College Admissions and Facebook
Colleges obviously use Facebook as a forum to recruit students to apply to their school and to recruit students to attend once they’ve been accepted. But what colleges are doing this the most successfully? Let’s take a look at a “US News & World Report” chart by Ryan Lytle as published in “Colleges Bring Campuses to Facebook” in which they analyze the Facebook fans of the universities they ranked as the ten most prestigious universities in America.
| School Name | Facebook Fans (as of 4/5/11) | U.S. News Ranking | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harvard University | 316,644 | 1 | |
| Princeton University | 36,057 | 2 | |
| Yale University | 19,191 | 3 | |
| Columbia University | 18,490 | 4 | |
| Stanford University | 133,915 | 5 | |
| University of Pennsylvania | 18,523 | 5 | |
| California Institute of Technology | 5,388 | 7 | |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 27,883 | 7 | |
| Dartmouth College | 7,996 | 9 | |
| Duke University | 72,765 | 9 | |
| University of Chicago | 40,266 | 9 |
Lytle, Ryan. “Colleges Bring Campuses to Facebook.” US News & World Report. 7 April 2011. Web. 12 April 2011.
And what about the universities with the most Facebook fans overall (not just the colleges that comprise “US News & World Report’s” Top 10? According to Ryan Lytle of “US News & World Report,” here they are (Harvard tops the list again):
| School Name | Facebook Fans (as of 4/5/11) | U.S. News Ranking | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harvard University | 316,644 | 1 | |
| University of Michigan | 267,858 | 29 | |
| Ohio State University | 265,657 | 56 | |
| Texas A&M University | 263,027 | 63 | |
| University of Texas | 238,387 | 45 | |
| University of Florida | 208,237 | 53 | |
| Pennsylvania State University | 188,880 | 47 | |
| University of Alabama | 171,036 | 79 | |
| Auburn University | 155,219 | 85 | |
| Michigan State University | 134,586 | 85 |
Lytle, Ryan. “Colleges Bring Campuses to Facebook.” US News & World Report. 7 April 2011. Web. 12 April 2011.
Check out our related blogs: Social networking in college admissions and college social media recruitment. While you’re at it, check out our newsletter, too: Using social media to your advantage in college admissions.
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