San Diego State placed fifth in the national “MyTopCollege” competition hosted by Forbes magazine this summer. The campaign required students, faculty and alumni to showcase why they believe their school is the best  in the nation.  

Through social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram students and alumni tagged their posts and pictures with the hashtag #MyTopCollege.  Participants from SDSU sent in a variety of posts and pictures with to show off the school and explain why the home of the Aztecs is the best school around.

“We considered both the quantity and quality of submissions this year, which made it all the more challenging to come up with our winners,” wrote Forbes’ staff member, Jill Castellano, in a recent article regarding the outcome of the campaign.

While California State University, Fullerton placed first in the large school division, the SDSU community still had a strong presence throughout the duration of the campaign. Some posts focused on the beauty of the SDSU campus and San Diego weather. Others highlighted the learning and networking opportunities provided by the university. Some were just a classic shout-out for Aztec pride.

The SDSU community had a high participation rate in the first “MyTopCollege” contest last year as well. One Forbes’ article from June 2014 was titled “New #MyTopCollege Social Media Campaign Launches, San Diego State Off To Head Start.” Forbes’ staff writer and author of the article, Paige Carlotti, said the SDSU community responded resoundingly to the social media engagement campaign.

“The San Diego State University community wasted no time Instagramming and Tweeting their photos of athletic teams, gorgeous views and even pets to prove why SDSU is a top college,” wrote Carlotti. “Aztec teams rose to the challenge and boasted statistics that their particularly proud of. SDSU had everyone from the marching band to athletic teams to the students themselves blow up the Twitter feed.” 

SDSU got second place overall in the #MyTopCollege campaign in 2014.

Dr. Randall Timm, Dean of Students at SDSU, said he believes social media has become a great tool for enhancing communication within the SDSU community, keeping students engaged and informed. He said that students are now able to use social media as a way to find out about the unique groups, clubs and activities that are happening at SDSU. This enables students to become engaged and active on campus.