The background

The Office of Admissions is constantly working toward a simple two word statement: “You’re In.”

It’s a good feeling for everyone. Alumni get to reminisce about the day they opened their letter, faculty and staff get to think about what kind of potential the future class holds, and, of course, students and families get to celebrate the beginning of a huge step in the life of a college student.

But, until recently, those celebrations were typically held quietly among kitchen tables and phone calls to relatives (OK, maybe not always quietly).

Here’s where the social media gets involved.

The hashtag

In the fall of 2013, we set out to create a rallying call that all incoming students and families could gather around. After a lot of debate, we eventually landed on “ColoStateBound.”

We chose it for a few simple reasons:

• It built off of the momentum of our institutional hashtag
• It included the idea that our incoming students were headed somewhere — both now and later
• And, it was short and sweet

Student immediately jumped on board after we rolled it out in our email admit communications. There were hundreds of interactions using the hashtag during that enrollment cycle, but we also knew there was room for growth.

Building off of a simple idea

Over the summer of 2014 the Office of Admissions underwent a rebranding centered around the phrase “Find Your State,” a challenge to prospective student to find the university atmosphere they were searching for. So, what does a student say when they decide to attend Colorado State? You guessed it: “I Found My State.”

We decided to add this simple statement to our admission letters so that any Future Ram could tell the world where the next period in their life was leading them. So far, students have been incredibly receptive to the declaration and mainly use the statement as a way to celebrate with family and friends.

By adding the hashtag to the admitted student materials in a manner that bridged the social world and the real world, the Office of Admissions has celebrated with thousands of students this year and we’re already planning for next year.

See all of our students celebrating right here!