FEATURE
D uring late nights and early School (CA), Isaac Pacheco Martinez was in his room staring into a screen. It wasn’t social media or movies or sports drawing his attention — it was colleges, lots of them. Martinez, a cross country and track athlete and an academic star, was morning hours at home before heading to North Tahoe High interested in a lot of institutions in just about every part of the country. He kept an open mind about all of them as he learned more about their offerings in public policy — his chosen area of study — their campuses, and how the various schools felt to him. His list included Ivy League schools in the Northeast and several in his home state, as well as the University of Chicago, Rice University (TX), and Tulane University (LA). He carefully reviewed each institution’s course offerings, their campuses, and what their students said about their expe- riences, often through group Zoom sessions offered by the schools. His decision — Harvard University (MA) — ultimately came down to the campus visit. “It was a lot of things that went into my decision. Their emphasis on the humanities and the academics, and the student-teacher ratio,” said Martinez. “But when I visited, I also just felt really comfortable in the place. It was sort of a gut feeling.” Martinez had a lot of support on his path to making a decision: two
older siblings who’d gone through the college process before, his high school counselor, and a host of search tools that helped him eval- uate schools. And while his college admission journey isn’t representa- tive of students everywhere, it does shed light on some commonalities: students today have a variety of sources to search and assess schools, college visits are critically important, and students take a very individual- istic approach to college exploration. Because of that, experts note that higher education leaders should seek to understand the factors influenc- ing students as they make this big life decision. AN INSTITUTION’S BRAND Even before students look at any websites or do any college visits, they have a preconceived notion about a school based on everything from a college’s record on the basketball court to how their favorite teacher, parent, or uncle talks about the college. “Initially, your brand is critical in the thought process of these pros- pects. That’s what they say about you when you’re not in the room,” said Steve Kerge, vice president of enrollment marketing for Spark451, a higher education marketing firm. Research from Niche, a college ranking and review site, also found that a college’s brand and name recognition influenced 62 percent of
students in their decision, and only 5 percent said that it didn’t matter to them at all. Many students today already have strong ideas about certain colleges, said Daryl Calkins, director of college counseling at the John Burroughs School, a private college preparatory school in St. Louis. “It is hard to get kids to think about small liberal arts colleges, for example. Small means less resources and liberal arts means less focused to them,” he said. “They seem to have forgotten that even Yale is a liberal arts college. We have lost the idea that education is valuable for itself.” He said parents often promote this mindset. “A lot is driven by parents. The whole return on investment thing has become such a force with them,” he said, noting that a college needs to know its potential students and get them and their parents the proper messaging in those circumstances. Edventures, a research and advi- sory firm for higher education institu- tions, found that about 50 percent of students said that a discussion with their parents was pivotal to their deci- sion about a college. Kerge said he often is frustrated to learn that col- leges don’t communicate with family members, especially after a student is enrolled. He said that misstep can diminish opinions about a college. “Referrals, families, and friends are very important in their decision.
Initially, your brand is critical in the thought process of these prospects. That’s what they say about you when
you’re not in the room. Steve Kerge Vice President for Enrollment Marketing Spark451 Past Recipient of NACAC’s Margaret Addis Award for Outstanding Leadership
34 • THE JOURNAL OF COLLEGE ADMISSION
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