College Web sites attract prospective students

College seniors and recent graduate might remember the old days when most college applications had to be filled out on paper and sent through the mail. In the time since, colleges have become more web savvy, realizing that the internet could be the first place students look during their search for college.\nWhile many freshmen of 2005 take advantage of online applications, reports are vague about what else prospective students gain from college Web sites. \nJudy Hingle of the National Association of College Admission Counseling said in a recent online discussion sponsored by the Chronicle of Higher Education, "students are looking for information on how they will fit on a campus, academically and socially. Features like web cams, virtual campus tours, chatting with professors and students and information on campus activities can help get a sense of what life is like."\nDuring the June 9 chat, various people -- parent`s, counselors, admissions officers -- asked her questions about trends in university Web sites and their effectiveness at drawing in students. It was one of three Chronicle features in June to talk about the new trends in college web design. \nJonathan Lazar, a professor of computer and information science at Towson University, explained that colleges are viewing Web sites differently than they did a few years ago. Many colleges used their Web sites to supplement the information they were already sending out to students, he said, \n"Web sites are no longer novelties, they're part of an organized structure," he said. \nHe said colleges are beginning to realize their Web site reflects heavily on the image of the institution. \n"Most students are applying online and making decisions based on what they see on the Web sites," he said. "If they see Web sites that are hard to navigate or not well maintained they think 'that campus is behind on the times'."\nLazar said that while most college Web sites used to be designed by web designers with some experience in HTML or Dreamweaver, colleges have changed their strategy and enlisted advertising and marketing departments, sometimes outside firms, to help develop their sites. \nIUPUI's Web site was redesigned last November. They used an Indianapolis firm called Willow Marketing to help update their site to fit their students. According to Steve Hodges, media manager of communications and marketing at IUPUI, the prospective students page was the first to be fully completed and the virtual tours have been "very popular." However, he was skeptical of how important these virtual tours would be to students. \n"I don't think they've replaced (a campus visit). I'm not sure it will ever replace it," he said. \nStudents at orientation revealed that reports about their dependence on the web might be over hyped. While many said online applications have become the new standard, their accounts varied when it came to how much university Web sites factored into their choice of college. Other factors that they relied upon heavily were word of mouth, adviser opinions, and the college visit. \nIncoming freshman Alex Kenny from Fort Wayne applied to IU and Kenyon College in Ohio, but relied more on a personal visit rather than the Web sites. \n"I went to Kenyon because a teacher of mine recommended it," he said. "I heard it was a good school, so I went to visit it. But it was too small for me -- I wanted to be on a bigger campus."\nSeveral students, mostly from Indiana, said they felt no reason to spend time applying anywhere other than IU. \nIncoming freshman Robert Streicher, also from Fort Wayne said, "I just applied here cause that's pretty much where I knew I wanted to go, and I knew I could get in." Streicher said he relied on word of mouth to make his decision. \n"I considered IPFW -- Purdue was another choice," he said. "I just talked to some people that have gone to Purdue, that have gone to IU, and I made my choice that way." \nSome said they relied on their guidance counselors to help them with their decisions. \nIncoming freshman Ben Solon from Boston said, "I talked to my guidance counselors. I started with 15 schools and narrowed it down to eight." \nHe was accepted to four and visited each one. \n"Pretty much most of my decision was based on the visit." he said, adding that the other three schools he visited were Miami of Ohio, Delaware, and Maryland. Solon said he knew people at all of those schools, but did not rely too heavily on their opinions. \nSome students used the web to make their decision, but even then it was a mixture of several factors. \nNicole Gump, an incoming freshman from Fort Wayne, was accepted to North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She visited the Chapel Hill campus three times before she made her decision to go to IU. \n"For me it was moving so far away from family and nobody else was going down there," she said. "I made the decisions to stay closer to home."\nGump applied online and used the virtual tours, but also came to IU to meet with professors and advisors in the business school. \n"Once I came here it was like, God, the campus is beautiful, and I actually got to talk to people here," Gump said. "That had a lot of weight in my decision"