GREEN BAY, Wis. – Thousands of high school seniors are checking the mailbox often this time of year. They’re waiting for college acceptance letters.
Students who applied to the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay (UWGB) might learn about their acceptance a little less traditionally.
Young people everywhere seem to be staring at their phones. Many of them use the social media app Snapchat and send messages called “snaps.”
“Snapchat is a social media where you can send and receive pictures, videos, messages,” said Katie Vlachina, a UWGB student.
“Students love Snapchat. The age group that we’re looking to really connect with, they’re on Snapchat all of the time,” Jena Richter Landers, UWGB social media specialist, said.
That’s why now UWGB’s admissions team is taking advantage of the craze.
Students are still getting the traditional packet and email to let them know they’ve been accepted. but this year there’s something new, too.
“We then send them a snap when they’ve been admitted,” Richter Landers said.
That means students are learning they have been accepted faster than ever before.
“They would definitely get a snap before they’d get their mail packet,” Katelyn Santy, who works in the university’s admissions office, said. “Students get the snaps pretty immediately because it’s a place where they are they spend a lot of time there.”
The university said it is able to see when a student sees its message and so far students are excited.
“They’ll screenshot the snap and they’ll respond with an excited selfie,” said Richter Landers.
Vlachina sends the admissions snaps on behalf of the university. “They get really excited about that and it’s really cool,” she said.
“We’re really proud of our admitted students. We want them to know that,” said Santy.