Social Media on CampusBefore They Were Students, They Were Prospective Customers

We don't generally think of college students as customers of a particular school, but as a new fall semester begins let's pause to consider how the transaction between seller and buyer was initiated. It's called shopping, and it's never been easier to shop for a college.

It wasn't always that way. A generation ago, a high school guidance counselor showed you to a room full of college catalogs, the printed words and images beckoning you to come closer. A generation ago, many students, prodded by anxious parents, did the "college tour," sampling campuses and spontaneously interviewing indigenous students, faculty and staff. But that was then.

Leap forward a generation, and these methods seem not only antiquated, but inadequate for power shoppers. Today, you can now learn more about a college in an hour than you could have by enrolling for a semester a generation ago. Really.

Sure, the ThePrincetonReview.com beats the catalog room, and the rankings at US News and World Report is a great place to get some perspective on how colleges compare, but if you really want to experience a college, albeit virtually, YouTube, blogs, Twitter, Facebook and podcasts are ready resources. To prove this point, take a look at how much we learned about Arizona State University in less than an hour.

Once known for being a party school, ASU now ranks #28 in America’s Best College Buys by Forbes Magazine, and #350 in Forbe's list of the best colleges in the country. Okay, pretty basic stuff. Let's go deeper.

How does Arizona State University rate on CollegeProwler.com, a social media website providing student-written profiles and “report cards” of colleges and universities on such topics as academics, weather, off-campus dining, Greek life, and diversity? Looking at the rating for Greek life, for example, ASU currently rates a B-. There are also some “Quick Stats” that show there are 20 fraternities and 13 sororities, and that there are only 7% and 8% respectively of undergrad students in each. So much for the party school rep. Let's take this in a different direction.

Using Campus Buddy, a campus networking site that you sign up with using your Facebook account, you find out the average GPA of an Arizona State University student is 3.14, over 95% of applicants are admitted, and that 78% of second year students return. How much does it cost to go to Arizona State University? A quick search on Unigo.com shows that Arizona State University’s instate tuition is approximately $4,700, and out-of-state tuition is approximately $16,000. Affordable and it sounds like your odds of getting accepted are pretty good.

Next, let's search YouTube, which has become a prime social media tool for investigating a college. You can research and view the US News and World Report campus tour video series, see student interviews and homemade videos about college life, research fraternities and sororities, and preview course material posted on YouTube.com/EDU. A YouTube search of ASU results in a many hits including numerous ASU student interviews.

CollegeClickTV.com is a social media website with video interviews of students, professors and staff. These interviews touch on topics as varied as general campus life, clubs that can reserve lanes at the pool, and campus dining. Other hits include videos of school activities like band performances and practices, ASU football, and guest speaker appearances of President Obama at the May 2009 Commencement ceremony. Now we're rolling.

Is anyone blogging about their life at Arizona State University? First you visit Twitter, since those will be short and sweet. The results on Twitter show students tweeting about reports they are working, that the W.P. Cary School of Business is appealing to business and civic groups to recruit MBA students, and a link to a news story you might find interesting. Moving on, you search Google and find a number of blogs from specialty programs at Arizona State University, such as ASUMetals. This is an unofficial blog about Arizona State University’s metalsmithing degree program and the students who create jewelry and sculpture from metal. As you look further down the Google results page you see another blog, this one called ASU Blog, simply enough. This personal blog provides commentary on a number of "campus life" topics, from the controversial visit by President Obama to ASU security on the patrol for bike thieves on campus.

In less than 60 minutes you've "experienced" Arizona State University, enough to know whether it should be on your short list of college possibilities. Shopping for colleges in the era of social media is indeed easy. Paying for college and succeeding as a college student? That's another story.

Contributor to this blog: Miachelle DePiano