Everyday life as an ACU student will be on display in Enrollment Marketing’s latest campaign aimed at prospective students.
Project #lifeonthehill will follow the lives of six to eight ACU students through Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Twitter, Vine and YouTube for a semester at a time, said Kris Evans, director of Enrollment Marketing.
“Our hope is that these students will be able to share their college experience at ACU in their own words,” Evans said.
And social media is the best way to reach prospective students, Evans said.
“Research shows 13-18 year olds receive over 70 percent of their daily information through social media channels,” Evans said.
This idea was formed to address two problems that were brought up through surveys of high school students that turned down ACU. The first was that the perception of student life at ACU did not measure up to other schools in the eyes of prospective students, Evans said.
The second problem is that there is not enough interaction between prospective students and current ACU students, said Amanda Pittman, Marketing Manager at ACU.
This project will address both problems by showing prospective students what life looks like at ACU from the perspective of an authentic ACU student, Pittman said.
“High school students are searching, like, ‘What’s it like to really go there? Are there hot girls? Are there good-looking guys? What do you do on the weekends?'” Pittman said. “These are all the things they talk about in movies and TV shows. Is that really what’s happening?”
The project is looking for students that have had positive experiences at ACU and want to share them with prospective students.
They are looking for students with different backgrounds, interests and personality types, not just “poster children of ACU,” Pittman said.
“We know you can have a positive experience and look like a wide variety of students,” Pittman said.
The project will highlight the diversity a student will experience attending ACU, Pittman said.
“There’s a place for everybody here, it doesn’t all look the same,” Pittman said. “The common thing is that they’re all here.”
The Enrollment Marketing staff working with the project hope to “usher and not prevent,” students from telling their stories, whatever they may be, Pittman said.
“I would hope, ultimately, that we will expose prospective students to a unique and honest perspective of what it’s like to be a student,” Pittman said.
Cast members will be encouraged to share not only positive experiences they have at ACU, but also hard and trying times, Pittman said.
Applications to be a cast member in the fall are due at 11:59 p.m. Wednesday, March 26.
“If you have any doubt, apply,” Pittman said.
The application includes a one to three minute video in which applicants talk about three of their favorite experiences at ACU and one struggle they have faced at ACU, Pittman said.
To apply go to https://lifeonthehill.squarespace.com.
