A Common Problem Especially With Admitted Students

At some point during the college search process, usually towards the end, a lot of students tend to communicate less with schools, or in some cases they stop communicating entirely.

No matter how excited a student might be about your school or college in general, I continue to find that many become tired of the nonstop messaging and all the decisions and stress that come with making a final decision.

Because of all that, it’s important to consider adjusting or tweaking your communications strategy - especially with non-responders.

When I made that point during a recent yield workshop, an admissions counselor approached me during a break and asked how he could change his outreach without creating extra pressure and potentially annoying his admitted students.

My response was, “Make sure you’re showing empathy, but don’t stop trying to better understand a student’s mindset”.

The key is creating minimal pressure and not additional stress which is what will happen if every call to action tells a student to submit their deposit. Consider utilizing one or both of the following strategies that I shared with the aforementioned counselor.

1. Tell the student what you think they might be thinking so they have to clarify a position or a feeling. I want you to insert some assumptions that tend to be true for most admitted but undecided students. Your goal is to get them to react and share insights they may not have told you before. Let’s say you have an admit who has brought up cost a lot in previous conversations and you know for a fact that he or she is still waiting on a financial aid package from another college/university even though their family has received your school’s package. You might say something like, “I understand that college is a big investment, and it seems like you’re really interested in that other school and I’m kind of feeling like if they end up being less expensive than us, you’re leaning towards choosing them.” Whether that’s actually your assumption or not isn’t really important. Again, the goal is to get a reaction and have the student take a side on your hypothesis. Whether they agree or disagree you get information that helps you judge what you should say or do next.

   
   

2. Tell the student why it’s okay to take the next step if they have all the information they need. As I’ve discussed in past articles, a lot of students hold off on making a final decision because they’re worried about making the wrong decision. They need someone they trust to give them the confidence (and a reason) to move forward, which could include explaining why other students have decided to do exactly that. You might also encourage the student to remember the feelings they had when they found out they had been admitted to your school… what an awesome feeling of accomplishment! Let them know that they can experience that same excitement when they walk across the stage and graduate in four years from now. It will take a lot of hard work and there will be ups and downs, but remind the student that they will have people supporting them and that they can do this.  

   
   

HERE'S WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW:

Leadership, student recruitment, personal growth, failure, self awareness, and managing stress are just some of the topics that I’ve covered on my Mission Admissions podcast. All 86 episodes are free and can be found on Apple and Spotify.

Spots are still open on my summer calendar. You can bring me to your campus to lead an in-person recruiting workshop for your admissions, enrollment marketing, and operations teams.