When does yield season really start? It may be sooner than you think. Much sooner.
In a recent study of nearly 12,000 prospective students across the country, we asked, “When did you make your emotional commitment to the college of your choice?”
As you can see on the graph below, nearly one-third of students make their final college selection decision before the end of March, and by the end of April that percentage rises to 57%. By May, 80% of students have made their final choice.
From “The Excitement Factor!” A co-sponsored study by Longmire and Company.
Our research uncovered that nearly 40% of students make their ultimate choice based more on their excitement about the college than facts about the school.
What’s more, only 30% of prospective students consider cost the overriding factor in their college selection decision. So it’s likely that 70% of your pool will not be exclusively waiting to hear about your financial aid package before deciding which school is right for them.
Many of your prospective students have formed an emotional connection to their college of choice long before you have firmed up any details with them. How can you know that? By asking them the right questions.
We have found that the most successful admissions counselors build relationships with their students and gain valuable personal insight about each and every one of them. They know whether or not cost is the most critical factor and what attributes of their college will excite the student.
With that knowledge in hand, they nurture a relationship with the student that best serves the needs of the individual. They stay in touch, ask questions and have meaningful conversations throughout the entire admissions process. And, they don’t get unpleasantly surprised in May when the student tells them he or she has opted for another college.
One of our clients recently shared this great example with us. As enrollment manager, he challenged his team to maintain contact with key prospective students in a creative way. One of his star players emailed an article about the school’s outstanding performance in a national mathematical modeling competition to a prospective student who is passionate about math. In her follow up phone call she arranged to connect the prospective student with one of the contest participants. You can probably guess the rest of this story. The student later told his counselor that it was this arranged conversation that crystallized his commitment to the college, and that the counselor’s personal interest in him had confirmed this school was the right choice.
At various points throughout the recruiting cycle, most colleges are guilty of asking the question, “Are you still interested in us?” The real question colleges should ask is, “At this point, has any college captured your emotional commitment?”
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Bob Longmire is President of Longmire and Company, Inc. He is a recognized expert on the topic of how prospective students and parents form their college selection decisions – and how colleges can use that knowledge to grow and control their enrollment. He can be reached at (913) 492-1265, ext 709 or at blongmire@longmire-co.com.
