On the Internet Massachusetts Institute of Technology blogs nance.mitblogs.com ben.mitblogs.com matt.mitblogs.com tim.mitblogs.com Blogs at other universities Bryn Mawr Case Western Reserve Seton Hill Harvard Law School Wharton MBA, (Penn) Olin College Related coverage Freedom of speech redefined by blogs

On a Monday this month, the admissions officers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology had pizza for lunch.

That week, they also chose 377 high school seniors to admit to MIT, out of 3,098 who applied in the early action process.

They stuffed admit letters into confetti-filled cardboard mailing tubes and deferral and rejection letters into 4.125-inch-by-9.5-inch envelopes.

And then they put this information, from what they had for lunch to the size of the envelopes, into their Web logs, or blogs, which are read by thousands of prospective applicants and their parents.

MIT is one of a handful of universities where admissions officers write blogs. But the idea is quickly spreading, as universities look for new ways to appeal to an applicant pool that barely remembers life before the Internet. It's quickly shown itself to be a useful tool in boosting interest among potential applicants, and one with some downsides as well.

"We're not reinventing the wheel, we're just going where they already are," said Matt McGann, an MIT admissions officer who started his blog in August 2004. "We're trying to take the mystery out of this college admissions process a bit."

With entries that are often as much personal as they are business, the blogs leave few stones unturned. Admissions officers post that they listened to the new CD from the group Resonance, ate Indian food for lunch or went to see "Harry Potter."

One MIT blogger, Bryan Nance, minority recruitment director, solicited names for his unborn child, a boy due in January. Like many other posts, that one drew more than 100 comments from applicants.

When the admissions officers do blog about the nitty gritty details of college admissions, it's not necessarily the same advice you'd read in guidebooks or official college publications.

In one post, Mr. Nance compiled a list of 52 things not to do in your admissions essay, including, "Never quote the MasterCard commercial that ends with the word PRICELESS."

And that is exactly the kind of advice that high school students respond to, in droves.

Ben Jones, communications manager for the admissions office, said the blogs (MIT runs five) got 80,000 hits the week of Dec. 5, when admissions officers were finalizing their early action decisions.

"We've gotten a bunch of applicants who never had MIT on their radar until they started reading the blogs," said Mr. Jones, noting that the blogs help dispel the stereotype of MIT as "a bunch of nerds."

And whether applicant comments are "the news of getting accepted is so big that it eclipses my birth," or, "I hope that one day I can look back and laugh in your face for not accepting me," those comments often translate into valuable, increased interest for the school.

"We're in the tip of the iceberg here," said Judy Hingle, director of professional development for the National Association of College Admissions Counseling. "It's kind of like when schools first went to Web sites."

Universities that have started admissions officer blogs include Case Western Reserve University, Seton Hill University and Bryn Mawr College. Several graduate schools, such as Harvard Law School and the Wharton School of Business, also have admissions blogs.

"Blogs are about sharing something that you wouldn't find elsewhere," said Bob McCullough, director of marketing and communications for undergraduate admission at Case Western, which started its blog this summer. "We wanted to be able to give more of an insider's view."

But admissions officers quickly run into the questions of how far "inside" to share.

MIT also has run into the sticky situation of creating a community of applicants desperate to get into MIT, and not actually being able to admit most of them.

And unlike the anonymous letters sent out to the faceless students of a few years ago, the admissions officers now know the personalities of those they are rejecting, and vice versa.

Mr. McGann said he still keeps in touch with several students who didn't get in last year. "Some are reapplying this year," he said, "and some are at other schools and are very happy and just keep in touch because we made a connection."

He said that, after the school released its admissions decisions last spring, he spent most of his time on the blog consoling those rejected by the university. This year, he has made a point to recommend other, less selective schools where he thinks MIT applicants also would be happy.

The blogs also can be tricky from the perspective of university management, who lose some control over the school's image when they open the process up to individual admissions officers and student comments.

"It's not for everyone," said Michael Stoner, president of mStoner, a consulting firm on university communications and marketing. "There are admissions officers and people who do marketing who don't think this is a good idea because they see the downside. What if a kid says something that gets alumni riled up?"

But the schools with admissions blogs believe, at least for now, that they are willing to take that chance.

"There is some risk in opening up a blog like this," said Mr. McCullough, of Case Western. "But it's a good risk to take."