Arenberg 1

Bailey Arenberg
Ms. Chawkat
Independent Research II Period 3
10 March 2016
Data Collection Interview #1 Transcription
Interviewee: Ms. Heidi Reigel
Interviewer: Bailey Arenberg
BA: I wanted to start of very generally, just on your opinions on the college decisions process
from the students. I wanted to know what factors did you think were the most relevant to
students today when theyre deciding or picking the college that theyre going to attend.
HR: After theyve been admitted and theyre choosing, for the students I think its coming down
to fit for them. Where do they feel most comfortable? And where they belong. And then if
theyre an athlete, its where can I get the playing time. Or if they want to be involved with
theater, did I make the audition for the theater department or the music department?
But ultimately family influences students, and family holds onto the purse strings. And money is
a huge factor as well. So the bottom line cost, I think overall for the family is driving the
decision.
BA: And now a lot of kids, when they pick their college, may think of something thats more
important to them at the time and then later on they realize, gee, maybe I shouldnt have picked
my school because of that. Like some kids may want to go as far away from home as they
possibly can. Do you think that theres certain factors like that, that students maybe show too
much of an importance.
HR: I think sometimes that they give too much credence to being far away from home, and really
theyre only as far away from home as their cell phones lets you. Theyre still talking to mom
and dad. It doesnt matter; you can be, you know, ten miles from home and go to college and not
have to see your parents every single day. So I think that sometimes there are those odd factors
that they think are important, but in the end, when looking back, they really arent.
Or theyre so zoned in on like an educational track. They think they want to do engineering, so
instead of looking for schools that will give them a foundation while theyre thinking about
engineering, they are zoned in on getting into an engineering school, even though theyre not one

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hundred percent about it. And then they get into an engineering school, go, and they are not
happy because they dont want to do engineering. So I think sometimes they get pigeonholed
with what they think they should do versus with really listening to their gut.
BA: My last more general question before I go more in detail If you had to give a high school
student, who is making the choice, advice, what would you say to them?
HR: When I talk to students who are admitted and I try to answer any questions that they may
have, I always ask them if you could toss money aside, take money out of the equation, what else
do you need answered? What else do you need from us that will help you choose McDaniel? And
I think the biggest piece of advice that I can give is, when you narrow it down to your top three
colleges and youre finalizing your college choice, you should make sure that you ask all of
those colleges the same set of questions. So if youre asking me whether or not we have an
intermural lacrosse team because its really important to you, but you didnt ask it somewhere
else, its not fair to the other college. Or if youre looking for a really great biology program, but
you didnt ask me that because weve been talking about political science the entire time, and
then you go off and choose another school, and I find out its because of biology, you didnt give
me a fair shot. So you want to make sure youre comparing apples to apples. So get your set of
questions answered at every single school.
BA: Okay. And, so this is where I think I want to take my project for the rest of the year. So I
wanted to know, on the record, what role do you think that social media plays in the college
selection process from the student perspective? So not how they look at students social media,
but how the schools social media presence makes the student want to go there.
HR: I think that there is a lot of social media presence that colleges are doing to try to drum up
interest from students, but the students have to be following that school to begin with. And I
were finding out that students arent watching schools on Twitter or Instagram until they are
admitted. And then thats an opportunity for them to meet other admitted students during that
social platform. And then, you know, what we see is who is coming to our admitted student days
by watching, you know, seeing these conversations that are happening right out there on social
media. So I think that its important because its allowing students connect with other admitted
students and learning more about the school and all the happenings real-time. But I dont think
theyre getting into it until after theyve been admitted to those colleges.

