By Jeremy Tiers, Senior Director of Admissions Services
3 minute read
According to a recent high school senior survey by our friends over at Niche, family is the biggest outside influencer in a student’s college enrollment decision – more so than current students at colleges, online reviews, and friends.
Parents in particular want to be involved, and in most cases their child expects them to be involved. Even if the parents say it’s the student’s decision and they’re doing their best to stay out of it, I can confidently tell you that most students will look to them for advice and direction. It’s human nature.
In our ongoing work with colleges and universities around the country, we’re continuing to find that parents are both a prime ‘helper’ in the communication, application, and financial aid processes, and they’re the person or people that most students turn to for advice at the end when it comes to the ‘which college should I choose’ question/conversation.
Frustrated by the lack of contact and replies from students?
Wishing you could get more students to sign up and/or show for campus visits and events?
Want to increase your FAFSA completion percentage this year?
Want to decrease the number of students who delay their decision until the summertime?
And most of all, want to provide a better, more personalized experience for everyone that makes your school stand out from your competitors?
The solution to all five of those things involves parents.
Bottom line: Start cultivating the parent relationship as early as possible. Even if it’s with a small percentage of your inquiry pool, it will be worth the time and effort.
Worst case, as soon as a student is admitted, it’s essential that you have regular, personalized email communications going to parents – CCing them on a student message does not feel personal.
Start by introducing the parent(s) to their admissions counselor and make it clear that person is the entire family’s “go-to person” throughout this process.
Once that’s happened, or once the counselor has re-engaged the parents after their son or daughter has been admitted, the number one thing I encourage admissions and enrollment marketing teams to consistently do in their outreach is ask parents direct questions that allow the admissions counselor to uncover how they’re feeling about your school and their child’s college search/decision.
Parents will often give better information, much more intelligent insights, and follow-up in a timelier manner on action items you bring to their attention.
It’s also a smart strategy to ask parents the exact same question you previously asked their son or daughter to see how the answers and opinions differ (or don’t) from each other. Why? Because you can uncover a disagreement that’s getting discussed behind the scenes at home and could potentially slow down the process.
Here are a handful of effective questions you can ask depending on the student’s stage in the process, or the topic of your email:
“How are you feeling about… (<Student’s First or Preferred Name>’s college search; the cost of college; the financial aid process, the location of our school, etc.)”
“What advice have you been giving <Student’s First/Preferred Name> about finding the right college OR making his/her college decision?”
“When you talk about <Your College’s Name> as a family, what are some of the things that you think make us a good fit for <Student’s First/Preferred Name>?”
“What’s the biggest concern you have about <Your College’s Name>?”
“What’s the biggest worry you have about <Student’s First or Preferred Name> being a college student?”
“What would you like to see us talk about next,” OR “What do you see as the next step in <Student’s First or Preferred Name>’s process?”
“Are there any new questions or topics you wanted to bring p with me that you didn’t have on your mind a few weeks ago?”
“What’s your family’s timeline for making a final decision?”
Parents are looking to see which colleges and universities consistently respect their opinion and input, and view them as a valued partner in this process.
What would they say about your school?
Got questions about parent communications? I’m happy to connect and chat. Simply reply back, or email me here.
And if you found this article helpful, forward it to someone else on your campus who could also benefit from reading it.