sohum- top tier consumer profile and strategy

ConsumerProfileandCommunicationStrategyforHighTierCollegesUnderstandingandconnectingwithHighTierColleges

SohumDaftary

TableofContents

PROFILE:HIGHTIERCOLLEGE...........................................................................1

IntrototheHighTier.......................................................................................................................1

SimilaritiesamongHighTierColleges.............................................................................................1

DifferencesamongHighTierColleges.............................................................................................2

CLOSEUP:HIGHTIERCOLLEGES......................................................................3

Princeton.........................................................................................................................................3Competitors.............................................................................................................................3

TutoringDepartmentStructure..............................................................................................3

ImplicitResistance...................................................................................................................3

Harvard............................................................................................................................................4Competitors.............................................................................................................................4



Yale..................................................................................................................................................5Competitors.............................................................................................................................5



Columbia.........................................................................................................................................5Competitors.............................................................................................................................5



UniversityofChicago.......................................................................................................................6Competitors.............................................................................................................................6



MIT..................................................................................................................................................6Competitors.............................................................................................................................6



Duke................................................................................................................................................7Competitors.............................................................................................................................7



Penn................................................................................................................................................7Competitors.............................................................................................................................7



JohnsHopkins..................................................................................................................................8Competitors.............................................................................................................................8



Dartmouth.......................................................................................................................................8Competitors.............................................................................................................................8



CONNECTIONTACTICS......................................................................................9

Profile:HighTierCollege

IntrototheHighTier

HightiercollegesaredefinedaseliteschoolsthatrankinornearthetoptenschoolsoftheUnitedStates.TheseinstitutionsshouldbetheprimaryfocusofStudyTreebecausetheyofferspecificcoursesthatrequiretutorswhohaveexperiencedthecurriculumand/ortheprofessor.

Inthismarket,StudyTree’splatformissuperiortothatofitscompetitors.Whilecompetitorsoutsourcetutorsanduseonlinemediafortutoring,StudyTreefacilitatesusesschool-screenedtutorsandfacetofacecommunication,bothofwhichareprioritiesofhightierschools.

Thisreportwilldiscussthefollowingtopics:

• SimilaritiesandDifferencesamonghightiercolleges• Closeup:Tenhightiercolleges• Connectiontactics

SimilaritiesamongHighTierColleges

Thekeysimilarityamonghightiercollegesisthedifficultytoobtainatutor.

Hightiercollegeshaveeligibilityrequirementsthepreventaveragestudentsfromobtainingoneononetutoringappointments,andinstead,onlysubparstudentscangainaccesstosometutoringservices.

Additionally,forschoolsthatdonothavestrictedibilityrequirements,difficultyiscreatedinthebureaucracytoobtainatutor,whetherthatmeansfillingoutformsandpaperworkorusinganintermediateperson,likeacounselor,toobtainthattutor.

Onepossiblereasonforestablishingahighbartoobtainatutorcouldbethathightiercollegeswanttheirstudentstousetutorsasalastresort.Infact,somehightiercollegeslikeHarvardandPrincetonexplicitlystatethismotiveontheirrespectivetutoringpages.

Theseschoolsrequirestudentstoshowproofofattemptstolearnbeforegainingaccesstoatutor.Someoftheseattemptstolearnincludeperfectattendanceinclass,nomissedhomeworkassignments,meetingwiththeTAand/orprofessorinofficehours,andusingstudygroups.

TheimplicationofthisdifficultytoobtainatutoristhatStudyTreeshouldinitiallyadjustitsproductsothatcollegeshavemorecontroloverwhocangainaccesstoatutor.LaterintherelationshiporthroughA/Btestingthepilot,StudyTreecaneducatethecollegeandattemptamoreliberalapproachtowardstutoring.

2

DifferencesamongHighTierColleges

Whilethereisnocentraldifferenceamonghightiercolleges,smallscaledifferencesinclude

• paidtutoringversusfreetutoring• internaltutormanagementsystemversussubscribingtocompetitorsoftware• centrallocationfortutoringversussegmentedapproachbydepartment

Mosthightiercollegesprovidefreetutoringservicesforintrolevelclasses.However,atthemoreadvancedcourselevel,studentsmustpayfortutorsathigherlevels.Someinstitutions,likeHarvard,subsidizesthetutoringservice,resultinginapresentbutreducedfeeforstudents.Institutionsthatchargefortutorshaveoptionsforstudentsonfinancialaid.Additionally,schoolswithpaidtutorsusuallylistthesetutorsonseparate,departmentspecificpages.