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BA: Do you think thered be any way that a student would be more interested if the schools did
something different on their part to, kind of, advertise themselves more?
HR: Yeah, I think if theyre advertising, theyre pushing students to come and visit and then
theres always a giveaway. Or sometimes well do scavenger hunts on social media, but its once
youre at our college and doing an open house day. But I dont know if I can confidently say that,
and I know I havent even heard that, a student is choosing a college based upon the colleges
social media efforts. We use it to push whats going on, on campus, and everything that we are
doing for our students, so our admitted students can see the types of experiences and
opportunities that were offering McDaniel college students.
BA: Now, do you think that the school based social media, not the students, is an accurate
portrayal of what actually goes on the campus and what the colleges bring to light?
HR: Yeah, because when we are pushing out for us, Im not gonna speak for other institutions,
but for McDaniel, when we push out stuff on social media, its coming right out of our Office of
Communication and Marketing, you know. Its the story of the kid who went to his home country
in Africa and was there during civil unrest, during a political election. Its having Kevin Culley
come back from Under Armour and speak on our campus. So yes, its very much whats
happening.
BA: And, I did a little background on McDaniel, and what I could find on Google, I saw they had
a Facebook page. Do you know how, by just using the Facebook page, do you happen to know
how many people you reach? Or what the main audience is?
HR: We have multiple Facebook pages at McDaniel, so with the Office of Alumni has one
because its a way for all of the alums to stay in touch with whats going on, on campus. Office
of Communications and Marketing has one as well, and it allows them to stay in touch with any
entity out there who wants to know all things McDaniel.
But then we have Facebook groups for and pages and groups for class of you name it
2016 for the students, parents, and families of class of 2016. So its a platform that we use to
get information out to the students as well as the parents and families as to whats going on, on
campus.

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So for instance, what we did this week was they are, we are going on spring break next week.
There was a thing put out from our health center about the Zika virus and if youre traveling, you
know, where that virus is, these are some precautions that you could take. Talking about March
Madness, and we call it Laundry Madness, and you do your laundry so many times during the
week of you know, and you get entered to win was it Tide Pods and gift cards for the laundry
machine. And so, you know, were using it as a way to keep the students engaged and let them
know whats going on, on campus, but then the families also know too. And they know what
their students been told. So I think its used very heavily from a perspective of media outlets
looking at us to find stories of what they can write about McDaniel College, alumni staying
connected, and then keeping the parents, families, and current students connected with whats
going on, on campus.
BA: Do you think in the future that colleges will try to take more of an advantage of the social
media presence?
HR: I think so I think were headed down that way, but you know, theres still people who
dont have smart phones, you know, so its the good old-fashioned recruiting. Were finding that
students we actually have an information card online that students can check off and tell us
how they prefer to be contacted. And its that social media, but students prefer to be contacted
via text, instead of a good old-fashioned phone call. Nobody checks voicemails anymore. So I
think that social media will be big, but and its having a bigger presence.
It can also be negative too, if something comes out about the college, but its also the quickest
way to squelch something and get the truth out as well. So, you know, we use it to our advantage
in many ways. If families are there, we encourage them to Tweet or to tag yourself, you know,
youre at McDaniel College having a tour. Let all your family and friends know. We want them
to do that.
BA: And leading into the negatives you were just addressing, what negatives do you think that
you could see coming from too much social media investment by the students?
HR: Well, nothing from the college because college PR is not going to put anything negative out.
But, like to squelch something, so lets say they a family was out on a tour and doesnt like

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one thing that the tour guide says Depending upon, you know, how many friends they have,
and that gets picked up, it just kinda snowballs, so were gonna squelch it.
Ill give you a great example of social media and negativity, it is I wrote a personal notecard to
a student, okay, I met him at a high school. I based the notecard off of the information that he
gave me, which meant that it was his handwriting. And I can only decipher so much. Not very
nice handwriting at all. And I sent the notecard to him; obviously I was able to decipher it
enough that it landed in his mailbox. But you know what he did with that? He took a picture of
the notecard and says, So you really want me? Learn how to spell my name correctly. And
tagged McDaniel College, so our Office of Communications and Marketing found you know
saw it, it popped up, they knew it was my handwriting we all know each other at McDaniel,
and I was like, Youve got to be kidding me. And guess what? I still had his card that he filled
out. Now Im not posting that on social media; he just posted his address on social media, so I
took a picture of the card, and I screenshot what was sent on social media, and I sent it to his
counselor. And I said, Please tell me that you would have deciphered this any other way. And it
was a lesson in social media for that student, but that student tweeted it. And it was negative.
And it made it look like we didnt know what we were doing, but the student didnt have legible
handwriting, and he removed his Tweet. I didnt ask him to, but I think his school made him do
it. So you know, I think its a great way to combat things, but hopefully theres not too much
negativity going on. I mean youll see it here and there.
BA: Do you think that a school having different forms of social media could potentially be a
detractor to a student? Like some student thinks that if a school is really serious then they [the
school] shouldnt be on Twitter.
HR: No, I dont think so. I think its just a platform. Its todays world. Any big media outlet that
you read news wise, you can share it with your friends. How are you going to share the article
that you read? Twitter, Facebook, email it to them. So I think that I dont think thats it at all. I
think that people look at it to see how savvy schools are.
And then I think the flipside is, youre talking about negativity amongst whats being said
about colleges, its what are colleges looking at too from a student perspective and looking at
their accounts and like I said before when we were walking up the hall, there are schools that
take time and look at accounts. Theyre looking at what kind of behavior does this kid have.

