I am suffering college admissions marketing withdrawal. For more than two years, since my daughter received her first college catalog following the PSATs, I’ve enjoyed poring over materials designed to make my daughter want to attend–or at least apply to–colleges and universities all over the country. Now that she’s decided where she’s going, I feel oddly bereft. To thank all the college admissions offices that wooed her, I offer a short series on college marketing from the applicant’s perspective (or at least, a parent’s perspective).

If I were responsible for admissions marketing, here is what I would ask myself:

• Are we distinctive?
• Do we make it easy for prospects to get the information they need?
• Are we inspiring?

More to come.