As the college entrance examinations recede into the distance for this year’s high school graduates, the next phase of life awaits.
Just as Douyin was active in preparing students both academically and emotionally for the exams, the platform is now chipping in with university enrolment taster sessions and advice.
From June 12 to July 17, Douyin users can search for the “try university” content tag, where they will find a homepage with livestreams scheduled by a range of different universities nationwide. Users can sign up in advance or head straight into a livestream on the spur of the moment.
There they can ask questions directly to a representative of the institution or listen to talks on different majors, university policies, and province-specific enrolment procedures. Through taster sessions, students can also be introduced to lesser-known subject areas they might have otherwise not opted for, helping universities to fill spaces on conventionally less popular or well-established courses.
These livestreams are the ideal way for prospective students and parents to get a feel for different institutions and the courses on offer before committing. It also offers institutions the opportunity to reach many more people, with numbers of viewers joining individual livestreams climbing to the hundreds of thousands in some cases.
Tianjin University found that 40% of students who enrolled last year had watched the university’s enrolment livestream. With this figure in mind, livestreaming may be on its way to becoming universities’ primary resource for bringing on prospective students in future.
