Advice To Help With Admitted Students Who Haven’t Visited

We both know how important the “feel” of campus is as it relates to a student’s college choice. According to my Top Tier Higher Ed survey research, those feelings remain the most influential decision-making factor for the majority of traditional students - ranking higher than affordability, the customer service of your admissions staff, student outcomes after graduation, and a laundry list of other factors.  

Unfortunately declining visit numbers and rising no-show rates are common challenges right now for a lot of colleges and universities.

It’s an opportunity for you to get creative and find a way to exceed an admitted student’s expectations.

For certain admits who have not visited campus and haven’t signed up for an upcoming accepted student event, consider offering an abbreviated 1-on-1 interactive campus tour on FaceTime.

Live visuals can help students connect the dots when it comes to different things they’ve read or heard about during their college search process.

When it comes to who gives the campus tour, a student tour guide or ambassador is ideal, but the admitted student’s admissions counselor has also proven to be effective.

Here are some additional keys to delivering a memorable experience:

• Collaborate with the student ahead of time to make the FaceTime tour feel more personal. Ask them what one or two things they’re most interested in seeing. Showing the dorms, food options, and the building(s) where many of their major specific classes will take place are givens. What else? You don’t need to show everything, just the things they care about most.

• As you’re walking around, make sure it’s a back and forth conversation that feels genuine and relaxed.

• Half the time you can be on your phone or iPad talking to the student directly, and the other half you can be pointing the camera the other direction and showing them different parts and places on campus.

• Be prepared to ask the admitted student some direct questions about what they’re seeing and hearing. 

• 30-45 minutes for the tour will be sufficient in most cases.

• At the end of the tour, ask one or two final questions with the goal of discovering the impact of the tour and what (if anything) the student still needs to know for them to be confident that your school is a good fit.

  
  

While nothing can completely replicate the feel of an in-person visit, this is the next best thing and has worked well for numerous counselors who have taken this recommendation over the past few years.

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