Relieve my stress!

Over 80% of parents say that colleges add stress to the college selection process for themselves and their children. Most commonly, they say, colleges add stress with excessive volumes of non-personalized mailings, e-mails and phone calls.

Parents and students alike say that what they appreciate most about their relationships with colleges is rooted in good communication with admissions representatives and financial aid officers. With that good communication comes a deeper understanding of the needs and preferences of the student and family on the part of the college and a more informed, stress-reduced decision-making process for the student and parent.

Show me the value!

After a buyer becomes interested in any product or service, they have a tendency to focus on price first. Because of this, more expensive colleges may be rejected out of hand by parents long before the college is able to communicate its value.

This demands that values (the right values!) be communicated early in the college selection process. In truth, 74% of parents say that they would reconsider a college that they initially believed to be too expensive if it could demonstrate greater value.

What are those values? The four most commonly mentioned by parents involve getting their child out of college in four years, a track record of students gaining high paying jobs upon graduation, superior internships and work study opportunities, and a high level of personal attention and service to the student.

Bond with me!

Our research clearly shows the correlation between likelihood of enrollment and the level of bonding developed between counselor and prospective student. A strong bond is developed through mutual understanding and trust. Students say they have the strongest bonds with counselors who “relate to me” and provide information and guidance based upon a clear understanding of their needs.

Our research shows that their most important “needs” fall into the category of the emotional rather than the intellectual or factual. They want to feel comfortable, wanted, proud, and the like. A counselor who recognizes and reacts to these most fundamental needs stands the greatest chance of presenting the value of the institution in the most personalized fashion possible.

Uncover my hidden perceptions and false assumptions!

There is no bigger barrier to good communication than false assumptions and hidden perceptions. These can exist in either the student or counselor.

The student may have false assumptions or inaccurate perceptions about the college that will never be cleared up if the counselor doesn’t probe for their existence. Conversely, counselors fall prey to false assumptions about students as well. If this happens, the right questions won’t be asked, or the right information won’t be presented, or important feelings and attitudes of the student will be overlooked.

The best way to uncover hidden perceptions and false assumptions is simply to probe for their existence using an unbiased methodology that enables students to be very candid in expressing their perceptions and feelings about the colleges they are seriously considering.

Longmire and Company’s Yield Enhancement System is a tool we have been using for over 15 years to uncover perceptions and attitudes of prospective students about colleges. Detailed information about each student is provided to counselors so that they can better understand the feelings and motivations of the students for whom they are responsible.

Having this information facilitates a more informed approach to the student and helps to increase the likelihood of enrollment due to a deeper understanding the student’s needs.