2012 Social Admissions Report

#SocAdm12
The 2012 Social
Admissions Report
How college bound high school
students use social media in their
college search

2 The 2012 Social Admissions Report
#SocAdm12
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

#SocAdm12
Who we surveyed
“I want reviews on colleges from
real live students who go to them.”

#SocAdm12
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 JuniorsCollege
Freshman

#SocAdm12
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%

#SocAdm12
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?

#SocAdm12
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%

#SocAdm12
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.”

#SocAdm12
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%

#SocAdm12
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%

#SocAdm12
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%

#SocAdm12
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%

#SocAdm12
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%

#SocAdm12
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!

#SocAdm12
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%

#SocAdm12
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.”

#SocAdm12
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

#SocAdm12
Do students
think colleges and
universities
should have a
social media
presence?
Yes
67%
No
7%
Unsure
26%

#SocAdm12
Have students
used social media
to research
colleges and
universities?
Yes
68%
No
32%

#SocAdm12
Class of 2012
Did you use
social media as a
resource when
deciding where to
enroll?
Yes
38%
No
62%

#SocAdm12
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%

#SocAdm12
What social media sites do students
use when researching institutions?
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Facebook
YouTube
Twitter
Pinterest

#SocAdm12
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

#SocAdm12
Are you “engaging” or being relevant?

#SocAdm12
What are some things you would like
to see more of on college or university
social media sites?

#SocAdm12
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.”

#SocAdm12
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.”

#SocAdm12
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

#SocAdm12
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

#SocAdm12
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%

#SocAdm12
Do students want to connect with a
Admissions Counselor?
Asian
Black or
African
American
White
Hispanic
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%

#SocAdm12
Wants to be connected with other
admitted students
Asian
Black or
African
American
White
Hispanic
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%

#SocAdm12
Class of 2012
Did the
institution have a
page or group
for admitted
students?
Yes
75%
No
4%
Maybe
21%

#SocAdm12
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

#SocAdm12
Would students
join a social
network created
for students at the
institution?
Yes
75%
No
6%
Maybe
19%

#SocAdm12
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.”

#SocAdm12
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

#SocAdm12
Questions?
Gil Rogers
Zinch
gil@zinch.com
860-990-2745
Brandon Croke
Inigral
bcroke@inigral.com
419-490-6557

2012 Social Admissions Report

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