TCU admission officials revamped two primary digital tools for recruiting students—the online viewbook and virtual tour. Both launched in August. 

Look Around, the online viewbook that was renamed by a panel of current students, blends videography, photography, infographics and social media in a responsive, single-page microsite. Highlighted by a full-screen, editorial-style video, the viewbook presents an overview of popular university aspects (academics, residential life, campus involvement, Fort Worth amenities) in a cinematic treatment.

“For many people, [the viewbook] is their first impression and introduction to TCU,” said Elizabeth Rainwater ’00 (MBA ’10), director of admission marketing. “We’re so pleased that it’s on trend. We did a lot of research on it. We love that it’s all on one page, so users simply have to scroll to see all sections of the site.”

But there are opportunities for deeper exploration. Every factoid and photograph links to a university website or a news report about the university. “It’s not just TCU telling its own brag points,” she said. “You can read how The Princeton Review ranked our faculty or what The Huffington Post blogged about our residence halls.”

An admission team worked with the Lawlor Group, a higher education consulting firm, to reimagine the university’s original “online look-book,” which went digital in 2012.

“The campus has changed so much in the past three years—really, it is constantly evolving—so it’s important to showcase the most up-to-date look,” said Rainwater.

One of the microsite’s most popular elements is the dynamic social media feed on the far right side. Using the aggregator tool, Tagboard, the feed pulls in postings about TCU from Twitter, Facebook, Vine, Google+, Instagram and Flickr.

“It’s not just what we’re saying about TCU, but lots of genuine responses about how others are experiencing the campus, said Rainwater. “They’re excited about roommates, moving in, classes they registered for, new professors. It’s the university in action.”

The new virtual tour displays geo-tags for campus landmarks and university amenities.

While the viewbook’s main audiences are prospective students and their families, the microsite also provides alumni, donors, parents of current students or prospective faculty members an overview of what is happening at TCU.

To a view a day in the life of a typical TCU student, the admission department’s new virtual tour offers a first-person perspective.

Filmed over 10 months, in part with a GoPro camera, the 7 ½-minute tour takes viewers from waking up in a residence hall, sitting in on two classes, exploring Mary Couts Burnett Library, the Brown-Lupton University Union, the University Recreation Center to attending a football game and an after-game concert.

There’s no audio, but the tour features a rock-music soundtrack, while geo-tags point to campus landmarks or university amenities along the way.

Viewers can skip around to different sections of the tour, but they might miss clever details, such as entering a racquetball match, holding the “Fear the Frog” banner, or watching a cameo appearance by Chancellor Victor J. Boschini, Jr.

“It’s a totally unique, outside-the-box way of showing the traditional campus tour,” said Rainwater. “A test-audience of recent alumni told us it made them want to be students again.”

Nick Utter Productions and Ardent Creative, both based in Fort Worth, helped film and edit the virtual tour.