MIT Admissions Blogging Phase 1 Inspirations: the unintentional admissions blog The MyMIT Portal Beginnings: using the MIT Blog Server August 2004: Initial bloggers are Matt, Ben, and one student Fall 2004: Selected two additional student bloggers; Daniel Barkowitz begins blogging about Financial Aid

MIT Admissions Blogging Phase 2 Growth of the audience in the ‘04-’05 cycle; traffic and comments both increase exponentially June 2005: Switched to Movable Type for more functionality/features; Admissions website relaunched with more focus on blogs Despite overwhelming popularity, blogs remain a complement to the admissions website, but are not yet actually a seamless part of it

MIT Admissions Blogging Phase 3 Spring and Summer ‘06 - Decision is made to “bring it all together.” Admissions site and blogs site joined. New admissions site built from scratch using a highly customized installation of Movable Type. Blogs no longer simply a linear, chronological experience; now fully integrated with admissions site topical content.

The MIT Admissions Staff Blogs ALL share bits and pieces of their personal lives to make it clear that there are humans behind the selection committee ALL seek to demystify the admissions / financial aid process and reduce related anxiety and stress Ability to put out fires before they start Incredibly fast method of releasing info

MIT Admissions Student Blogs An average of 20+ different snapshots each week - covering academics, student life, culture, and athletics Seen by target audience as “real,” “honest,” and “unedited” Interactive: applicants tell the students what they want to know more about

A Good Admissions Blog Program Finding the right student bloggers: our selection process Frequency of updates Balance = credibility; the difference between a bad day and a bad attitude Feedback / responses to entries Timeliness

Managing Comments Steering the conversation without censoring Establishing the rules of your community Creating an environment of respect Comments are as much about the relationships between your readers themselves as they are about the relationship between you and your readers

Lessons Learned Set expectations at the beginning so you never have to censor your bloggers. It’s a big time commitment. Can positively affect both applications and yield, but this should not be your motivation. Focus on helping your applicants, not yourself. Understand the difference between a website and a community.

The MIT Admissions Web Site: Some Numbers # of “official admissions office” topical pages: <100 # of pages with primary-source blog content covering the same topics: # of responses to blog entries (comments) between January 2005 and October 2006: 18,411 Average number of page loads, per day: ~20,000 Average number of unique users, per day: ~6000 Page loads on decision mailing day: 80,000+ Influence of a college’s admissions website ( in a poll of 2200 college-bound juniors) : Ranked 2nd (#1=parents)