Today I want to share something that most admissions counselors and student tour guides need to do more consistently. Once you get a prospective student talking and sharing it’s important to take the feedback you receive and in many cases dig a little deeper so you can understand the why, the how, or the when behind something. The best way to do that is by being curious and asking one or more follow-up questions. Follow-up questions not only show that you’re actively listenin

Which of your admitted students are close to making a decision, who’s struggling with making the wrong choice, and who still has a lot left to figure out? If you’re going to effectively support students in their decision-making process by providing them with the relevant and timely information they want and need, you have to consistently ask various direct questions in your emails, texts, phone calls, or in-person. Do not sit back and wait for them to come to you. For the rem

Within your admitted student population you have a group of students and families who shortly after they receive their financial aid package(s) will be ready to end the college search process.   My ongoing Top Tier Higher Ed data says that almost 38% of students over the past three years had the college or university they ended up choosing as their #1 choice at the time they applied. Today’s strategy will help you determine who some of those students are by uncovering importa

One of the big things I emphasize to admissions counselors is the importance of consistently asking their students direct questions. That concept is extremely important because if you’ve developed trust, asking the right kinds of questions will prompt students to provide you with context about their mindset and/or feelings on a variety of topics. When it comes to your admitted (but undecided) student population, the worst thing you can do is sit back and assume this group has

A lot of admissions counselors like to email, text, or call and just “check in” with their students. On the surface that may seem helpful, but please understand that it’s a bad habit that needs to be broken.   Here’s the problem with that kind of outreach. When you use those two words students know what it’s code for – You want them to tell you something. But because you haven’t asked a direct question, they’re not really sure what they’re supposed to say, so most times they

One of the most popular sessions during the training workshops I lead  for admissions and enrollment marketing teams focuses on asking...

One of the biggest things that prospective students worry about during their college search is not knowing what questions to ask. They...

In previous articles I’ve explained that prospective students will share all kinds of helpful information if you ask better questions –...

During the college search process there are some key moments where a prospective student’s mindset significantly shifts. One of those is...

After more than a decade of studying how students make their college decisions, I can tell you that the location of your school – not...

When I run into someone who previously participated in one of my training workshops I ask them what they’ve put into practice that has...