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Tufts University in Boston, MA became the first selective university in the US to encourage prospective students to submit videos via YouTube as part of the admissions process.

According to report on Boston.com of the 15,436 applicants to Tufts this year, more than 6 percent submitted a video.

The videos provide an opportunity for students to personalize their admissions applications and highlight their unique abilities. While many schools have always encouraged supplemental material this is the first open call for YouTube videos.

Learn more about academic recruitment and social media.

Watch a selection of the videos submitted to Tufts.

Academic Recruitment 2.0

How are for-profit universities using social media, search engine optimzation, and online advertising to recruit students.

Watch the Presentation Now

Jason Smith
Feb 21, 2010

Looking to drive traffic to your site? Search engines are still dominating – make that crushing – social media sites as referers.

A recent year-over-year analysis for one client showed search engines referring 60% of all the web traffic for 2009, while social media sites – Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Yelp, EventBrite – only contributed 2% of all traffic.

Search Is Becoming More – Not Less – Relevant

More over, search isn't losing ground – it is gaining ground by leaps and bounds. Google referrals for this site were up 257% in 2009 (compared to 2008). For this site, that equates to over 300,000 additional visitors.

Social Media Referrals Grow Too – Just Lots Less Impact

Now, social media showed amazing growth as well. Of the sites listed above, many contributed no traffic to the site in 2008 and started contributing in 2009. But the growth and dominance of search engines cannot be quibbled with.

Is there are place for social media? You bet, but it's not a referral engine for this business.

Jason Smith
Feb 19, 2010
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