Are You Doing This After A Student Visits Campus?
- Jeremy Tiers
- 10 minutes ago
- 2 min read
When I talk about territory management during the training workshops I lead, one of the things we discuss is key times when an Admissions Counselor or recruiter should be proactively reaching out to a student.
One of those times is the week of a campus visit or event they’ll be taking part in. Another, which is the focus of today’s article, is after a student visits or attends an in-person event.
Ongoing research done by Top Tier Higher Ed shows that after a student has spent time on your campus, they’re either more excited or less excited about the idea of being a student there. That’s need to know information for a counselor or recruiter.
If you’re reading this and thinking, we typically meet one-on-one with a student or family after the walking tour or at the end of a daily visit and seek those feelings out, here’s my advice. They haven’t had enough time to process everything they just saw and heard, so you’re not going to get the same depth of feedback.
Instead, before the student or family leaves, make it clear you understand it was a busy day with a lot of people and a lot of information, and you want to give them some time to think about and talk about different things.
Next, ask the student if they’re open to the idea of scheduling a short phone call with you in a couple of days time. If you're not able to be on campus when the student visits, a colleague can help coordinate this. Make it clear that the reason for the call will be to answer any new questions that come up, as well as discuss the student’s next step.
For students who are strongly against a call, let them know you’re going to send them an important email instead.
During the phone call or in your email, I encourage you to ask one or more of the following questions:
“What part of your visit today gave you the strongest feeling of, ‘Yeah, I could see myself here’?”
“What’s one thing you saw or heard during your visit that surprised you?”
“If you could redo one part of the visit and spend more time somewhere, where would it be?”
“What’s one thing you wish you’d asked while you were here but didn’t?”
“What did your parents (or guardians) have to say about the visit and the idea of you being a student here?”
Each one of those questions will allow you to gain valuable insights into how the student, and possibly their family, are now viewing your school as well as their overall process.
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