Admissions Office hosts Twitter dialogue with students, parents

In a network-savvy move, the USC Admissions Office took its question-and-answer session online from 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. Wednesday. The Twitter-based information session allowed interested applicants and families to sit in on an admissions answer session remotely, as officers tweeted updates.

From 1:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m., the floor belonged to those remote Twitter users, who were able to ask the admissions officers questions by posting tweets with the hashtag #admitusc.

The USC Admissions Office answered questions on topics ranging from scholarship application deadlines to required test scores. By using Twitter as a forum, the office allowed participants to have their questions answered in real-time by a reputable source. Other users, such as the Los Angeles Teenshop, a non-profit organization that works to empower teenage girls, were able to retweet USC’s admissions information to their followers.

Many non-applicants chimed in as well, posting encouraging tweets such as “So many tweets from @USCedu for #admitusc! Coming to USC was by far the best decision I ever made :-) Fight On Future Trojans! Good Luck!,” from junior Cassie Bussing. One of the most retweeted messages was undoubtedly “@USCedu: The USC experience doesn’t end when you graduate. We have a strong Trojan Family #admitusc.”

Twitter allows the Admissions Office to reach a wider applicant base, and also permits them to supply important information, such as links to admissions counselors, in a direct manner. This is one of the first times the university has used social media in this manner, and it boasts a number of advantages in regards to accessibility of information. With time, perhaps all of USC’s information sessions will be broadcast on Twitter and allow user interaction.