8 Secrets Revealed About the College Search Process
Aug. 15, 2013 at 08:00 AM | By Erin Brown | Comment Count
- What were the most important factors in your college search?
- What materials and communications captured your attention?
- What advice do you have for colleges and universities trying to recruit a student like you?
These are all questions we recently asked a panel of outgoing high school seniors, parents, and guidance counselors during a live discussion about the college search process. Check out these 8 key takeaways from the discussion:
Students need help figuring out what they want
While our panel agreed that the Internet was the primary college search resource, students and parents alike admitted they weren’t sure what they were looking for in a college until they set foot on a few campuses. One student participant responded:
“I used a lot of college search websites and that definitely helped me figure out what I was looking for. But a lot of them asked: What kind of environment would you like? Urban or rural? And at that point in time, I didn’t really know. So eventually touring helped me figure out what I actually liked in that process.”
Current students and alumni are your best advocates
Several panelists commented that current university students or alumni had significant influence on schools they considered. One parent panelist said:
“Word of mouth amongst peers, especially kids who actually went to the [college or university] had a huge influence on opening my son’s eyes to schools I don’t think he would have ever looked at.”
“Wow factors” capture attention and keep your institution top of mind
It’s the little things – a birthday card from an institution, or your name on a parking spot when you arrive on campus for a tour – that make a difference for students. Our panel agreed that small tactics like these really stood out, made them feel special, and stuck with them throughout the college search.
Campus visits make or break a student’s decision
We polled our audience during the event and the majority agreed that campus visits are the most valuable outreach tactic in their recruiting arsenal. Our panel confirmed this approach, with one participant saying:
“Campus visits obviously I think are the make or break in most cases once kids have gotten it narrowed down. The tours are really important and feeling like you’re important even though I know these schools are doing them over and over with multiple candidates, the more personalized and warm you can make it feel for the students, the better.”
Another panelist agreed, “A campus visit truly makes or breaks, and the person giving the tour probably more so than anything.”
How Cal Poly San Luis Obispo connects with prospects during campus visits using ed tech
Students want to know what will make them successful at your institution
Our student panel said that graduation rates, potential for job placement after graduation, and program strength were the most important factors they considered when researching schools.
Some students are trading prestige for fiscal responsibility
The counselors on our panel agreed that money has become the most significant factor when it comes to the final college decision (Our takeaways from the How America Pays for College Report). One counselor said:
“I find that an awful lot of our top students the last couple of years have picked the school that’s going to give them the most tuition as long as it’s a good quality school. They hear a lot these days in the media and from others about the amount of college debt. I think, as an advisor, you have to be responsible and say that to them, or at least point that factor out to them, that the debt is something you want to be thinking about when you’re 22 years old.”
Personalization sells
Everyone agreed that personalization, whether in print, video, or even phone calls, establishes a connection between institutions and prospects because personalization helps demonstrate how much an institution wants a student to attend. One parent said, “[My son] was most impressed by personalization—if [a print piece] had his name on it, if he had an email with is name on it, if he had a phone call, a text—then he was blown away. He was completely enamored by the personalization.”
While personalization captured attention, it was the phone call that really sealed the deal. The parent continued, “He got a phone call when he was accepted, and he was about to walk on campus that day because they called him.”
Online college search tools are king
When asked about websites used during the college search, students said they looked at university websites, but sometimes found them confusing. One student remarked:
“I used university websites, but a lot of them were kind of confusing to look through because they were trying to help students that are already in, students that are trying to come in, faculty advisors … they had so many people looking at that website.”
As a result, the student favored outside search resources, like CollegeView.com and Naviance, because they were more focused on the student search.
So, what else did our panel have to say? Listen in to the entire discussion.
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