Social Media at Work for Future Grinnellians
New app reaches high school students.
Grinnell’s admission staff is hoping to capitalize on the power of social media by communicating with prospective and admitted students through ZeeMee, a social media app designed for college admission.
Grinnell’s admission marketing counselor, Heather Park ’22, says it’s a way to meet students where they are.
“ZeeMee is a social media savvy way to learn about Grinnell,” she says.
Learning about Grinnell
Traditional methods of contacting prospective students, especially email, have not been performing as well as they used to, Park says. So, Grinnell has been looking for other ways to reach high schoolers.
“One of those places is on their smartphones, through social media,” she says.
ZeeMee is specifically geared toward colleges and college-bound students. It’s an accessible, fun, user-friendly way to learn more about a college, and it’s open to any prospective student — though participation in certain channels is restricted based on admission status. The app hosts communities for each of its college partners, including Grinnell, where prospective students can talk to each other, current students, and admission counselors.
Encouraging more applicants
Park expects ZeeMee will be especially helpful for boosting yield — the percentage of admitted students who enroll — since it will allow all admitted students to bring their enthusiasm into the community, where they can ask and answer questions together. Grinnell will know more about ZeeMee’s yield effectiveness after May 1, 2026, which is widely known as National College Decision Day.
ZeeMee also allows admission counselors to analyze user data. For example, Park says, as of mid-January, Grinnell had nearly 5,000 students in its ZeeMee community; 1,300 of those had applied for admission. “That’s a 26% inquiry-to-application rate, which is pretty good,” Park says. “The typical inquiry to app rate that we see from other vendors is around 20%.”
Students are highly engaged on ZeeMee. From mid-October, when ZeeMee and Grinnell’s relationship first launched, to mid-January, students started over 5,000 conversations. In December alone, students had more than 2,000 conversations with each other, current students, and admission counselors.
Participation in Grinnell's ZeeMee community is also a way for prospective students to demonstrate their interest in Grinnell, Park explains, in addition to doing things like attending Grinnell-sponsored events, visiting campus, or meeting with a Grinnell admission counselor at their high school. All of these factors can contribute to a successful application.
Fostering authentic engagement
Park says that ZeeMee’s strength lies in the authentic engagement that students can experience on the app. The voices of current students and peers offer genuine connections and can create a sense of belonging.
Kylie Snell ’26, a marketing intern working in the Office of Admission, says she has answered questions on ZeeMee about the student-athlete experience at Grinnell. As a senior on the volleyball team, Snell has the knowledge and experience to accurately answer questions that prospective students may have about being recruited to compete on a Grinnell team or campus life for a student-athlete.
“The interactions have felt very natural,” Snell says.
Snell adds that she has communicated on ZeeMee with prospective international students, too. Many have asked questions about the application process and required materials, and whenever Snell can't answer, she directs them to admission staff members within the app.
For admitted students, ZeeMee can be a place where they meet their future roommate or best friend. Many of Grinnell’s admitted students — two out of every three, as of mid-January — are on the ZeeMee platform. This makes ZeeMee a great place for students to chat with one another, find common interests, and even find first-year roommates.
Connecting with ‘digital natives’
Park says today’s prospective students are “digital natives” who grew up in a world saturated with the internet, cell phones, and computers, so it makes sense to connect with them in an environment where they’re fully comfortable.
Park says she’s excited about the possibilities of this new way of communicating with prospective students. “Just being where they’re at will allow us to better engage with them.”
