Posts Tagged ‘college blogs’

93 International College Blogs to Broaden your Horizon

Thursday, July 22nd, 2010
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hjl / Ho John Lee

My College Guide believes that college blogs are a great and wonderful tool that you can use to learn more about the colleges and universities that you are interested in. After reading our giant 101 College Blogs to Put You in the College Mood article, we figured some of you may have been thinking “study abroad” and were perhaps left wondering about the existence of international college blogs!

We’ve found a slew of international college blogs (93 of them to be exact) to aid you in your international college search. From the Imperial College London Blog with the clever snapshots of students complete with mini-movie previews to athletic blogs like the ones found at Simon Fraser College, Vice Chancellor blogs at Macquarie University, or the arts at RMIT, you’ll find something to keep you entertained – and informed!

1. Aarhus University (Arhus, Denmark) 32. Laurentian University (Sudbury, ON, Canada) 63. University of Amsterdam (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
2. Acadia University College (Wolfville, NS, Canada) 33. Linkoping University (Linkoping, Sweden) 64. University of Auckland (Auckland, New Zealand)
3. Ambrose University (Calgary, AB, Canada) 34. Macquarie University (Sydney, Australia) 65. University of Birmingham (Edgbaston, Birmingham, UK)
4. Aston University (Birmingham, England) 35. McGill University (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) 66. University of British Columbia (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada)
5. Australian Catholic University (Melbourne, Australia) 36. Monash University (Melbourne, Australia) 67. University of Cambridge Newnham (Cambridge, England)
6. Bishop’s University (Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada) 37. Mount Allison University (Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada) 68. University of Copenhagen (Copenhagen, Denmark)
7. Brandon University (Brandon, Manitoba, Canada) 38. Mount Royal University (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) 69. University of Derby (Derby, England)
8. British Columbia Institute of Technology (Burnaby, BC, Canada) 39. Mount Saint Vincent University (Halifax, NS, Canada) 70. University of the Fraser Valley (Abbotsford, BC, Canada)
9. Brock University (St Catherines, Ontario, Canada) 40. Murdoch University (Murdoch, Australia) 71. University of Glasgow (Glasgow, Scotland, UK)
10. Canadian Mennonite University (Winnipeg, MB, Canada) 41. National University of Ireland Galway (Galway, Ireland) 72. University of Helsinki (Helsinki, Finland)
11. Cape Breton University (Sydney, NS, Canada) 42. Newport School of Art, Media, and Design (Newport, South Wales) 73. University of Kent (Canterbury, Kent, England)
12. Capilano University (North Vancouver, BC, Canada) 43. Nipissing University (North Bay, ON, Canada) 74. University of Leeds (Leeds, England)
13. Cardiff University (Cardiff, Wales) 44. Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (Edmonton, AB, Canada) 75. University of Leicester (Leicester, England)
14. Carleton University (Ottawa, ON, Canada) 45. Ontario College of Art and Design (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) 76. University of Limerick (Limerick, Ireland)
15. City of Bristol (Bristol, England) 46. Queen’s University (Kingston, ON, Canada) 77. University of Manchester (Manchester, UK)
16. Concordia University (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) 47. Queen’s University Belfast (Belfast, England) 78. University of Melbourne (Melbourne, Australia)
17. Coventry University (Coventry, England) 48. Quest University (Squamish, British Columbia, Canada) 79. University of New South Wales (Sydney, Australia)
18. Curtin University (Bentley, Perth, West Australia) 49. RMIT University (Melbourne, Australia) 80. University of Notre Dame Australia (New South Wales, Australia)
19. Deakin University (Melbourne, Australia) 50. Robert Gordon University (Aberdeen, Scotland) 81. University of Nottingham (Nottingham, England)
20. Delft University of Technology (Delft, Netherlands) 51. Ryerson University (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) 82. University of Oxford (Oxford, England)
21. Dublin City University (Dublin, Ireland) 52. SAIT Polytechnic University (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) 83. University of Sheffield (Sheffield, England)
22. Ecole Polytechnic Federale de Lausanne (Lausanne, Switzerland) 53. Simon Fraser University (Burnaby, BC, Canada) 84. University of Southampton (Southampton, England)
23.Edge Hill University (Ormskirk, Lancashire, England) 54. Stockholm University (Stockholm, Sweden) 85. University of Sydney (Sydney, Australia)
24. Emily Carr University of Art and Design (Vancouver, BC, Canada) 55. St Stephen’s University (Stephen, NB, Canada) 86. University of Toronto (Toronto, ON, Canada)
25. Erasmus University Rotterdam (Rotterdam, Netherlands) 56. St Thomas More College (Saskatoon, SK, Canada) 87. University of Sunshine Coast (Queensland, Australia)
26. Fliders University (Adelaide, Australia) 57. Swinburne University of Technology (Victoria, Australia) 88. University of Warwick (Warwick, England)
27. Griffith University (Gold Coast, Australia) 58. Thompson Rivers University (Kamloops, BC, Canada) 89. University of Western Ontario (London, ON, Canada)
28. Imperial College London (London, England) 59. Trinity Western University (Langley, BC, Canada) 90. University of the West of Scotland (Glasgow, Scotland)
29. James Cook University (Queensland, Australia) 60. University of Aberdeen (Aberdeen, Scotland) 91. University of Windsor (Windsor, ON, Canada)
30. Jonkoping University (Jonkoping, Sweden) 61. University of Adelaide (Adelaide, Australia) 92. University of Winnipeg (Winnipeg, Canada)
31. La Trobe University (Victoria, Australia) 62. University of Alberta (Alberta, Canada) 93. York University (Toronto, Ontario, Canada)

Read All About It: Johns Hopkins University Blogs It All

Tuesday, June 29th, 2010

Does anything else provide such instant access to college life like the college blog? Plenty of colleges and universities are seeing the potential (remember our 101 College Blogs to Put You in the College Mood article?) but My College Guide is pretty sure that no has yet handled it quite like Johns Hopkins University. We got connected to Daniel Creasy, Associate Director, at Johns Hopkins University to get the whole story!

