Over the past week and a half, I have been on literally hundreds of admissions websites, for schools all over the country. Though I never planned for it to be a formal survey about the state of admissions websites, here are some observations that I made along the way:

Student Blogs are pervasive - Almost every single admissions site I went to had student blogs on it, proving emphatically that we no longer need to spend time convincing those in charge of their value.  But there’s a downside to this too - if every site has student blogs, they cease to be special, or a real differentiator. It’s time to acknowledge that blogs are nothing more than a content management system and can be used for a lot more than just student journals.  Take a look at the needs of your audience and see what gaps you might be able to fill.

“Become a VIP” - There must have been at least a couple dozen sites with a prominent button for prospective students to “become a VIP” (though it seemed to be mostly a northeast phenomenon).  Now, I have no idea what “becoming a VIP” means to each school I saw it on, but here are my two concerns:

  1. If any old person can “become a VIP” by filling out a form, then it’s probably not really that special.
  2. If a student is seeing “become a VIP” on more than one admissions website that they’re visiting, they’re probably going to catch on that you’re trying to dupe them.

Prominent “Apply Now” Buttons on home pages - I was pleasantly surprised to find that the majority of home pages (www.college.edu) I visited had prominent “apply” links, sending interested prospects directly to the application.  This is a major shift from just a few years ago, when you rarely saw an apply or a request more information link on a college’s home page.

“Future Student” vs. “Prospective Student” - This battle is still raging on, with no clear-cut winning nomenclature on college homepages. I would say it was about a 50/50 split. To me, using “future student” has always seemed a bit presumptuous.

Spotty navigation - Most of the sites I visited were confusing as all hell to navigate, and this is coming from someone who spent four and a half years working on an admissions website!  Can you imagine how confusing it is for your audience, who have little to no experience with them? The primary problem seems to be that most of these sites were forced into a content management system without consideration for what would happen when the sites started to grow and expand.

“Meet The Staff” - Now I know all you Directors of Admissions and VPs of Enrollment out there will be shocked by this, but your primary web audience doesn’t care who you are.  They care about their counselor - their primary contact.  Putting yourself at the top of a “meet the staff” page in a colored box to differentiate yourself from the mere mortals beneath you doesn’t add any value to the site.  Also, if you’re going to have a “meet the staff” page, make sure you have contact information on there!  A phone number, email address, AIM screen name and a mailing address (yes, your prospects do still need to mail stuff in, like transcripts!).

All the pictures look the same - I think pictures of smiling students are important, but don’t expect the photography on your site to set you apart from another school.  It won’t. It all looks the same.

What trends have you seen on admissions websites lately? Leave a comment!

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