Are you the one being marketed to? Or are you smart enough to know when to dig in and look past the glossy material to discover what’s really going on behind the scenes? In other words, are the “giver” or the “taker” of information?
This cartoon (published by Randall Munroe, http://xkcd.com/773/) shows the obvious disconnect college marketing teams are facing when it comes to presenting what the prospective student (and family) really want to read about.
College Marketing versus Student Needs and Wants
Mark Twain said, “A person who won’t read has no advantage over one who can’t read.” This statement could easily correlate to people who are inundated by the “expert” opinions from colleges, friends, families, counselors, etc. that are being “pushed” on them, and then they complain when they don’t get the advertised results since they didn’t do their own “homework” to discover what is real and what actually pertains to them.
Take the time to research, read, and talk to the people that will matter when you go to college – the professors, students who are already enrolled, career center and academic advisers, most of all, yourself. After all, you are the student who will be on campus for the next four years. You need to know what you’re getting yourself into and what you want to get out of the experience.
Of course, Twain also said, “Cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with a college education.” How’s that for marketing vegetables?
