By Jeremy Tiers, Vice President of Admissions Services
3 minute read
How often have you read or said something like, “We have a welcoming and supportive community.” Or, “96% of our students are employed in a job they love or continuing their education within a year of graduating.”
Here’s the problem with statements like those – they’re extremely broad and general, and they don’t offer any real context.
Not providing context is a big reason why so many colleges, universities, and admissions counselors look and sound the same.
Whenever you talk about any topic, prospective students, parents, and families need a clearly defined ‘why’ from you, or a ‘because.’ Those two things help promote action on their part, and when they don’t receive them, like most people they end up making all kinds of assumptions.
Giving context also does the following…
- It gives them a reason to pay attention and/or listen to you.
- It helps personalize the college search process.
- It accelerates their understanding of your school and why it might be a good fit for them.
Here are a few practical ways you can put this strategy into action immediately:
Getting a student to visit campus. When every school is asking them to take that action, why should they take the time and choose yours – especially if they don’t know much about your college or university yet? Adding context fixes that. “The reason I want you to come and see campus this fall Jeremy is because…” And in a separate message to the parents you might say, “If you’re able to bring Jeremy to campus for a visit, here’s what you will learn and take away…”
Instead of listing how many clubs and student orgs you have and saying your students have more opportunities, talk about when the club fair happens and what the process of getting signed up looks like for most new students. You could also share why certain clubs or orgs are so popular, and/or what some of the newest clubs and orgs on campus are.
Instead of saying you have small class sizes or sharing the student to faculty ratio, talk to some of your current first-year students and ask them to tell you about their classes and the interactions they’ve had so far with different professors? Are the professors personal and engaged. What are some of the fun or enjoyable things they’ve done in their major so far?
Overcoming objections is a crucial skill set for admissions counselors and tour guides. When a prospective student or parent asks why the academics at your school are better than those at other colleges they’re considering, a lot of counselors and guides immediately go into debate mode – sharing stats, rankings, etc. Adding context fixes that and is more effective. You might say, “That’s a great question I get a lot and I’m not going to sit here and try to tell you that we’re better than so and so, or they aren’t as good as us. The truth is, if you’re interested in a career in business, our degree is going to open a lot of the same doors as all those other schools you’re considering. We’ll line-up great internships the same as they will, and we’ll get you networked with our recent alumni the same as they will. What I’m trying to say is, don’t let that be the thing that you base your decision on. It should be about <Insert one or two things that your school or campus is great at. Or, one or two things your current students say makes your college unique or different. Or, one or two things related to something that the student has previously told you is important to them>.” Giving context as to why they shouldn’t hold on to an objection that may not be in your favor will help them move on from it, and consider other aspects to their decision.
Today’s article is a quick but simple philosophy I encourage you to adopt and prioritize when you communicate in any medium with students and families.
If you found this article helpful, please forward it to someone else on your campus who could also benefit from reading it. Sharing is caring 🙂