By Jeremy Tiers, Senior Director of Admissions Services
3 minute read
Last week I received some great questions from admissions counselors who are a part of our newsletter community.
Each of the situations they asked about are fairly common this time of year, so I thought I’d share their questions along with my advice:
Question: Is it okay to ask my admitted students who have received a financial aid package what’s holding them back from submitting their deposit?
Absolutely, and here’s why. Asking a question like that shows serious interest, and gets you information you can strategically use to help them with their decision.
If the student doesn’t give you much feedback, you could tell them what you think they might be thinking. An example would be, “Jeremy, other seniors have told me they’re worried about making the wrong decision for college. What about you?” Doing that will prompt the student to either agree or disagree with you, which sometimes is easier than verbalizing how they feel.
Question: What should I say if a student tells me we’re one of their top choices but they aren’t ready to make a decision?
Thank the student for sharing, and follow that with “Walk me through what you’d like to see happen next.”
After they give you that additional information, reply with, “Got it, and then what?”
That approach will result in some students revealing each aspect of their decision-making process, and what hurdles remain when it comes to choosing your school.
Question: What can I do if a student tells me they want to stay closer to home?
As frustrating as it might be, the good news is that student just saved you additional time you might have put into contacting them again thinking they were still interested.
In over 20 years of working with students and families, we continue to find that too close/too far from home is one of two objections that are almost impossible to overcome. The other one is you don’t have their major or academic program of interest.
Whenever you’re dealing with students from out of state or those who live 4+ hours from campus, I advise admissions counselors to ask specific questions early in the process like “What is it about <Your College’s Name> that you think would make it okay to go farther away from home?” If their answer isn’t specific and well thought out, that’s a red flag you need to pay close attention to.
Question: What if the student sounds ready to choose our school but their parents don’t seem to be so sure and are telling them there’s no rush.
This happens every year… a lot, which is why I strongly recommend colleges and universities have personalized streams of communication for parents and other influential family members as early as possible – or at worst once a student has been admitted. Just Cc’ing parents is not going to move the needle with them in most situations. They need to have a clear understanding of the value your school provides, and you need to make sure that any objections or concerns they might have get addressed.
Reach out to the parents and ask a direct question like “What do you still need to know about us to help you feel like <Your College’s Name> is worth the investment?”
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