Students Equal Authenticity, Says M.I.T. Admissions

“A lot of people in admissions have not been eager for bloggers, mostly based on fears that we can’t control what people are saying,” said Jess Lord, dean of admissions at Haverford College, which posted student bloggers’ accounts of their summer activities this year, and plans to add bloggers this spring to help admitted students hear about campus life. “We’re learning, slowly, that this is how the world works, especially for high school students.” And rightfully so. A recent study by the Association of American Medical Colleges finds that most medical school deans were aware of students posting unprofessional content online, including photos of drug paraphernalia and violations of patient privacy. “Some infractions resulted in warnings, others in being expelled,” says an ABC News reporter. And there are other many legitimate reasons why a school should be cautious about who has the authoritative voice on campus. But in a day and age when teenagers value authenticity and first-hand experiences, the authoritative voice on campus may have to be reconsidered.

The Admissions Department at M.I.T. is leading a movement with dozens of schools that have decided that the student voice should be what sells to prospective students. As competition for high school seniors gets steeper, and admissions departments are forced to get more creative, one of the last and best resources a school has, are it’s students. Some may argue that faculty, endowment, or location makes up an institution’s identity. But there would be no institution without the student body. Recognizing this, high school seniors want to hear first-hand what that experience is like.

In terms of departmental budget, it’s one of the more inexpensive ways to sell an institution’s story. But other things besides budget have to be considered, including the risk and reward. Most would agree that the worst case scenario is a student giving a bad or inaccurate depiction of a school in a blog post. In a recent New York Times article, a member of Pomona College’s admissions staff offered this comment:

Pomona has considered having student bloggers, but so far has felt that the risks outweigh the benefits.

Art Rodriguez, Senior Associate Dean of Admissions at Pomona College

But the reward of having a high school student feel a personal connection with your school as a result of a student sharing a personal experience through a blog post, is much larger than the risk. Having a situation where a student inaccurately represents an institution can be somewhat avoided by being prudent during the selection process. At M.I.T., when twenty-five freshman are applying for four spots on the student blogger team, they can afford to be picky. And the same goes for every other school who has an abundance of bloggers at their dispense.

The question is then, what do the institutions do that are not as blog-savvy? And what other alternatives are out there to allow students to get involved and tell your school’s story?