Aug 31st 09 Posted by Eric Sickler in Featured Articles, TeensTALK

Does This College Fit Me?

For a bunch of years a long time ago I ran an undergraduate admission program at a really great, mid-sized independent liberal arts college in the middle of one of the toughest recruitment markets in the nation (because there were so many other really great, mid-sized independent liberal arts colleges within shouting distance of mine). And every spring, my super staff and I would agonize through yield season, quietly celebrating each victory…but painfully tailspinning into deep blue vortexes of doom with every loss of a much-sought-after prospective student.

It was our habit to probe fairly aggressively when a student advised she was going to one of our competing schools. And just like your admission team hears every year, “departing” prospects cited myriad reasons. Some were sound and logical, but most were just frustrating. The one that made me crazy went something like this:

“Well, you all did a really good job of recruiting me. In fact, I can’t think of anything you could have done better! And my campus visit was great. I really liked the dorms, and the food, and the professors I met. And my tour guide was THE best! And I want to thank you for such a nice scholarship. But I just fit at <insert college name here> better.”

If you’ve never been on the receiving end of this monologue, you haven’t recruited a student.

So in my personal lifelong quest to get to the bottom of the elusive notion of “fit,” this year’s TeensTALK® study asked admitted, decided college-bound teens across the country to consider the factors or characteristics that might help them determine if a college or university is the “right” fit for them. We presented a laundry list of possibilities, all gleaned from previous studies and years of qualitative research. Using a max/dif analysis, we pinpointed that attending a class in session weighs in with just more than a 20% share of importance, leading all other factors.

Keep in mind these findings were collected in the late summer after 96% of respondents had made their final college choices.  At different points in the recruiting cycle, other considerations surely played greater or lesser roles in determining fit. But as these students looked back on their recently completed college-shopping quest, it was sitting in on that class that most helped them seal the fit deal.

Does this mean you should require class attendance for every prospective undergrad who visits your campus? Or do you rely on other fit determinants to do their work in your favor?

If you’d like to learn more findings from Stamats’ 2009 SUMMER TeensTALK® study, I’m presenting a 90-minute Webinar Tuesday, September 1 at 1:30 Central time. Click here for details. (If you missed the scheduled Webinar time, it is available on demand. E-mail info@stamats.com for more information.)

It would be great to know you’re listening!

NOTE: TeensTALK® is Stamats’ annual nationwide telephone study initiative of college-bound teens designed to keep our (and your) finger on the pulse of the trends, attitudes, lifestyles, and knowledge that influence their college selection decision-making process. Findings are based on 565 responses from college-bound high school seniors; sampling was completed at random (probability sample) to provide a rigorous data set for accurate assessment of the college selection process. Stamats offers a companion TeensTALK® Focus study for colleges and universities that want to conduct a comparison survey of their inquiry pools and assess their peculiar institutional undergraduate recruitment challenges and opportunities against the backdrop of national findings.

Photo by: ThaRainbowRaider is away.