staying in touch with future students
High school reps. have a lot more to do than just signing up a prospective student. all sorts of things come up between the fall and the following summer, when the prospective student may be scheduled to start school. It is essential to maintain contact on at least a monthly basis, to keep the student focussed on starting school. what are some things that will cause a student to back out from attending? Why is it beneficial to know as soon as possible if a student has decided not to attend?
With the school I work at it is extremely important to make sure that the student starts when they are scheduled to. We have rolling start dates and only a certain number of seats per class. If that class is full and there are other students that want to get in and a future student decides not to start when they say due to whatever circumstances, it hurts the ones that do want to start at that time. So keeping up with the future students would benefit you because if they do cancel earlier than later you can get the student in that is ready to start. Also with regular monthly calls you may be able to help the future student with whatever issue that came about.
A student may not be ready for the time commitment it takes to go back to school.
It can be mindnumbing to try and figure out "what happened?" to those who you thought were so focused throughout their Senior year. What I have found is that building that relationship is the KEY to your success as a HS rep. Those Seniors that felt like they were a part of the college before their first day were the ones that were more likely to start school.
I know that fear is a main reason when it comes to technical colleges. Many students want to change their lives but they are afraid of how hard it will be or afraid that they will fail. Also lack of support systems can add to that fear. It is beneficial to ask them questions and get to the bottom of why they are scared because many fear is what they are trying to cover up with excuses.
Relationship building is key to a thriving school. When students work with their local Director of Career Service, it allows the student to obtain a job locally and give back to the community. This is all part of creating a growing local network.
Totally agree! It's all about building a relationship with the student and continuing to enable them to see value in their decision to continue their education. Without our on-going contact/support/motivation, it is very easy for some recent high school graduates to lose their commitment to their education.
They may be afraid of taking on the expense.
Staying in contact with a student after they enroll is a vital part of being a admissions rep. One must have the ability to follow up and follow through. Students can be flakey and without a proper connection from time to time, student can change their thoughts.
Another reason why students back out from attending school when just graduating High School is becuase some students want to take a semester break from school after recently graduting.
Students may be afraid to go back to school, depending on the previous school experience. Some may back out of school because they have a "decent" job and are able to make ends meet with their situation. It is beneficial to know as soon as possible if a student has decided to not attend because we would need figure out the "why" behind their decision.
Intially when a student leaves high school, the average student is happy to be free of their responsibilities. And if they are not careful, it is easy to fall into a place of complaceny. That is why it is important to follow up as soon as possible to keep the fire burning.
