Aug 13th 09 Posted by Eric Sickler

Teens Reveal College Choice Tipping Point

Looking back, perhaps I shouldn’t have been as dumbfounded. But then again, these are extraordinary times. Below is the SUMMER TeensTALK® finding that rocked my world. If you’re reading this blog for the first time, let me bring you up to speed. The chart below demonstrates a collection of discoveries from Stamats’ SUMMER 2009 TeensTALK® study, a national telephone survey of traditional-age... read more

Jul 27th 09 Posted by Eric Sickler

Communicating with Admitted Freshmen

Stamats’ SUMMER TeensTALK® findings are in and, as you might expect, there are some real surprises. The full report will be unveiled at our Strategic Integrated Marketing Conference in Chicago on July 27-30. I also plan to devote my next several blog posts to sharing the data with you. In an effort to provide the higher ed marketing industry with real-time recruitment marketing counsel and insight,... read more

Jul 10th 09 Posted by Eric Sickler

New President? New Priorities.

It’s official. We live in a twitter world. All of us. Whether or not we use the social media marvel known as “twitter.” Slowly but surely, we’re all being squeezed toward communicating in short bursts of carefully chosen words. If you’re a text-message user, or if you “tweet” on twitter, you must confine your blasts to 140 characters (including spaces). Likewise, if you’re being interviewed... read more

Jun 17th 09 Posted by Eric Sickler

How Teens Predict Success After College

Like nearly all of us, there’s one question rumbling in the subconscious recesses of prospective undergrads’ heads pretty much 24 x 7 x 365: “What’s in it for me?” It’s an occupational hazard of being human. Call it survival instinct or whatever. The fact remains that all of us face most of life’s decisions with one chunk of our brains listening intently to that subliminal... read more

Jun 9th 09 Posted by Eric Sickler

There’s a New Generation in Town…

… and age has nothing to do with it. Last year I had the good fortune of working with cultural analyst Patricia Martin, author of RenGen: The Rise of the Cultural Consumer, on a National Arts Forum project funded by MetLife Foundation. As I read her book, listened to her presentations, and traded stories with Patricia, it became clear that her research packs a significant punch for the future... read more

May 1st 09 Posted by Eric Sickler

Admitted Students: Too Much or Too Little?

According to findings from Stamats’ most recent TeensTALK© study: One in four college-bound high school students wants more information from the schools to which they have inquired Only 12% of prospective students tell us they’re receiving too much information from colleges at the initial search stages of their college hunts Participants perceive home visits by recruiters as less intrusive... read more

Apr 14th 09 Posted by Eric Sickler

THE most important question today

Measuring the return on your school’s marketing investments has never been more important. In these uncertain times, we’re doubly focused on helping schools collect, track and manage the return on their marketing investments. Tell us what recruitment program metrics and measures matter most to YOU right now… What do you consider to be the 5-7 most important measurable returns on your... read more

Mar 31st 09 Posted by Eric Sickler

Will I Fit At Your School?

“Oh, you’ve done a great job of recruiting me. I can’t think of anything you could have offered or done differently. It’s just that I felt like I fit better at the other college…and not at yours.” Admittedly, recruiting students is largely an exercise in matchmaking. And while no recruiter worth her/his salt wants to woo a prospect if the match between school and student isn’t a mutually... read more

Mar 5th 09 Posted by Eric Sickler

Defining Your School’s Academic Quality

In Stamats’ most recent TeensTALK® study, we did a “deep dive” into four timeless topics of interest to recruiters the world over. And because there’s more detail to share than a blog like this can accommodate, I’ve committed myself to offering up selected findings over the course of 2009. This is the first of several installments of what might be best called TeensTALK® Tids & Bits. Defining... read more

Feb 2nd 09 Posted by Eric Sickler

Recruiter on a Mission: mROI

I’m on a mission, of sorts. Fueled by the perpetual guilt of having sustained an “intuition-driven” recruitment marketing program for my former employer and alma mater for too many years, I have pledged myself to the task of helping college recruiters and recruitment management practictioners understand the inherent dangers of trusting only their gut to judge the impact and potential return... read more