Don’t Forget To Communicate With Parents

It continues to be one of the biggest mistakes that many admissions offices and counselors make each year that negatively impacts their yield:

Not communicating with parents in a way that feels personal and makes them feel like the important partner they are in the college search process.

According to my latest Top Tier Higher Ed data, only 11.7% of students said their parent(s) or guardian(s) didn’t help them with one or more things during their college search. If you’re wondering what the top things are, the top two on literally every single survey continue to be figuring out the financial aid process and planning campus visits.

CC’ing parents on emails and saying, “Reach out if you have any questions” is helpful, but I promise you it does not feel personal.

I encourage admissions counselors to allocate time every single week for intentionally building (and strengthening) personalized relationships with parents - particularly those of high school seniors who have already been admitted, as well as those who recently visited campus.

In terms of a starting point, step one is to introduce (or reintroduce) the parent(s) or guardian(s) to their family's admissions counselor. Make it clear the counselor is there to support the entire family throughout this process, and that he/she understands the important role that parents and guardians play. Your call to action can vary depending on what you already know or don’t know about the student and/or parent(s)/guardian(s). If you know very little or absolutely nothing, ask a direct question that seeks to uncover how the parent(s) or guardian(s) feels about some aspect of your school, the college search, or the college decision.

A few examples include:

“How are you feeling about… (the financial aid process, the location of our school, or the idea of <Student’s First/Preferred Name> moving away for college?)"

“What are one or two things you think would make a college worth the investment?”

“What’s one thing you think <Student’s First/Preferred Name> will need help with as a new college student?”

“What are one or two things that you think make our school a good fit for <Student’s First/Preferred Name>?”

“What’s the biggest concern you have about <Your College’s Name>?”

“What new questions do you have for me?”

It’s also a smart strategy to ask parents the exact same question you previously asked their son or daughter to see how the answers and opinions differ (or don’t) from each other. Why? Because you can uncover a disagreement that’s getting discussed behind the scenes at home and could potentially slow down the decision-making process.

Parents are looking to see which colleges and universities consistently respect their opinion and input, and view them as a valued partner in this process.

What would they say about your school?

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