Many times students will vent to our advisors about previous experiences they have encountered at schools in the area, it can be difficult for us to respond without feeding into what the student is implying. The best practice I have found is to respond by saying, “I see how that can be disheartening..." and then follow up on the benefits of your school, and how we try to prevent certain circumstances or outcomes. It is important that the student feels hear, and appreciated but as a professional, we should not play into the negative perceptions others may have on various schools or programs.
It this situation, "parking" the question is the best practice while focusing on your school. Refraining from giving out any information on other schools is a good idea.
We have an abundance of reputable colleges and schools in the same area in which we are located. Many times students want to know about credits transferring or about other colleges' costs. We are trained to acknowledge the question so as to not make the student feel as though we are ignoring their concerns. Most of the time we say we understand what they are asking or understand they are price comparing or understand this (the subject) is a concern, but then we say to the student, I can speak about what ABC (the university I am employed at) can offer. I would encourage you to speak or meet with representatives from (the other) school to make sure your information is accurate. Then we go into our prices, our accreditation, or whatever the concern is. I find that if you are honest with a potential student and do not try to mislead them, that with the personal attention we give (here) that even if they find that this other school is less expensive, they'll return to me because I was not afraid in telling the truth, I was honest, I cared about their concerns and and I did not bad mouth another school, just spoke about what we offer.
I believe it's easy to side step questions about other schools. I reiterate what the prospective student has already told me they like about our program and school in general. Unfortunately not all admissions reps follow integrity guidelines and may resort to negative recruiting. This can really make a school have a bad reputation. I've had several students say they appreciate that we do not talk about other schools in a negative way. Students will always choose honesty and integrity because that's what earns their trust.
We offer a complimentary prior credit assessment without obligation to enroll. When a prospect is trying to decide between two institutions I encourage them to have thier prior credits evaluated by both instituions so an "apples to apples" comparison can be made.
I agree with Janet. I also reply that I am not familiar with what the other schools programs entail. My dedication to my students learning and not what another school has to offer. It is up to the student to research what is best for them and to make their decisions based on their research.
I can only discuss what my school has to offer, and show the strengths of the program through graduation rates and employment rates.
I absolutely do not engage in negative conversation about other schools, instructors or the professionals in our particular field.. I support honesty and integrity.
The best way to address questions about competitors is to encourage students to contact the other schools in consideration and do their own comparison. Providing only information about the school you are representing is the best way to go!
I let the student know that I am only a representative with our school. At that time, I also encourage them to check out other schools and their programs so they can get the approirate information from them. Usually when I suggest this, the prospective will come back to our school after doing their homework and research and appreciate the suggestion.
Some good strategies to use to remain professional when answering questions about competitors would be to focus primarily on the strengths of your school and be sure not to talk negatively about the competitor. Advise the prospect to do research online.
First of all, we must:
1. Remain truthful
2. State only facts about your school
3. Talk about the benefits of your school
4. Say what you know
We must not bad mouth the other schools.
I like to answer a student's questions as it relates to my institution. If he/she has questions about a competitor, I encourage the student to call that school or to visit that school's website.
Anthony,
Anthony:
Even if admissions reps were reasonablly informed with up-to-date information about other schools, there still is an inherent conflict of interest for an admissions rep of one school trying to present "fair" information about another school. There are plenty of resources available for students if they want to compare schools and it is best to refer students to those sources of information or to refer them directly to the school they are interested in.
John Ware
I'll be honest. I think this is a terrible regulation. If you have the up-to-date facts on another school, you should be able to help educate the student on pro's and con's that ONLY are comparable to one's own school. For example, it has only been since 1987 when the "Fairness Doctrine" was terminated by journalists whom had up to that point (introduced in 1949) were forced to give BOTH "sides" to each journalism report, thus educating & disclosing options to the listener...in this case, the consumer. But, since the OACCCS prefers its Admissions officers to be bias and NOT educate the potential student, then I will comply with the law 100% and only give facts on my institution even though I may know up-to-date specifics on the competition.
It is good to just focus on your schools standards and program and refer the prospective to the other schools website for information regarding them.
We tell students we can only speak for our college. If they are interested in learning more about a particular college then they need to make an appointment with that school. We give them all the facts about our school and even encourage them to check out other schools to make sure we our defintely the right school for them. People appreciate this honesty and it actually leads to higher enrollments.
I agree. When we meet with the student it is our goal to find out if our school fits the needs of the student. When questions arise on other colleges, I tell them that I cannot speak for the other schools in question and recommend that they meet with them as we did here. This way they can obtain their information first hand to make an informed decision.
I really try keep the focus on my institution and answer their questions by showing them the features and benefits that pertain to them. If they are persistent in asking about another school I might recommend they contact that source, but usually I try to provide them with information about our institution so they don't feel the need to ask several questions about other institutions.
It is important to provide the student with as much information about our university as we can so they have are able to do their own competitive comparison. Our tuition (credit hour cost) includes fees and book use. I always explain to students that when comparing our cost to another school, they should make sure to look at not only credit hour cost, but fees and average book cost as well to be sure they are comparing apples to apples.
The best way is to focus on your school's advantages....This is the perfect time for you to talk about the benefits of your school. Do not discuss the other schools weaknesses but rather point out your school's strengths.
I let students and prospective students know my focus is to inform them, about my school. They are welcome to research other schools, on their own. The focus of our time is to let them know what all my school has to offer, what we are about, our programs, tuition, etc. However, I do also note that we are not the school for everyone. We are focused on certain programs and will not be launching programs in other areas.
