By Jeremy Tiers, Senior Director of Admissions Services
2 minute read
One of the biggest things I continue to emphasize to admissions counselors and leaders is the need to consistently ask different groups of prospective students (in-person, in emails, texts, and on the phone or video chat) questions that assess their mindset and intentions.
When it comes to your admitted (but undecided) student population, the worst thing you can do is sit back and assume this group doesn’t need anything else from you before making their college decision.
Remember, one of the top two fears that students express in our ongoing survey research, is fear of making the wrong decision.
Asking your admits direct and intentional questions will help you uncover any fears, concerns, hidden objections, additional needs, as well as what the student’s timeline for a decision may be.
With all of that in mind, here are five questions you should definitely ask admitted students in the coming days and weeks ahead.
They may yield nothing, or they could help you discover vital information that will tell you how to convert the student at the end of their decision making process.
- What do you have left to do before you’re going to make your college decision?
- When you think about making your decision, what are you worried about most?
- Why did our school end up being one of the colleges that made your final list?
- If you had to choose today, what might be a reason or two you wouldn’t pick our school?
- Run me through how you’re going to be making your decision, and who is going to help you decide? (After the student tells you the first part of their answer, be prepared to take their feedback and ask a follow-up question like, “And then what?” Or you might say, “Talk to me more about that.”)
Whether it’s these questions, or ones you come up with on your own, make it a point, especially in the later stages, to probe students and get them to communicate with you more than they are with your competition. You’ll be happy you did.
If you’d like to talk more about something in this article, let’s do it. Simply reply back, or email me here.
And if you found this article helpful, forward it to someone else on your campus who could also benefit from reading it.