Website Interpretation

Moorhead State Future Students Page / MSU Moorhead Admitted Students Page / MSUM Mission Statement

• Future Students

Though it appears as "Future Students" on the homepage, the page is clearly about Admissions, judging by the content and the url. There are several references to a theme "Dragons" and it can be inferred that this is their athletic mascot. The changing graphic/picture at the top of the page reflects learning, variety, exploration, things that Moorhead State wants to be known for.

• Freshman

The big postcard draws the attention, and the text above it is similar to a sales pitch, while the text below is more down to business. The postcard site is written in a seller's language, and with the inconsistency in color, bolding and size, looks a bit like an advertisement on some random website. The message is trying to convince someone to "buy" their product.

• Graduate

From the Future Students page, the Graduate page opens in a new window. The Grad site is much more detailed, formal and lacking in graphics, picture and marketese. The message is that graduate students or potential graduate students are more serious and are looking for something completely different in a school than freshmen.

• What impact might the rhetorical choice have on different audiences? Would the impact be the same for different people?

Clearly, the freshmen page is aimed at sending a message to the average young high school student that Moorhead State, despite being located in the midwest, is a fun and active place to go to college (use of red color, pictures, "fun" postcards). The message on the freshmen pages is aimed at entertaiment and what is available outside of the classroom. If this were the same tactic used for the Graduate page, they would likely look less credible to the potential graduate student, who would be more interested in their program of choice, and less interested in shopping, bars and concert venues.

Alternately, if the freshman page message portrayed only the academic merits of the institution, it would appear less appealing to young high school graduates. The message is assuming that they are looking for quality, affordable education, but that entertainment and socializing are equally, if not more, important.

• BSU Comparison

The BSU Grad pages are similar to the Moorhead State Grad pages in that they are using content to reach the potential student, rather than flash and style.

The potential students page is mostly text and uses pictures of the lake and a blue frame to create a calming and nurturing effect. The page uses the school motto as its selling point, rather than entertainment and shopping, like Moorhead. The incoming freshman page mirrors Moorhead's counterpart by using it to provide deadline criteria, etc.

Overall, most of Moorhead's pages aim at what's fun about going there; this is done through the messages they created through color, pictures, and marketese prose--this creates a distinct and very different personality than BSU. BSU pages with the calming colors and plain-spoken language appear to be less bold, more serious, and down to earth.