I have spent a considerable amount of time lately on one of my favorite blogs, The Chronicle – a blog about higher-ed stuff. The articles are laced with -isms, perils, and sarcastic quips directly related to the industry in which I happen to find myself immersed. I have found incredible solace in articles like [this] that remind me that admissions personnel all over the country are experiencing the same frustrations, dilemmas, pressures, and victories that I am.
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| The beautiful school for which I have the honor of working |
One article in particular really struck me, however. It was an entry about the reality of loneliness on college campuses. As Admissions Reps, we market the our respective universities as utopias of academia, athleticism, and a life-changing social experience. We tout the following: “Everyone finds their own little niche,” “It takes no time to find friends and fit in!” and “It will be the best four years of your life!” We promise. Hmmm. Not so sure we can always live up to those promises.
As I look back on my college years (oh so long ago…), I can easily say that the majority of that time was marked with awkward loneliness and forced friendships. That said, I DID have happy moments and I DO have some rad friends to show for my 4 years, but my college experience was not the utopian, non-stop social event that I was promised. I’ve come to grips with that now, and I DID meet the love of my life at college. But still.
In these nasty economic times, a lot of schools our size are wrestling with the issue of retention. How do we increase the first-to-second year retention ratio? How do we keep students here? How do we increase the perceived-value-to-cost ratio? Due to financial issues, schools are not going to lower tuition anytime soon… but if they could increase the perceived value side of the equation, perhaps we would see a jump in retention. Unfortunately, Admissions can’t do much for matriculated students… (as much as we’d like to)
OR… what if we just lower expectations?
Think about it. Rather than touting our respective universities as the places where all of your dreams will come true, where you’ll fit in and be popular (unlike you were in high school), where you’ll be besties with your roommate, where you’ll have the time of your life… perhaps we could be honest about the struggles that the average college freshman, sophomore, and even upperclassman faces. Perhaps we could tell them that there will be times where you don’t like your classes. There will be times when your roommates drives you bonkers. You might not fit in. Or find friends. You might even *gasp* fail a class! By instilling realistic expectations, perhaps students would not run away after the first semester of disappointment and unmet expectations... The Marketing Major within me reels against that. Why would you attempt to sell your product by honestly exposing the negative aspects?
For retention.
Who knows if it would work?! And, because I value my job, I don’t think I’ll employ this technique in its entirety anytime soon… but it just got me thinking.
Anywho, back to reading about fascinating things like application inflation and revisiting the High School Visit. Pure mental stimulation right here, folks.
-Laura
PS - I'm entirely impressed if you just read through that whole thing... I'm pretty sure it was longer than the Magna Carta!