Johns Hopkins University is completely immersed in social media: Facebook, Twitter, iTunes, and PLENTY of blogs!

seanfraga / Sean Fraga

How did this large scale blog community begin?
I began working for the Hopkins Undergraduate Admissions Office in August 2003, and from the onset Hopkins Interactive was a pet project of mine. My Dean allowed me a lot of leeway in creating the site and recruiting the students. After a year of research, I spent much of the second year recruiting the first bloggers and working collaboratively with them to design the site. Finally in December 2005 we launched Hopkins Interactive and have been expanding the endeavor every since.

How do Johns Hopkins U students get involved?
Members of the Student Admissions Advisory Board (SAAB), the students behind Hopkins Interactive, are selected from a pool of applicants at the start of every academic year. The application is made available late in the summer and is advertised mainly to newly enrolling freshmen, as the upperclassmen on the board are typically returning members. We interview each applicant during the week of new student orientation and make our decisions by the beginning of classes. Traditionally, we select 6-8 new members each year, and the overall group size ranges from 20-23 students.

How do you choose your student bloggers?  What do you look for?
In the selection process we try to make a balanced group, so we look for diversity of background and talents, creativity in their writing abilities (sample blogs are part of the application), personality, and dedication to the promotion of Hopkins. Since the board does more than just blog, creativity, personality, and an innovative mindset are factors more than just how one writes. Last year we had about 50 applications.

Johns Hopkins University lets you really see inside: student blogger style!

Wysz / Michael Wyszomierski

What can a prospective student take away from these blogs that they couldn’t get otherwise?
Before launching Hopkins Interactive, I had a number of conversations with my colleagues and current students about what our goals should be in providing blogs and more significantly providing prospective students direct, uncensored access to current students. There are a lot of misconceptions about Johns Hopkins as an undergraduate institution and some that truly frustrate current students. Presenting “the real Hopkins” through the blogs and other social media endeavors has allowed us to dispel many of those myths and connect a new group of prospective students to the university.

Any particular blogs college bound students should make it a point to look at to get a better feel for Johns Hopkins University?
Expanding from just offering an Admissions blog and a number of current student blogs, to now offering blogs written by alumni, parents, faculty, and staff has really made me proud. I know of very few other University blog programs as extensive as Hopkins. I also am impressed about how we have expanded to so many other social media programs, providing prospective students with a variety of ways to connect with our current students.

Johns Hopkins University tells it like it is.

Knile

Spill it!  Do you have a favorite?
In my opinion the great success of Hopkins Interactive has to be our Academics Blog. I know of no other University that has such a site. Pretty simple, the Academic Blog contains student-written entries about every academic major and minor offered at Hopkins. These blogs provide an up-close look at the experiences that real students have had at Johns Hopkins. Within the blogs, one will read about students who have changed or added majors, taken classes completely unrelated to their major, fulfilled multiple majors and minors, and otherwise explored their academic curiosities while at Hopkins.

I also often reference our Guest Blog as one of our other great successes. The mission of the Guest Blog is to feature the story of a different Johns Hopkins undergraduate each week. In over four years we have had nearly 180 entries written by approximately 150 different students.

University of Illinois Students and the Great No Pants Debate

Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010

Think of college life and you probably think of long philosophical talks in the common area or study groups at the local coffee shop.  Think of college fashion and you might think of t-shirts and sweatpants or khakis and flipped up collars. But sometimes – the talks are less than academic and the fashion might start a funny debate – which sometimes turns into a blog, like UIUC No Pants — and you know we love those college blogs!

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Photo Courtesy of UIUC No Pants

While not endorsed by the University of Illinois, the UIUC No Pants blog pokes fun at the wearers of “no pants” – otherwise known as tights or leggings.  Oh, and yes – the Daily Illini, the student newspaper of the University of Illinois, took a different stance with,Ladies, wear your no pants with pride!” We had to ask the anonymous creator a few questions!

So — what do you have against leggings and tights?
There’s nothing wrong with leggings or tights in and of themselves — it’s how people choose to wear them that bothers us over here at UIUC No Pants.  As one reader of the blog pointed out early on, almost everyone in our photos is wearing Ugg boots and a North Face jacket.  Everyone wearing the exact same outfit — boring!

Is this written by a group of students?  How do you obtain photos, etc?
The blog itself is authored and published by me, an anonymous UIUC student — plus constant input from a couple of close friends.  When I put up the first post, I IMed a few people about it…and suddenly a group of people were talking about us on Twitter and we had over 1000 visits to the site.  The amount of response to this site has really been shocking.  It’s a great feeling, like the people have spoken, and they, too, are against nopants!

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Photo Courtesy of UIUC No Pants

What would your fashion advice be to an incoming college freshman?
College is this weird situation in which you’re surrounded by thousands of people your own age, who are inherently very interested in what everyone else is doing, or wearing, as the case may be.

Depending on the size of your school, you can remain pretty anonymous while experimenting with a crazy outfit for one day, so give it a shot.  (The worst thing that might happen is that you’ll be featured on a blog!)  Oh right, and don’t wear tights as pants.

Admit it: have  you ever worn a pair of leggings/tights out in public?
Proud to say I haven’t!  I probably own over a dozen pairs of leggings/tights, which might surprise a lot of people.  However, I always wear a skirt, dress, or long tunic over it.  Some people have told me now that I’ve made the blog, it’s my duty to try out the nopants fashion for a day, to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes (or tights).  Hmm, we’ll see about that