By Jeremy Tiers, Vice President of Admissions Services
1 minute read
A big worry that many students have during their college search is not knowing what questions to ask. They simply don’t know what they don’t know.
Because of that, the worst question an admissions counselor, tour guide, faculty member, or anyone else affiliated with your school can ask a prospective student is…
“Do you have any questions?”
Every single student has things they’re wondering about, but that specific question – and others like it (i.e. What questions do you have? Or, Reach out if you have any questions) are too open-ended and generic.
Students aren’t used to leading the conversation so they don’t know what direction to go. They experience what’s known as question reluctance. On top of that, they don’t want to say something that is perceived as “silly” or the wrong thing to ask.
A good rule of thumb is to start by defining what you hope to learn by asking your question. Then, be direct and ask it in a conversational tone.
The best questions often have nothing to do with your school. Instead, they allow you to learn more about a student’s wants, needs, fears, concerns, timeline, or decision-making process.
Here are a few examples you can utilize with new inquiries:
- How did you become interested in going to college?
- What advice are your parents (or friends) giving you when it comes to your college search?
- How do you feel about staying closer to home (or, going farther away) for college?
- What do you see as some of the differences between a smaller college and a bigger university?
If you’d like to talk more about something I said in this article, let’s do it! Send me a note at jeremy@dantudor.com
And if you found this article helpful, please forward it to someone else on your campus who could also benefit from reading it.