what makes a campus tour memorable and effective?

What Makes a Campus Tour Memorable and

Effective?

Jeanne Gosselin, Senior Consultant Paskill Stapleton & Lord

Friday, May 17, 2013

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What Makes a Campus Tour Memorable and Effective?

What We Know

• Prospective students are 65% more likely to

attend a college they visited

• A tour offers possibly the only glimpse of the

reality of college life

• Meeting user expectations is key to closing

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What Makes a Campus Tour Memorable and Effective?

The survey sample

The Survey

• Colleges: small, large, private and public; all granting bachelor’s degrees

• 1st and 2nd year, full-time, undergraduates

• Over 8,000 students surveyed

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What Makes a Campus Tour Memorable and Effective?

We asked students:How influential was the tour in making your decision to attend?

60% Tour was a positive factor in their decision to attend

22% Tour did not make a difference, would have attended anyway

15% Tour confirmed it was the right place for them

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What Makes a Campus Tour Memorable and Effective?

Objective: Reality Check

• Are we depicting the college / university they will attend or the one we want them to see?

• Spin vs gritty reality

• Experience is more important than presentation

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What Makes a Campus Tour Memorable and Effective?

We asked students:What parts of the tour experience are most closely aligned with the reality of campus life?

1. Facilities generally just as nice as depicted on the tour

2. Got a good sense of the people and the place

3. Faculty and staff are as friendly and helpful as they were in the tour

4. Tour guide like many of the people I have met here

5. Understood what my life would be like

Listed from most closely aligned (#1) to least closely aligned (#5).

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What Makes a Campus Tour Memorable and Effective?

Are these the staff I want to assist me and support me through my college life?

• Meeting expectations

• The litmus test: helpfulness of admissions AND financial services

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What Makes a Campus Tour Memorable and Effective?

Are these the people I want to be friends with?

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What Makes a Campus Tour Memorable and Effective?

Are these the faculty I want to teach my classes?

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What Makes a Campus Tour Memorable and Effective?

Is this environment I want to live in?

Can this be home?

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What Makes a Campus Tour Memorable and Effective?

We asked students:Based solely on the campus tour, what do you wish you had been given a better sense of ?

Students said:

1. Academics: classes and academic rigor

2. Surrounding community / city

3. Student life: clubs, activities, and campus life

4. The students; who the people are at my school

5. Residence halls

6. Dining services

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What Makes a Campus Tour Memorable and Effective?

We asked students:What, if anything, during your campus tour experience really impressed you positively about the school?

Students said:

1. The tour guide’s enthusiasm for the school

2. Easy to get around campus

3. The beauty of the campus

4. The campus facilities for academics including labs, classrooms, and libraries

5. Student life spaces including residence halls and student center

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What Makes a Campus Tour Memorable and Effective?

How does your tour stack up?

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What Makes a Campus Tour Memorable and Effective?

We asked students:How many OTHER college tours did you take?

54% – 1 to 3 other college tours

26% – 4 to 6 other college tours

14% – None, this was the only tour I took

6% – 7 or more other college tours

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What Makes a Campus Tour Memorable and Effective?

Comparing the tour at your school to the others, how would you rate your school’s tour?

58% – of students said that their school had a tour very similar to others they had seen.

34% – of students said that their school had the best tour compared to others they had seen.

We asked students:

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What Makes a Campus Tour Memorable and Effective?

The tour guide: a closer?

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What Makes a Campus Tour Memorable and Effective?

How would you rate your tour guide as a representative of your school?

50% – Good representative; enthusiastic and informative; positive influence

31% – Excellent representative; confirmed that the college is exactly the right place for me

17% – Fair representative but did not influence me either way

2% – Poor representative of the College/University

We asked students:

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What Makes a Campus Tour Memorable and Effective?

Always room for improvement

• Be memorable and distinctive.

• Leave them with good feelings about the

experience that translate to the institution.

• Different only works if it is meaningful.

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What Makes a Campus Tour Memorable and Effective?

Q&A

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THANK YOU

Jeanne GosselinSenior Consultant

jgosselin@psandl.com413.739.5289

Janet SieffBusiness Development

janet@psandl.com412.904.3133

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