2012 social admissions report

#SocAdm12

The 2012 Social Admissions Report How college bound high school students use social media in their college search

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About The Survey n  Collaboration between Zinch and Inigral n  Over 7,000 Students Polled in August 2012 n  Students were anonymously surveyed by email n  All participants were registered Zinch and Chegg users

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Who we surveyed

“I want reviews on colleges from real live students who go to them.”

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Respondents by Gender, Graduating Class and number of colleges applied to

0%

19%

54%

25%

1% 1%

Graduating Class

2015 2014 2013

2012 2011 2010

44%

35%

15%

6%

Schools Applied

1-3 4-6 7-10 Over 10

HS Seniors

HS Juniors College Freshman

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Respondents by Race or Ethnicity

Race or Ethnicity Our Survey College Board

American Indian/Alaskan 1.1% 1%

Asian, Asian Am. Or Pacific Islander 12.1% 11%

Black or African American 17.4% 13%

Hispanic Latino 18.9% 15%

White 48.4% 53%

Other/No Response 2.8% 8%

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Students and mobile phones

Yes 71%

No 29%

Do you access social media on your

mobile device?

Yes 71%

No 29%

Have you used a mobile phone to visit

your school’s website?

Yes 87%

No 12%

Do you currently own

a mobile device?

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Do you access social media on your mobile device?

Asian

Black or African

American White Hispanic

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

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How Often Students Use Social Media

“I want to see fun things about going to school there, school news, advice from current students. I'd much rather see it on their social media site than have it clog my e-mail.”

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How often do students use Facebook?

Multiple times a day

53%

Once a day 20%

Once a week

7%

Once a month

1%

Every once in a while

6% Never 12%

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How often do students use Twitter?

Never

56%

Every once in a while 10%

Once a month

3%

Once a week

6%

Once a day 7%

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How often do students use Tumblr?

Never

69.4%

Every once in a while

9.3%

Once a month 2.2%

Once a week 4.3%

Once a day 4.3%

Multiple times a day 10.5%

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How often do students use Instagram?

Never

70%

Every once in a while

6%

Once a month

2%

Once a week

4% Once a day 5%

Multiple times a day 13%

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How often do you use Pinterest?

Never

75%

Every once in a while

7.5%

Once a month

2.4%

Once a week 5.6%

Once a day 4.1%

Multiple Times a day 4.7%

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Student Social Media Usage, By Network

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Facebook Twitter Tumblr Instagram Pinterest

Facebook usage is nearly double the closest network!

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The takeaways

Percent of students that use Facebook. Over half check the social network multiple times a day.

88% Percent of students that use Twitter. Most have never composed a single tweet.

44% Percent of students that have never used Pinterest. Less than 10 percent use it once a week.

76%

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Social Media and the College Search

“I would love to see more links to students that currently go to the college. if I had any questions, I think they would answer more truthfully than say, an admissions counselor.”

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What online resources are students using to review college information?

64%

19% 24%

36% 36%

15%

38% 33%

49%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Zinch My College Options College Week Live Cappex College Prowler US News and World Report Scholarships.com Fastweb.com College Website

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Do students think colleges and universities should have a social media presence?

Yes

67%

No 7%

Unsure 26%

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Have students used social media to research colleges and universities?

Yes

68%

No 32%

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Class of 2012 Did you use social media as a resource when deciding where to enroll?

Yes 38%

No

62%

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Did you use social media as a resource when deciding where to enroll?

Asian Black or African

American White

Hispanic

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

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What social media sites do students use when researching institutions?

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

Facebook

YouTube

Twitter

Pinterest

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How valuable or relevant do you find the information posted an institution’s

social media site?

0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

20.0%

25.0%

30.0%

35.0%

40.0%

45.0%

Not at all Somewhat Irrelivent Somewhat Relevant Relevant Very relevant

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Are you “engaging” or being relevant?

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What are some things you would like to see more of on college or university

social media sites?

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What do students want?

“I would like to see like an advice column or a FAQ section were common ‘worry’ questions can be answered to help ease the tension upon arriving to college or while attending college.”

“I really liked when I came across tips about enrollment and what not to do.”

“Real information. Less fluff.”

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What do students want?

‘I'm tired of seeing ‘this school is great,’ ‘I love it here, its awesome’ comments. All of the vague comments could apply to anything. I would really like to see opinions people have, the negative and the positive.

I would like to be able to ask a question and really have anyone's response to it, and not just an administrator telling me to look at the blah blah tab on their website.”

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Who do students want to connect with on social media?

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Most influential

Least Influential

Guidance Counselors Admission Counselors Administrators

Other Admitted Students Current Students

Alumni

Faculty

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Most important to communicate with in the admissions process

1.  Admissions Counselor

2.  Current Students

3.  Guidance Counselor

4.  Other Admitted Students

5.  Faculty

6.  Administrators

7.  Alumni

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How important is it for students to connect with current students?

Ranked first or second most

Asian Black or African

American

White

Hispanic

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

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Do students want to connect with a Admissions Counselor?

Asian

Black or African

American White

Hispanic

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

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Wants to be connected with other admitted students

Asian

Black or African

American

White

Hispanic

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

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Class of 2012

Did the institution have a page or group for admitted students?

Yes

75%

No 4%

Maybe 21%

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Class of 2012 Admitted Student Facebook Page

or Group Experience

0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

20.0%

25.0%

30.0%

35.0%

Terrible Bad OK Good Great

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Would students join a social network created for students at the institution?

Yes

75%

No 6%

Maybe 19%

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Social is a big opportunity for colleges and universities

Students want to leverage social media in college search ... •  66% believed colleges should have a

social media presence

•  45% said it was influential for them during their search

•  75% of Class of 2012 was aware of the college’s Facebook page for admitted students

It’s important to focus your social media strategy … •  Nearly 1/3 of students utilized social

media when deciding where to enroll

•  Only 40% of those who used social media found the info on the colleges sites useful or relevant

•  58% rated the experience on their Facebook admitted page as “good or great.”

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In Conclusion

§  A majority of students are using social media in their college search

§  In addition to sites like Zinch, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube will connect you with the largest population of college-bound students researching you

§  Niche networks may be a nice way to connect with students seeking specialty programs like art and music, but should be leveraged in addition to the larger networks given the time and resources required

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Questions?

Gil Rogers Zinch gil@zinch.com 860-990-2745

Brandon Croke Inigral bcroke@inigral.com 419-490-6557