How To Get More Context From Your Admitted Students

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 listening, but that you genuinely care. They also allow you to keep the conversation going and build a deeper, more memorable relationship.

Here are a few follow-up questions that continue to work well regardless of what the original question was:

• Tell me more about that

• How did you come to feel that way?

• What makes that (or why is that) important to you?

• Why do you think that is?

• Help me understand all that a little better

  
  

Another follow-up strategy to consider if a student isn’t sharing a lot of details involves telling them what you think they might be thinking. For example, my Top Tier Higher Ed data continues to show that fear of making the wrong decision is something most admitted students deal with. If you’re trying to learn more about a student’s decision making process and their concerns you might say “Most students have been telling me they’re worried about making the wrong decision for college, is that your biggest challenge too at this point?”

Framing your follow-up dialogue that way will prompt the student to either agree or disagree with you... and many are likely to feel they need to offer you an explanation as well.

Asking follow-up questions is an important skill that needs to be cultivated and consistently put into practice. Doing it will allow you to better understand a student (or parent’s) mindset during the decision-making process.

If you found this article helpful, go ahead and forward it to someone else on your campus who could also benefit from reading it. You can also encourage them to sign up for my weekly newsletter.

HERE'S WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW:

You can get more free professional development by listening to my podcast. There are currently 82 episodes to choose from.

You can bring me to your campus this spring or summer to lead an in-person recruiting workshop for your admissions, enrollment marketing, and operations teams.