During yield season are you looking beyond the obvious and really digging deep to find out what will drive students to select your college?
What do you REALLY know about each student in your applicant pool?
By now, you know a student’s socio-economic characteristics, high school GPA, major intent (or lack of), academic strength, and desired activities. You may know know the education levels achieved by the student’s parents and siblings. You may have collected information from the student through a college fair or a campus visit. Congratulations. You know what EVERY other college knows about this same applicant.
In truth, at this point in the cycle you may only be half way to understanding what is going to drive the student to select you. You still need to know how their feelings and emotions are going to influence their college selection. The only way to do that is by having a conversation in which you can ask questions that will reveal what is important to them emotionally.
In our recent national higher education co-sponsored study, The Excitement Factor, we uncovered two key questions that you should be asking every prospective student. The answers will allow you to communicate in a more compelling way. (If you would like a full report on this study, click here.)
- “Which will have a greater influence on your college choice; facts about the college or excitement about attending?”
Prospective students are capable of answering this question. Over 12,000 students did so in the study.
Students know whether they make decisions analytically or emotionally. When they understand you are asking this question to better understand them as a person they open themselves up to hearing what you have to say.
The Excitement Factor revealed that students are fairly evenly split into three groups when it comes to making their final decision: fact-based, excitement-based, and a balance of both fact and excitement. What is crucial is matching your communications to the student’s decision making style.
In every case, you will want to have rich conversations that focus on the individual’s interests but your fact-based candidates will want to hear about outcomes and quantifiable attributes. The student who is motivated by excitement about attending is most receptive to hearing about life experience.
- “Where did your parents and siblings attend college and how will that influence your college selection?”
In the Excitement Factor study, four in ten students told us that their college choice was influenced by where a parent or sibling attended.
If the student favors the college attended by mom, dad, brother or sister – and you’re NOT THAT COLLEGE – then you have to learn what they like about that college and demonstrate how you can provide an even better experience.
If your college is the one other family members attended, you have to reinforce their affinity toward you. That happens by learning what they liked and demonstrating they will have a similar experience.
In either case you have to find out how impactful the issue is by asking, “Does that make our school (or the other) more attractive to you?”
These are two simple questions that must be in the conversations you have with prospective students. We’ll present others in future posts.
Continue the conversation on Twitter @LongmireCo. Click this link for more information about Longmire and Company’s Yield Enhancement System (YES).
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Karen Full is a highly-respected higher education professional who has held positions in admissions and enrollment management at several institutions in the Midwest and Florida. With her vast experience working with large and small, public and private colleges, Karen brings a valuable perspective to her role as an Enrollment Strategist at Longmire and Company.
Call Karen at 913/492.1265 x.711 or email her at kfull@longmire-co.com. Follow Karen on Twitter @KarenAFull.
