For many would-be MBA students, especially those from overseas, discovering what a school is “really“ like can be difficult.
However, the University of Exeter School of Business and Economics in the UK believes it may well have found a solution.
It has launched its own virtual community, which has already proved immensely popular in the few weeks it has been running. although it has only been running a few weeks, has proved to be immensely popular.
Following an application to the school, the student is given access to its school’s
intranet community. The applicant can contact future students, find accommodation, organise meetings, discover other students from his or her home country, share information and exchange gossip.
The intranet features a message board, applicants’ profiles and a class blog.
“The students have taken to it very quickly,“ says Charles Beard, marketing manager at the school.
“It is a great opportunity for them to meet fellow students of the future. For this generation, it is a very natural form of communication for them.
“They are getting into the community that will last them for the rest of their lives.The virtual community gives would-be students a much quicker and more relevant route to information, adds Mr Beard.“
“Many students, especially those coming from overseas, are incredibly isolated and they really know very little about what they are applying for.
“A system like this helps them identify the people from their own course and [allows them to] get a feel of the community they are going to be moving into.“
Mr Beard now hopes the enthusiastic response from applicants using the Net will now translate into student placements.