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What they say in their essay, is it really being reflected in the pictures that were seeing that
arent shut off from us, when we can just go onto Facebook and search for them.
BA: Do you find that students I dont know if youve found this because you dont really look
at social media when youre looking at students but would you say that if a student didnt have
a large media trail, that that could be a potential, either something more positive or more of a
detractor or doesnt really make a difference.
HR: I dont think really doesnt make a difference. I mean I have accounts. I hardly ever use
them. I use Facebook more than anything, but I think students are like that too. Its just, just
because youre not on it doesnt mean you dont care. It means you have other things that youre
doing with your life. And really its a big time suck if you ask me. It just kinda absorbs you. But
there are some things that we look at. If a mom calls and is upset with the type of placement a
student received as far as a roommate, and the mom does not like that placement, meaning that a
student was diverse from her own daughter, you better believe we are going onto social media
and looking at that girl, and then we are realizing that mom doesnt know who her child hangs
out with. Her child hangs out with students of color all the time, so mom has a problem with it,
daughter doesnt. There is a reason why mom called and not daughter, so its weird I might
have gone on maybe three times, in my nineteen years of admissions to go onto social media to
actually check something.
BA: I know how you said that you think that technology and social media will be more prevalent
in the future. Do you think that maybe, eventually, it would switch over entirely to modes of
social media, like Facebook instead of texting the person chatting with them on Facebook or
following them on Twitter?
HR: We chat with Facebook students all the time. You know, I have students right now in my
class of what 2020 saying, I think Im coming to McDaniel, but I have a question about the
political science department You better believe Im pointing somebody on campus and saying,
Get online. Answer this kids question. Or their messaging me on the side. Its on the bottom,
Im sure you saw it on the bottom of my email. Friend me on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
We want people to do that and ask questions because sometimes they have really good questions
and we can just throw it out there and answer it for the good of the people because not everybody
wants to ask their question on a social platform. So well answer them for sure.

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I think its just another line of communication, and the reason why its nice is because our office
is open when students are in school. So students do not have the ability to take time out of their
lives during the school day and call us to ask us questions. So when are you going to pose a
question? Maybe at ten oclock at night, when youre lying in bed before you go off to sleep, and
youre fooling around on social media. Well Im gonna pop this question over to McDaniel
College, and maybe one of us will be up, but if not were gonna get to it the next day. So I think
that its that has been real helpful for students.
And I find that students who arent really into email, they tend to get into it as they go through
their college search because theyll actually create an email account that will allow them to I
guess it is more user friendly, or they just dedicate it only to colleges. So then anytime they visit
a college or go on and want to get on a college mailing list, they list that email address.
BA: I know, personally, that I receive many, numerous, almost to the point of filling my inbox up
entirely, college emails, and they all say, Oh, follow us or Oh, show your interest. At
McDaniel, I dont know if you send out emails for that purpose, but if a student were to show
interest and click on the links in the emails, is there any priority that they would receive in
admissions?
HR: Not at all. What it is, is it shows an affinity where the priority comes in is how much are
we going to push you to apply. So if we have sent you something, and we can tell, you know, we
sent you something via email and there are links in there, and we can tell that youve clicked
thirty different things, you know, through to six different pages on our website, that you were
really taking time to search it. So if I have to make phone calls one night to talk to students and
ask them if they have any questions about McDaniel and encourage them to apply, and Ive got
two hours, and I can make twenty phone calls, have twenty great conversations, but there are
forty students on my list, Im going to pick the twenty that have showed some sort of, we call it
affinity to McDaniel, and that affinity would be how many times did you click through, did you
even open the email.
So we will watch things like that to give you priority over anything. That doesnt mean that
youll be admitted over somebody else who didnt click through, no, not at all. But it means we

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might push you a little harder because there is more of an affinity and there is a greater chance
that a) you will apply and b) you will be admitted and c) you will hopefully come.
Reflection: