College Website Analysis : Minnesota State University ,Mankato

Mensur Muzyin

Major Project Assignment 3 (SAR)

Dr. Rebecca Weaver

ENGL 1102

Summary

            Minnesota State University, Mankato (MNSU) is a public university located in Mankato, Minnesota, about an hour and thirty minutes from the Twin Cities. Their college website is an appealing site that introduces the institution’s green campus with a live video and also includes almost all of the essential information that might help students choose a college. This university provides 130 undergraduate programs, 75 graduate degrees, and four PhD programs. It is also well-known for international student recruitment and the financial assistance it provides to help students achieve academic success. They are seeking for a student that has great ideas, can excel in a variety of fields both in and out of the classroom in real life, engages in community activities on the diverse campus, and contributes value to the institution as a whole. And this university would be preferred by the student since it is a huge campus located in a peaceful natural location outside of the city, is widely recognized for its cutting-edge research, has a diversified population, and provides a considerable amount of financial assistance, but it also has winter weather.

Analysis

            Minnesota State University, Mankato tried to convince readers or students to begin their studies at their school by using purpose from the APARTSARC strategies and imagining ideal readers from the large rhetorical devices on their website. Almost all critical information about the institution that is useful in college selection is simply and concisely given and can be found on their site’s home page, about page, admission & aid page, and finally university life page. One example of how they used purpose to encourage students to enroll at MNSU is when they claimed, “We believe that a diverse campus is critical in order for our students…. productive members of a global society.”(MNSU “Home”) Everyone knows that diversity is an important component in college selection, and they are informing students that their institution has an inclusive diversity that provides equality in education and equal chances to all people from diverse groups. They have also mentioned that they have various diversity events as well as centers such as multicultural, women, LGBTQ, and several others. They are committed to promoting diversity and moving forward with implementing this strategic priority at all levels of the university. This is a clear example of how they employed purpose understanding that diversity plays a vital role in college selection, therefore they notified readers and students that they can be preferred since they have a diverse campus and promotes diversity as much as possible.

            Minnesota State Mankato values international students’ cultural contributions to their school and community and is a well-known international student recruiter. According to their admission and aid website, “All new undergraduate students are immediately given the International Maverick Scholarship”(MNSU “Admission & Aid”). This scholarship covers nearly half of the student tuition cost and significantly reduces financial expenses for international students. Knowing that financial aid is vital to foreign students, they have used purpose in the quotation above to entice international students to attend their university and win the scholarship so that they may reduce their financial expenditures and overall cost. The quotation above is a perfect example of how they used purpose using the  international maverick scholarship to all accepted students to lure international students.

            On their website’s program page, they stated, “We offer more than 130 undergraduate majors and over 75 graduate majors to feed your big ideas,” which is a perfect example of how they have imagined ideal readers – they have imagined students who have big ideas but haven’t decided what major to study would be misled by this statement because they have provided them with more than enough options to choose from. (MNSU “Programs”).Furthermore, on their admissions and aid page, they stated, “All new undergraduate students are immediately given the International Maverick Scholarship,” implying that international students who are required to pay out state tuitions and have too many expenses would be an ideal reader and of this quotation and would be deceived into joining their institution because it will reduce the cost, they have to spend to get their intended degree.(MNSU “Admission & Aid” ). Despite the fact that there are several more areas on the university’s website where various tactics were utilized, owing to constraints, the examples and explanations provided above must provide you with a quick overview of the university’s website as a whole.

Response

I’m going to be a little biased here since, by luck, I got the opportunity to see the entire institution the week before spring break, and it was fantastic. Furthermore, based on what I have learned and seen on their website; I would certainly attend this university. My first reason is that it is so diverse, and variety provides students with other worldviews to explore and participate with. I’d also like to learn in a diverse environment where I can share information and expertise with folks from all around the world. It also encourages my own development, which I cherish the most, and excites me to get better at interacting with individuals from varied backgrounds. Aside from its diversity, the second factor that drew me to MNSU is the variety of majors available in various fields. One surprising detail I encountered when applying to Georgia State University was that they do not offer a bachelor’s degree in engineering, which is unexpected given that engineering is not on the list of 250 programs. Finally, the campus was beautiful; it has a lot of space and also some home green and has water fountains everywhere, recreational facilities, several multicultural centers, vast sectioned dorms but also a snowy weather, or I can completely say that Mankato is built around the campus; it is the most essential element. The campus is also surrounded by a number of comfy off-campus housing options that are managed in some form by the university. For sure, I would go there if it came to GA. I was delighted to conduct research on MNSU and, by chance, to visit the campus and write a brief overview.

Work Cited

Minnesota State University, Mankato , https://www.mnsu.edu/ , Accessed 2005.

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