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After having gone through the college selection process recently with my oldest daughter, it dawned on me that most of this selection process is "irrational." Students really don't care about graduation rates, professor mentors or successful alumni outcomes because they can't imagine those things or just don't care. As one college admissions professional admitted when she took her daughter around to see colleges, "it was like taking a 2-year old to look at cars." Gee, that's a nice one, mommy! We all know that today's generation is about 2 years behind ours in emotional maturity. That is to say today's college prospects are viewing the whole process as if they were 15 or 16 by our standards. And to complete this syllogism, emotional maturity provides a foundation for rational decision making. Therefore, a greater proportion of today's prospects are viewing the whole "college thing" as just another "thing." So are any colleges catering to this "irrational side" of college selection?

Yes, some of the smarter ones are. My alma mater [www.carleton.edu] is one of those who have cleverly pasted on their homepage, photos of various campus facilities with cartoon balloons coming out of them. Many of the cartoon balloons address the irrationality of college living. They are meant to appeal to those who would rather think about such things as "Deciding on Sushi or Cheese sticks at the snack bar" than on the percentage of incoming students who received financial aid.

We've always known that posting some measure of "tangibility" or what it's like to attend a particular college is key to attracting prospects with a website. Most colleges do a very poor job of just this simple task, which can be easily fulfilled with numerous, high definition photos of campus life. But adding the "irrationality" element makes tangibility even more powerful for prospects. It feeds their desire to identify with something cool, something fun, something fashionable. A great photo to mount on a college website would be to line up a bunch of students wearing Ugg boots doing a Rockette step. Then watch the apps pour in.

Tim Corwin
December, 2009