool (primarily Canadian institutions) to the countless others being developed. Each has different features -- share your list of colleges with friends, compare offerings, take quizzes to "earn degrees," etc -- that are a blend of informative and fun. The apps themselves aren't really the point though. These tools and the many others like them aren't the future of college search, they're the now.

Social media has changed how students gather information on institutions, and they're doing it in ways that go beyond (and around) marketing plans. They want information straight from the source. They want to know what the experience is like. They want to know who else is looking at college, why, and what other schools they're thinking about. The challenge to colleges is how best to supplement what's out there and how to engage students in ways that are desirable to them. The answers are different for each college, but we all need to be asking when print is appropriate; how video can be used; whether and how to jump into online conversations without crashing the party; and, I think this is the most important one,  how to help prospective students build community around your college on their own terms.

It's about helping them facilitate those important relationships rather than trying to force them or just tell them that it's possible.

Comments

[Melissa]

Hi! Just wanted to mention that SkoolPool is (so far) primarily Canadian users - not schools! We loaded every school that we could find in North America in there and the database of EU schools goes up later this week... Thanks for the coverage!

Melissa

[Charlie]

Thanks for that Melissa! It's an interesting app.