You are on page 1of 3

Deep Springs College Management:

Minerva Schools at KGI is a liberal arts university like ours, located in San Francisco,
which not only provides information on its website to draw in potential students, but
organizes events to enrollees to keep them interested. In order to obtain firsthand
information about this institution, I have applied and over the past 3 months enrolled
within Minerva itself, acting as a student and completing Multimodal Assignments as
necessary.

Unlike Deep Springs, Minerva is heavily aggressive in their advertisement. In order to


contact as many potential students as possible, Minerva relies on social media such as
FaceBook, Twitter and Instagram, and the help of online news sites such as the Atlantic,
Slate, WSJ, NY Times, Independent, Al Jazeera and Huffington Post, each of which help
to promote various aspects of Minerva that can attract an audience. Most op-ed pieces,
for example mention Minervas low cost, being around half that of Ivy League
Universities, in itself an appeal to both cost-conscious and prestige-seeking applicant
families, found generally in the international worlds rising middle class. Many sites, in this
regard often mention Stephen
Kosslyn, world-class neuroscientist
who serves as Dean, or Larry
Summers, former US secretary of the
Treasury on the advisory board. It
becomes quickly apparent that
Minerva is composed of strong
personalities. Deep Springs, on the
other hand has almost no online
internet presence.

Those looking online for firsthand


Minerva experiences can, for
example, resort to Quora1, where
Inaugural students and Regional
Managers (Linh Dao) have made
their presence on the internet known
and easily accessible to increase its
credibility. 2

1#support: I support my argument by using a screenshot to show that Minerva has a strong
online presence everywhere.
2#organization: To make it clear that Minerva has a strong online presence, I use a variety of
sources, such as Quora.
Another aspect of Minerva strongly presented is its pedagogy and teaching method, such
as using an Active Learning Forum, having a flipped classroom model, or teaching tools
to learn, often in articles that describe Minerva as an Ivy for the 21st century. Minerva
seems cutting-edge and highly progressive3, directly contrasting with Deep Springs which
makes no real attempt to adapt to changes, and even selling itself on its contemplative,
technology-free atmosphere in the desert. In fact, an online search for Deep Springs
College often reveals that the College is only recently considering accepting female
applications.4 Considering these factors, it is unsurprising that Deep Springs receives
around 180-250 applications per year, while Minerva received 16000 in its 2016
application cycle.

However Minervas broad marketing can be considered in itself a weakness as it fails to


communicate who isnt right for Minerva. 5The often-cited acceptance rate of around 2%
can mean that a large number of applicants do not realize that they are unfit for the
model, or even speak english. After all, the application is free. Thus those who do actually
apply to Deep Springs are much more motivated and invested in their application. The
statistics are telling while Minerva has one of the lowest acceptance rates in the
country, Deep Springs has one of the highest matriculation rates of over 90%.

3 #openmind: I realize that in presenting such a progressive and new way of structuring a class,
let alone a university, Minerva has to appeal to applicants open-mindedness in various ways to
get them to want to know more and eventually apply.
4 #infoneeded: To support my argument that Deep Springs fails to market itself as progressive,
I cite examples of them only recently considering female applicants.
5#audience: I realize that by marketing themselves to such a broad audience, Minerva might be
making a mistake by not making clear who as an applicant isnt a good fit.
#openmind: Listen well and be open-minded.
#audience: Tailor oral and written work for the context and the audience.
#support: Structure evidence to support an argument effectively.
#infoneeded: Define what information is needed to support an argument.
#organization: Effectively organize communications.
Works Cited

Deep Springs College. Deep Springs Settles Coed Opponents' Claim for Legal Costs | Deep
Springs College. (2016). Retrieved November 19, 2016, from http://
www.deepsprings.edu/coeducation-news/deep-springs-settles-coed-opponents-claim-for-
legal-costs/

Jackson, A. (2016). This college startup has a 1.9% acceptance rate, making it tougher to get into
than Harvard. Retrieved November 19, 2016, from http://www.businessinsider.com/for-
profit-college-minerva-is-harder-to-get-into-than-harvard-2016-4

Minerva Schools at KGI. (n.d.). Retrieved November 19, 2016, from https://
www.minerva.kgi.edu/

Reimagining higher education. (n.d.). Retrieved November 19, 2016, from https://
dupress.deloitte.com/dup-us-en/industry/public-sector/reimagining-higher-education.html

Quora. How smart are Minerva students compared to students at Ivy ... (n.d.). Retrieved
November 19, 2016, from https://www.quora.com/How-smart-are-Minerva-students-
compared-to-students-at-Ivy-League-schools

You might also like