Our Opinion: Emory's Marketing Has Drastically Improved

This year, Emory began a new social media campaign to attract accepted students to campus. For example, prospective students who were accepted in the Early Decision round were sent a care package containing an 18-inch cardboard cutout of Lord Dooley. Accepted students were directed to post pictures of themselves with our unofficial mascot on the Emory Class of 2017 Facebook group to stir up excitement on a variety of social networks.

On the whole, admissions packets have also seen drastic improvements this year. They now feature a colorful envelope with an aerial photo of campus, a window sticker and brochures about attractions around Atlanta. Admitted students are also given access to a newly redesigned website, which includes videos, answers to frequently-asked questions and offers assistance for planning a visit to campus.

We at the Wheel are pleased with Emory's new marketing efforts, which illustrate a more personal approach to attract students. The college market is growing all the more competitive – for students, but also for universities as they work to attract accepted students. Emory has enjoyed record application numbers in the past few years, and we are glad to see that the Office of Admissions is also stepping up its post-acceptance efforts to keep pace.

We are especially excited by Emory's effort to engage accepted students across various social networking platforms. Social networking has shown itself as the foremost method for engaging and interacting with large groups of people and we appreciate that the University is taking advantage of this useful new tool. Social media's content-rich format allows prospective students to get a better sense of what to expect from the Emory experience, and we believe that this is a very effective way to attract accepted students to campus. Of course, there's no substitute for visiting campus, and so we encourage prospective students to come to Atlanta before the weather gets too hot.

The above staff editorial represents the majority opinion of the Wheel's editorial board.