Recruiters, forget the catalog, just send an instant message

Could college-bound seniors get wined and dined by college recruiters via MySpace? If the findings of a new survey by a higher education consulting firm are right, more prospective students just might get an IM from a recruiter based on their profile, reports Campus Technology.

The study by higher education consulting firm Noel-Levitz, recruiting firm James Tower, and the National Research Center for College & University Admissions (NRCCUA) found that prospective college students are open to recruitment methods that use social networking technology.

The study reported that over 43 percent of college-bound students already have a profile on a college or university site. It found that 63 percent of respondents said they would read a blog written by a faculty member as a way to seek more information about students and faculty at a particular institution.

Although only 9 percent said they have participated in online chat on a school Web site, 51 percent would if they could. Nine percent also said they have downloaded a podcast to their MP3 player, but 54 percent said they would if given the opportunity.

It seems that reading a college brochure is going by the wayside as 82 percent of prospective college students would consider reading/responding to an instant message from a college representative, 71 percent said they would consider sending an instant message to a college representative through the school's Web site and 59 percent would consider taking a call on a cell phone from a college representative.