Whilemostofthehightierschoolshaveaninternaltutormanagementservice,someschoolshaveusedourcompetitors’softwarewhileotherschoolsarestillsolicitingthesoftwareofourcompetitors.ThemostpopularserviceisTutorTracandAskOnline,butthelaterservicedoesnotseemtobeactiveatsomeschools.

Thelastnotabledifferenceamonghightiercollegesistheirorganizationoftutoringservices.SomeschoolslocatealltutoringservicesunderasingleSchoolorOffice,suchasUniversityofChicago,whileotherschoolstakeadepartmentalapproachandsegmenttheirtutoringservices,suchasMIT.StudyTreeshouldtargetalllevelsofadministrationthatprovidetutoring,soastoincreasetheresponselikelihood.

Thekeyimplicationofthesedifferencesisthattheyarenottooprominentanddonotrequiremajoradjustmentstotheproductorstrategy.Onlythelastdifference,departmentalsegregation,willrequireamorespecificproductandmorespecificconnectionchannels.

However,ourproductcancompetewithexistingtutoringplatformslikeTutorTracbecauseweofferstudentusabilityandsimplifiedmanagement.StudyTreecanalsomanagepaymentsystemsforschoolsthatwouldliketousetheplatformforbilling.

Thisreportwillnowhighlightsomehightierinstitutions.Thesewereselectedbecausetheyhavethehighestrankingandareontheeastcoast,neartoStudyTree’sheadquarters.

3

CloseUp:HighTierColleges

Princeton

CompetitorsTherearenocompetitorsonthefrontendofthetutoringcenter.Tutoringisoperatedinternally,soanycompetitorsoftwareshouldbelimitedtobackendservices.

TutoringDepartmentStructureMosttutoringisofferedthroughtheMcGrawCenter,butsometutoringresources,whichcanbefoundviaMcGraw,areofferedexclusivelybyresidentialcolleges.

PrincetonrequiresstudentstoonlyusePrincetonscreenedtutors.

ImplicitResistancePrinceton,alongwithmanyothertopcolleges,doesnotlikeone-on-onetutoringasaninitialresource,andinsteadstronglyencouragesgroupstudyorgrouptutoring,whereatutorissharedamongsmallgroupsofstudents.StudyTreeshouldhaveGroupStudyandGroupTutorfeatures.

Tutoringisseenasalastresort.TheStudyHallideaismuchmorepreferred.

4

Harvard


AskOnline,ourcompetitor,waslaunchedatHarvard.However,thecompanyhasnotlistedHarvardasaclient,andHarvarddoesnothaveanAskOnlineportal.

TutoringDepartmentStructureTutoringoccursexclusivelythroughtheBureauofStudyCounsel.Thisofficehasover400tutors.

AkeyopportunityforStudyTreeisthatmostofHarvard’stutormatchingisperformedmanually.Afterthematch,contactinformationissentandthestudentsandtutorscanmeet.

ImplicitResistanceHarvardhasafeebasedsystem,soStudyTreewouldneedtointegratewithitsfinancials.

Harvardisstanchlyagainstelectronictutoring,evenfor“quickquestions”.ElectronicmediaarenotallowedbecausetheyviolateFERPAandHarvardCollegepolicies.

5

Yale


TutoringDepartmentStructureTutoringoccursthroughtheCenterforTeachingandLearning.However,thiscenterisalsousedtodirectstudenttodifferentcollegesoftheUniversity.

ImplicitResistanceTherearestricteligibilityrequirements,suchashavingbelowaCtogetatutor.

Also,Yalewouldwanttointegrateitsonlineschedulingforwritingtutorsandpaperdiscussionbecausethesefacetsarepartofthestatusquo.

Yaleisopposedtoone-on-onetutoringandinsteadclumpsthetutoringingroups

Columbia


AskOnlinehasmentionedColumbiaasaclient,andtheUniversitydidhaveanAskOnlineportal.However,itisnolongeractive.

TutoringDepartmentStructureTheschool,inadditiontoofferingproprietarytutoringoptions,pointsstudentstoprivatetutoringofferedbygraduatestudentsforafee.Thistutoringisnotundertheschool,andStudyTreecouldbeanindependenttoolfortutorsandstudentsthatwanttooperateoutsidetheschoolgrid

ImplicitResistanceLotsofeligibilityrequirementssuchasoperatingthroughadvisor,GroupTutoring,andlimitsonthehoursoftutoringavailableperweek

6

UniversityofChicago


TutoringDepartmentStructureTutoringoperatesthroughtheCollegeCoretutorprogram.Thelocationoftutorsisnotlimitedtothetutoringcenter.

ImplicitResistanceTheCollegeCoretutorprogramisexclusivelyadrop-inserviceandtherearenoappointments.Additionally,Chicagodoesnotusepeertutors,butithiresexpertsintheareaofstudy.

