Gen Z turns to TikTok to find the perfect school. Some college students are cashing in.

• Gen Zs person recovered a much authentic assets erstwhile researching colleges: assemblage contented creators.
• College contented creators springiness study proposal and station snippets of day-to-day schoolhouse life connected TikTok.
• Some assemblage contented creators are besides reaping nan benefits by collecting thousands successful sponsorships.

In nan summertime earlier his elder twelvemonth of precocious school, videos of students waking up successful dorm rooms aliases wandering down nan assemblage quad started to flood Ryan Fuhrman's TikTok For You feed.

The algorithm intelligibly knew that he should beryllium researching college— and he took it arsenic a cue to get started.

"Dorm room successful NYU," he typed into nan TikTok hunt bar. In a matter of seconds, he could tour nan dorms of New York University, checking retired nan bedding and wall creation of each student who had chosen to share.

In a akin manner, he went connected to judge nan nutrient quality astatine nan University of California, Los Angeles's eating halls, and get a consciousness for what a time successful nan life of a college freshman mightiness look for illustration astatine nan University of Southern California.

Unlike scrolling a school's website aliases browsing a brochure, TikTok allowed him to spot colleges done different students' eyes.

"It made maine believe, 'Wow, that really could beryllium my day,'" Fuhrman, 18, told Business Insider.

Fuhrman is not alone. According to Google's soul data, astir 40% of Gen Z prefers searching connected TikTok and Instagram complete Google Search and Maps, BI reported successful July 2022.

When it comes to deciding connected a school, these TikToks illuminate parts of assemblage life that erstwhile generations had small entree to and often didn't observe until their freshman twelvemonth — aft nan determination of wherever to spell had been made.

Instead of nan emblematic field circuit hosted by 1 of nan college's marque ambassadors and led on a curated representation of nan school's astir charismatic amenities, Gen Zers person aggregate feeds done which they tin analyse a campus' vibe. And dissimilar nan 15-minute promo videos produced by schools, overmuch of what's featured connected societal media is coming from group they tin subordinate to.

The emergence of assemblage contented creators

As of October 29, location were 2.3 million TikTok videos nether nan hashtag "college life." The hashtag has gone viral, pinch 30.5 cardinal views.

The fame of assemblage contented connected TikTok has introduced a slew of contented creators covering their schoolhouse life.

From her very first day, Helaine Zhao, a Harvard freshman, started posting vlogs astir life connected campus.

In a video posted successful September, she shared her greeting regular astatine college. The video shows her getting retired of bed, putting successful her interaction lenses, picking retired clothes, applying make-up, exercising astatine a gym, and getting breakfast. The video gained complete 6 cardinal views.

Zhao, who started posting contented successful March, has gained complete 92,300 followers connected TikTok. And while she's eligible for TikTok's Creator Rewards Program, which allows creators to monetize their content, she has not yet joined. Still, she occasionally signs paid collaborations with study brands for illustration Notability, a note-taking app. Zhao preferred not to stock really overmuch she earns from nan sponsorships.

She recalls utilizing nan app to investigation colleges erstwhile she was deciding betwixt Stanford, Harvard, and Yale.

"It was decidedly a very adjuvant instrumentality to get to acquisition these campuses without really going to them successful person," she said, though she yet did sojourn nan schools successful personification during their admitted student days.

One assemblage contented creator she followed astatine nan clip was Elise Pham. Now successful her inferior twelvemonth astatine Harvard, Pham has much than 155,800 followers.

"As nan kid of a azygous migrant begetter and a mother who passed distant erstwhile I was 9 years old, I didn't needfully person a batch of resources and mentorship regarding nan assemblage exertion process," Pham, 20, told BI.

She saw nan worth of providing resources for students who request assemblage advice. So, erstwhile she started college, she began posting assemblage admissions videos connected TikTok about Harvard to thief prospective students.

She past founded nan Ultimate Ivy League Guide, a assemblage admissions consulting business that provides students pinch online guides and courses connected assemblage admissions. She's moving nan business while finishing her past 2 years of undergrad, and plans to proceed moving location full-time aft graduating.

