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March 31, 2016

Musing, not schmoozing

TCU Admission uses its Horned Frog Blog to personalize the recruiting process and share student perspectives.

Admission counselor Mollie Richardson ’15 helps vet entries for TCU Admission's Horned Frog Blog, which offers behind-the-scene insights into the university. (Photo by Glen E. Ellman)

March 31, 2016

Musing, not schmoozing

TCU Admission uses its Horned Frog Blog to personalize the recruiting process and share student perspectives.

On a study abroad trip last summer with a favorite professor, Adam Beasley went through a life-changing experience.

“[Honors professor Ronald Pitcock] asked us meaningful questions like, ‘What makes you tick?’ throughout the trip,” said Beasley, a junior entrepreneurial management major. “While the group had a confused definition for that phrase, the result of the trip was unchanged. I learned to be more intentional in my relationships. That lesson from Dr. P has radically changed my college career.”

The question also was part of Beasley’s post on TCU Admission’s Horned Frog Blog in December about the university’s strong sense of community and intimacy that permeates the university. The title: “What Makes TCU Tick?

The weblog, which is updated weekly during the fall and spring semesters, features personal stories and perspectives. Topics range from learning experiences to information on courses and activities to advice for incoming freshmen. The idea is to give prospective TCU students a taste of life at the university.

Nearly four years after its debut in 2012, admission staffers say the blog has been a success, but they want to see it be even more diverse going forward.

“It is a great tool to make the admission process more accessible,” said Elizabeth Rainwater ’00 MBA ’10, director of admission marketing, stressing the importance of multiple perspectives.

Many of the student and faculty writers are among the most active on campus and may not represent every voice at TCU.

“The primary source of [student entries] are from our Student Ambassadors and our Student Foundation members,” said Rainwater. “They’re great— cream of the crop students—but they’re all tour guides. So they all sort know the same information and have similar experiences.”

Any current TCU student or alumnus who wants to tell their story would be a welcome change of pace, said Rainwater. “If an alumnus wants to write a submission, we would totally love to get that.”

“Research shows that the number one thing students and parents look for when choosing a college is career preparedness,” said Rainwater. “They’re looking for that point that is after you graduate. So to get the perspective of someone who has graduated and is using their degree, or not using their degree, we’d love it.”

New perspectives from students and alumni also help diversify the tone and content of the blog and look beyond the undergraduate experience, said Mollie Richardson ’15, an admission counselor, who helps vet blog entries.

“These [prospective students], all they know is social media,” said Richardson. “So the blog is a platform to deliver messages in a different way. It allows prospective students to get that perspective—what it’s like to be a Horned Frog—through storytelling.”

Rainwater said the blog also helps prospective students see the admission department in a different light. “The relationship can be very transactional, and that’s really not how relationships are here at TCU. We’re just not really a transactional kind of place,” she said. The blog is an accessible space “for students to see that we’re more than just a task list to be checked off.”

Adam Kelley is a senior journalism major from Kansas City, Mo., and is a TCU Magazine student writer during the Spring 2016 semester.

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