September 26, 2013
The Office of Admission and Financial Aid enters a new cycle of applications and decisions this fall, and with that new season has come new promotional materials—both paper and digital. The new Admission homepage and pamphlets are focused on three guiding principles: “Study what you love,” “Be who you are” and “Find your future.” While facts about the College are easy to find in sources like The Princeton Review, these materials profile Hamilton students and alumni in detail to provide prospective students and families with a sense of what our community looks like.
“We hope to convey the essence of Hamilton, the Hamilton education and what one can expect of their life after Hamilton,” explained Senior Director of Visual Communications Catherine Brown. “We chose to use the students’ words to best describe their stories because they tell it best.”
In the past, the majority of information about life on the Hill was sent to admitted students in a booklet. But as digital media rises in relevance and accessibility, Hamilton decided to place more importance on the webpage. While students will receive four booklets “in a four-part series outlining the promises we make to our students,” the information is also available on the Admissions homepage. The interactive design features noteworthy facts and statistics, student photos and stories and links to useful pages for prospective students.
Claire Barton ’14 is one student who contributed to the website. “It’s so much more visual than other college admissions pages, which are predominantly text-heavy,” said Barton. “Plus the site is easy to navigate, gives prospective students a look into what real students are up to up on the Hill, and [always a plus] it’s colorful! I think Admissions was wise to shake things up.”
The idea of developing new admission content was first discussed over a year ago. Brown, who works in Hamilton’s Office of Communications and Development, began designing the booklets and webpage before turning to the rest of the team to fully implement the project.
Njideka Ofoleta ’16 also contributed her story. “I think that an amazing job was done by the C&D office of depicting what makes Hamilton so unique and conveying the different things about our school that make it such a remarkable place to study at.”
As prospective students become aware of the new website, the College will be able to track the information that generates the most views and clicks on the homepage and adjust accordingly. The development team is looking forward to any feedback that will help them to improve the site and display the information about Hamilton that matters most to students and families who are seeking their school of best fit.
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