SHU: Keep stepping up campaign for prospective Pirates

If you ask many of the students here at Seton Hall why they decided to come here, their answer may be, "they gave me the best financial aid package."

If you ask these students how they found out about the school, they will probably give a range of responses that include, "I don't really know," or "I applied for free."

I think there is something a wrong with all those reasons. Should not we be coming based on the opportunities we can find here? Our school has so much to offer, so it is hard to believe some do not know why they applied.

This all being said, I believe that Seton Hall could step up the way it markets itself to prospective students.

It leaves something to be desired. For example, I visited the school twice before ever hearing about WSOU or the many student publications on campus.

WSOU is one of the best college radio stations in the New York Metro area. All majors here at Seton Hall have a unique opportunity to intern in New York City,

a job market that can take years for a newbie to crack. If prospective students immediately saw profiles of some of the internships students have there, I bet they would be sold on Seton Hall right away.

On that note, the jobs some students land after internships are amazing. The university should be broadcasting any awesome job a recent grad lands there to prospective students.

Aside from academics, Seton Hall can really play the food card now too. It sounds silly but to a senior in high school, the thought of having a 24 hour Dunkin Donuts in the library sounds awesome.

The cafeteria has a lot to offer too. Other universities sing the praises of their dining halls and that draws students.

Study Abroad is also not utilized enough as a tool to draw students in. We have an awesome tuition exchange program on top of the opportunities for students to go abroad over spring break and for five weeks in the summer. Appearance matters to prospective students.

When I was applying to colleges, Boston University's website was very modern. Here, I was shown a PowerPoint presentation about the University. It was informative, but it did not have the same impact. So let us modernize. Make the website catchier, add some videos, play up the city, just make SHU look even more desirable. Obviously, Seton Hall is able to attract students; we have our largest freshmen class ever this year. But stepping up how we market to prospective students could take this university to the next level.

Erin Williams is a sophomore journalism major from Wilmington, Del. Erin can be reached at Erin.williams@student.shu.edu.