Ah yes, getting parents involved is crucial when working with younger students. I like some of the methods you mention here to connect with busy parents, Kassim. What are some other ways that you might try to connect with them?
It sounds like you try to make it more convenient for the student to learn about your school, Jeremy. What are some other ways that you might accommodate your students who don't have a lot of time?
Finding time for parents to come visit the college with the student. Vary call times and try to get the parent on the phone.
The most difficult obstacles for me to overcome personally is the time factor. When students have children and work full time, they are less likeley to have the time to come in. I usually recommend our evening appointments as well as weekend options.
These can definitely pose a challenge for students as well as those who are trying to help them, Iris. I get the feeling that it's important for you to support your students generating options for your challenges, which is wonderful. In what ways do you help motivate them to make the extra effort?
working schedules,distance,daycare,I motivate them to make an extra effort to come to schooland to find solutions for their problems...
This is a wonderful awareness to have, Alia. It sounds like you have a sincere desire to help students, which is awesome. I get the sense that it's important for you to maintain your school's credibility and not further inconvenience the student. I'd love to hear some the things you've done to help remedy a situation like this.
One big obstacle I encounter on the phone is when I call someone who has been inundated with calls from other schools who drive a hard sell it is hard to distinguish my school from theirs when the person is fed up listening to sales people. The only thing I can do is not push. I do not want to put my school's reputation at risk and annoy a student that has clearly been inconvenienced enough.
Patricia, that is a great awareness. I wonder what other attributes and benefits you could provide to students to come visit the school? Perhaps asking questions to determine the student's needs could help them find value in visiting the school.
I often find it difficult to schedule a visit for someone who lives a great distance away. Since we do not have housing at our campus I feel bad or that Im wasting thier time If I do not make them aware of the "commuter" factor to our campus. I always ask them on the phone if they want to live on campus or if they are planning to commute to campus.
These are interesting challenges indeed, Gianna. It sounds like you're trying to be flexible in your approach to addressing these challenges. What else might you do to work with a student that is too your or comes from out of state to work through these challenges?
I try to help the students see that the quality of education is better at our school and in the grand scheme of things that's more important.
You're not alone with this challenge, Ronda. As you have probably noticed that this same challenge has been discussed in some of the other forum posts. How do you currently address this challenge with your prospective students?
Students are too young or out of state. I let them know we have open houses and provide them with the opportunity to apply via mail and follow up with them more often.
We do not accept financial aid so thats my biggest obstacle.
Interesting insight, Elizabeth. Many admissions professionals are hesistant to give "too much" information over the phone for fear that their student may decide to not visit the school. The downside to not giving the student the information they're looking for is that they may feel as though they don't have enough information to make a decision to come for a visit in the first place. This is where open ended questions can be helpful to determine what it is that the student needs to know in order to make their own best decision.
In general, I find that giving out even a little amount of information over the phone allows for a higher "no show" percentage for an intial meeting. Instead, I try to focus on asking them a lot of open ended questions about themselves, about their current job, about why they have chosen to get info now, why a career change now...questions focusing on career choices...etc...Then I tell them to come in for a career assesment so we can discuss their options....Then, if they are apprehensive about coming in and are making excuses, ie, if an objection comes up, I try to neutralize it with some general information...all of which tries to focus on how our school will benefit them with not just a job but a future/career. I want them to feel why it is important for them to come in and how this meeting will ultimately benefit them.
Interesting insight, Karen. If the student doesn't see the value in what your school has to offer or how you deliver information to him/her it does make it difficult to connect in a meaningful way. How might you adapt your approach to get a better understanding of where the student is coming from, Karen?
Usually we met that students didn't trust in the values that we are selling them. It's dificult for us to get them come because they prefer to figure it out by phone if they are interest or not. How can we outweigh our values if the person insist in get the information just over the phone?
Some students do not like to take mass transportation but others do not mind it.