MIT


TutoringDepartmentStructureWhileMIThasaCenterforAcademicExcellence,thisbodymostlypointstothedepartmentspecificresources.MITtutoringdiffersvastlybydepartment,intermsofeligibilityandtypeoftutoringavailable.

ImplicitResistanceLotsofbureaucraticelementstogettingatutor:

• PrintoutaTutorRequestFormbyclickingontheappropriatelinkfromthelistofclassesbelow.

• Completetheself-diagnosticontheform.• MeetwithyourTAtodiscusstheareaswhereyouneedadditionalhelp.• YourTAwillturninyourrequest.• Atutorwillbeassignedtoyouwithintwodaysandhe/shewillcontactyou.

Thereisanemphasisongroupstudyprogramsbeforetutoring.

7

Duke


TutoringDepartmentStructureTutoringisorganizedthroughtheAcademicResourceCenter.Mostofthetutoringiswalk-inandonafirstcomefirstservebasis.

Inadditiontothepeertutors,Dukehasalistoftutorsbysubjectthatareavailableforhire

ImplicitResistanceStudentsarerestrictedto12hourspersemester.

Thereareeligibilityrequirements.

Penn

CompetitorsPennusesTutorTracasitsTutorManagementSystem.Theserviceismostlyusedabackendsystemforadministrativeplanning,butitdoescontainfrontendelementslikeawebportalandinteractiveschedulers.

TutorTracisnotopentoallstudents.Studentsmustrequestaccess.

TutoringDepartmentStructurePennhasatutoringcenter,butmostoftheresourcesareforwalkintutoring,studyhalltypetutoring,orgrouptutoring.

Somedepartmentshavetutorsforhire

ImplicitResistanceAccesstoprivatetutoringisbureaucraticbecausetuteesareinterviewedbeforebeingassignedatutor.

Pennplaceslimitsonhowmuchandwhenstudentscangettutoring.

8

JohnsHopkins

CompetitorsJohnsHopkinsusesTutorTracasitsTutorManagementSystem.Theserviceismostlyusedabackendsystemforadministrativeplanning,butitdoescontainfrontendelementslikeawebportalandinteractiveschedulers.

TutoringDepartmentStructureOfficeofAcademicSupportmanagestutoring.

ImplicitResistanceTutoringisnotone-on-one.

Studentsmustreserveseatsaheadoftimeforgroupstudysessionsonspecificclasses

Dartmouth


TutoringDepartmentStructureAcademicSkillsCentermanagestutoring.Mosttutoringisone-on-oneandpeer.

Thereisatutormatchingprocessbeforethestudentisassignedatutor.

Therearealsoresourcesforstudygroupformation.

ImplicitResistanceTutoringisnotfreeunlessthestudentisonfinancialaid.

9

ConnectionTactics

ThegoaloftheconnectiontacticsistoproduceapilotprogramattheUniversityoraspecificdepartmentoftheUniversity.

Thetactics,inorderofrecommendedexecution,aredescribedbelow.

1. Coldemailthedirectorsoftutoringcentersand/ordirectorsofdepartmentsthatoffertutoring.Coldemailsshouldbemoredescriptivethanthepreviouscoldemailssenttocommunitycolleges.Theseemailsshouldhighlightthreekeyaspects:

a. StudyTreecanimprovestudentaccesstotutorswhilemaintainingexistingcontrolofstudentrequestsfortutors.Onthevalueaddtowardsschoolsthathaveeligibilityrequirements,StudyTreeshouldupselltheEarlyAlertsfeaturebecauseitlooksattrendsandnotstaticsnapshotsofstudentperformance.

b. StudyTreeiseasytointegrateandsetupandtherearezerochangesrequired.c. StudyTreeisfreeandonapilotbasis.

2. PartnerwiththeCRLA.TheCollegeReadingandLearningAssociationisanimportantorganizationthatgivestutoringcentersapprovalandcertification.Theirblessingsaddcredibility,whichcriticalfortopperformingschoolsthatseekasuperiorproduct.

3. Conferencesthathavetoptierschoolsshouldbeattended.Hightiercollegesisasmallnetwork.StudyTreeshouldgetaccesstothisnetworkbydevelopingrelationshipswithonlyafewmembersviaconferences.Then,wordofmouthcancarryStudyTreetofutureopportunities.ConferencesincludeEduCauseandDeansConference.

EndingNote:Theconnectiontohightiercollegesneedstobepersonal,deeper,andlong-lastingbecausetheseinstitutionsvaluerelationships.CommunicationshouldoccurthroughoneindividualonStudyTreeandthatindividualshouldbethepointpersonforallfuturecontact.

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