Pham told BI that while she doesn't return individual income from nan business, it earns a low six-figure magnitude a month. "The money is utilized to build a programme that tin make acquisition much accessible for students from each socioeconomic and geographical backgrounds," she said. Pham provided BI pinch archiving of her business earnings.

Similarly, Lillian Zhang, a University of California Berkeley graduate, started posting contented astir her assemblage life and internships during her inferior year. It was during nan heavy of Covid, and she decided to cure her boredom by providing useful contented for students.

As it happened, immoderate of her UC Berkeley vlogs went viral. In 1 vlog, which gained complete 200,000 views, she wakes up early to spell to nan gym, has a mid-term reappraisal astatine school, past grabs a matcha latte and quesadilla for lunch.

"I deliberation group conscionable want to spot what life astatine nan schoolhouse was done my experience," said Zhang, 24, who has much than 113,100 followers connected TikTok.

She added that prospective students had reached retired to her to inquire questions astir schoolhouse and internships.

"When I was still astatine Berkeley, location were group who recognized maine from nan videos. That was a really cool acquisition proceeding really nan accusation that I've shared has helped," she said.

These days, Zhang useful arsenic a merchandise trading head astatine a Big Tech institution and posts mostly career and financial advice.

In her first twelvemonth of receiving income arsenic a contented creator, Zhang made astir $47,000, mostly from sponsorships. This year, her gross from contented creation amounted to a debased six-figure number. Zhang provided BI pinch archiving of her societal media income.

An authentic first-person perspective

TikTok tin beryllium a useful instrumentality for students to summation other insight into colleges they are willing in.

Lucie Vágnerová, nan cofounder of nan higher acquisition consulting patient BKT Education successful Brooklyn, advises her students to usage societal media during their college research.

"You mightiness spot a snippet from nan cafeteria, group kicking a shot ball astir nan quad, aliases moreover whether it's stressful to study successful nan library," she told BI. "Just real-life worldly that a assemblage website won't needfully show you."

Students tin get a "vibe check" to spot if they tin subordinate to different students and admit nan schoolhouse culture, she added.

At nan aforesaid time, assemblage contented tin besides alteration really prospective students position a assemblage for nan worst, Greg Kaplan, a assemblage advisor, said.

"We person seen students alteration their schoolhouse lists based connected what they observe astir fraternities and sororities and not use to those schools if they don't deliberation they will fresh in," said Kaplan, whose company, Kaplan Educational Group, provides assemblage exertion guidance to astir 350 precocious schoolhouse students yearly.

TikTok is useful — but it has limitations

Vágnerová said prospective students should usage TikTok pinch a discerning eye.

"As overmuch arsenic I emotion to spot what's happening pinch societal media creators coming retired of campuses, I ever show students, 'This is 1 portion of nan puzzle; don't linger anyplace excessively long,'" she said.

"Look for different societal media creators. Look for location tags connected Instagram stories. Get a broad image of a field aliases an world civilization alternatively than conscionable looking astatine it done nan prism of 1 person," she added.

And while TikTok tin power students' perceptions of a school, different factors that students see earlier making their determination typically see cost, rankings, and location.

Of nan 17 schools he applied to, Fuhrman said nan schools he was accepted to included NYU, USC, and California State University. When it came down to his decision, he decided connected nan University of California, San Diego, because of its reputation, rankings, and cost. Fuhrman, who grew up successful San Jose, besides toured respective schools successful person.

Still, he says it was TikTok videos that gave him assurance successful his decision.

On nan app, he has a postulation of saved videos titled "UCSD." One video shows nan beaches of La Jolla: "That benignant of made maine autumn successful emotion pinch nan school," he said. Another video he saved shows nan modern interior of Franklin Antonio Hall — an engineering installation pinch an auditorium, 100-seat classrooms, and collaborative study abstraction for students. The building opened connected field successful 2022.

"I would ne'er person known because each azygous promotional contented for nan schoolhouse conscionable shows a image of nan library," he said.

"But nan schoolhouse is truthful overmuch much than that."

In betwixt studying for a grade successful structural engineering, Fuhrman, who has astir 3,400 followers, has besides joined successful connected documenting his assemblage life connected TikTok.

"I deliberation that inspiring others for illustration maine who didn't really person nan schoolhouse connected their radar is my goal, ultimately," he said.