Luke Tunnell

Brandi Martin

ENC 2135

28 March 2023

How Florida State Attracts Students Using Rhetoric

In order to reach a student's interest level, a college must have a few distinct qualities.

First, their academics must be to the students liking, or rather up to par with what the student

wishes to accomplish. Second, their extracurricular activities, athletics, clubs, etc. must show

versatility and an aspect of well roundedness for the university. However, the most important

quality of them all is how the university chooses to market their college. What rhetorical

strategies within articles, advertisements, and videos should be employed so the student wishes

to apply to the school? For Florida State, the efforts to draw in a student's attention falls under a

couple categories: sympathy and compassion, and credibility and trust. They use both of the

rhetorical strategies to meet every student's needs, so they can increase their application numbers

and get as many top class students as possible. Moreover, the university implements certain

decisions in articles and videos to not only persuade the student into applying, but also to set

them in a good mood when visualizing their school. Florida State makes use of implicit

rhetorical approaches through articles and video advertisements to get as many students to apply

to the university as possible.

Florida State draws sympathy and compassion through an article titled “FSU’s CARE:

For the students it serves, it’s ‘home’ and a place to flourish.” This article was constructed to

reach a specific audience of applying college students: students who are not financially backed to

attending FSU. Through the article it references the CARE program in Florida State and what
benefits it has brought to thousands of students who have taken advantage of it. Essentially, its

purpose is to highlight the reasons to join the CARE program, as the university is willing to

support the students who need it. The article even presents interviews with students and their

experiences with CARE, as one student is quoted by saying her “...parents didn’t go to college,

so [she] was stepping out of my comfort zone…CARE provided [her] that stability.” Quite

literally keeping a caring tone, showing the example of a first generation college student opening

to the program and feeling comfortable with its opportunities provided reaches the audience on a

somewhat emotional level. For students applying who may be worrying whether they can attend

university, depending on finances, this story gives them hope and a feeling of pride knowing

FSU has their support. Referencing what an impact CARE could have on this student plays to

students emotions, which allows them to feel more comfortable attending a college like FSU. In

addition to the happy students attending the university, they further drive this point by featuring

smiling students in the article. One specifically to note is the first picture below the title,

featuring four different students sitting together on a couch appearing to have a pleasant time.

Proving the university only houses students that are happy in the CARE program gives FSU

more validity as to why such a program is beneficial towards students wishing to apply. In ways

the article provides some credibility through proving students who are in the program appear to

enjoy their acceptance and help from CARE.

In addition to the optimistic tone presented in the CARE article, the structure and layout

is equally as important. Florida State has numerous articles that present their school through

rankings and advantages. For example, in an article Why FSU published on the university’s

official website, it explicitly highlights some of Florida State’s rankings in academics, as well as

other benefits if a student chooses to attend the school. They mention their top 20 ranking in
public schools in America, as well as their top 10 placement in National Science Foundation

grant awards. Moreover, they push the school's funding, as they accumulate 200 million dollars a

year in research money, which was partially what helped produce Pulitzer Prize winners and

Nobel Laureates. This conveys to students looking at schools what access they have in terms of

funding, as well as what achievements are possible when attending such a high class school. To

even display a respectable side to the veterans of America, the article points out the university

being rated “Best for Vets” in Military Times and U.S. News and World Report. Ultimately the

articles within FSU’s website are provided to accomplish one goal, being motivating high school

students to apply to their university. The moments of reading all of what the university provides,

as well as the success they hold is that exigence for the student. The students reading get a sense

of what their future could hold if they attend a high academic university. However, an interesting

decision behind the article was not just the facts they showcased, but how they constructed the

website as a whole. For example, the header features a title labeled “Learn With An Academic

Leader” and behind it is the Westcott Building, highlighted by a sunset-esque color gradient. The

choice to present FSU’s most popular and attractive building in a sunset is to make the website

more pleasing to view. Additionally, it shows one of many benefits to attending the school,

besides the facts listed. To reiterate, advertising a facility such as Wescott gives the student

something to visualize attending, which further drives their interest to apply to the school. Both

the facts and images utilized in the article work hand in hand to motivate any student considering

applying to FSU to apply.

Aside from the articles published by FSU, the university also posts equally effective

content through videos, such as a Youtube clip on their official page, entitled “Why Florida

State,” highlighting their credibility and trustworthiness. In the 2 minute 30 second video, it
presents the viewer with high quality clips of the campus, as well as a virtual tour guide who

points out the benefits of attending the school, and why Florida State is the university the student

should attend. It shows interviewed graduates and their experiences with the school, as well as

the tour guide explaining why “Florida State is for you.” Proving students enjoy their time at

Florida State gives the applicants a sense of trust, as they see people already enjoying their

decision to join the university. This video serves as a medium for application increases, as

drawing interest and trust from the student increases the likelihood of another application being

written. Aside from the people featured in the video, the editing choices made equally drive

home the persuasion aspect of this video. For example, the music selection is a mixture of upbeat

techno music and slight rock and roll, which gives a positive vibe towards the video. This allows

the audience to feel at home and welcomed when viewing the campus and the students that

attend. Additionally, the video was filmed entirely in perfect weather; sunny with no clouds or

rain hindering the quality of the camera. Although the decision to film in good weather is rather

obvious, it still helps show what the campus can look like during its highest potential. Since

students who may have never toured the campus would wish to see what the university looks

like, it’s best to record in the best conditions to fully showcase what the students could have.

The typical audience for videos such as these are students who have never seen the

campus in person. So, videos online make it easier to see if a student can visualize attending

classes, meeting friends, playing sports, etc. on campus. Another interesting choice by the editing

decisions was the cameras that recorded the campus. There were certain shots during the two

minutes that involved seeing the campus from hundreds of feet in the sky. Recording a wide

range of campus with a drone is perfect for capturing the majority of campus, without making

the video super long to sit through. Since this video shouldn’t last long, as the purpose is to draw
attention but leave room for imagining what student life could become, recording substantial

sections of campus through the air is extremely effective. Moreover for the shots that were

filmed on the ground, it primarily was on Landis Green. The intention behind filming near

Landis is to provide students with common day to day scenes that they could witness if they

attend school. Displaying the classic ‘college campus’ with students walking around to class, a

grass quad with games and activities commencing, and multiple large facilities and dorms

surrounding it all is a cliche, yet effective way of accentuating the FSU campus daily scene. With

the goal being increasing application numbers, it’s critical to give the best first impression of the

campus that the students will spend nearly everyday on.

 Works Cited

“Why Florida State.” YouTube, YouTube, 2 June 2010,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck4HYOMdQjM. Accessed 5 Mar. 2023.

Why FSU?, https://distance.fsu.edu/why-fsu.

Prentiss, Anna. “FSU's Care: For the Students It Serves, It's 'Home' and a Place to Flourish.”

Florida State University News, 29 Oct. 2022,

https://news.fsu.edu/news/university-news/2022/10/28/fsus-care-for-the-students-it-serve

s-its-home-and-a-place-to-flourish/.