Making the Most of May 1—And Beyond

By Aaron Basko, Vice President for Enrollment Management, University of Lynchburg

Well, the results are in. New York University admitted only eight percent of its 120,000 applications. Harvard accepted only a little more than three percent. Both are expecting banner years of enrollment, as are many other highly competitive institutions.

For most schools, however, there is a lot of work still to come to bring in fall classes. May 1 is just around the corner, but the recruitment cycle has started to stretch well into the summer, especially since the pandemic. Over the next few weeks, admissions offices around the country will employ all of their creativity to attract that last group of students to fill the class.

If you are at an institution that is still working diligently to attract students through May 1 and beyond, here are a few strategies to help you focus your time and resources.

GO LOCAL

One of the most productive student pools for recruitment late in the year is your local market. Every area has local students who are late to the game in their planning process. These students are less likely to be venturing far from home. Often, they are also price sensitive, and if you have the option of allowing them to commute to campus and avoid the high cost of on-campus living, you will be a particularly attractive option.

Take advantage of your local market by identifying students who have yet to visit campus and making it easy for them to do so. Reach out to school counselors in your area to ask them who they know that has not found a good college home. Ask if you can give a late presentation to undecided seniors. Offer incentives to families who will visit campus, such as parking pass discounts, bookstore coupons, or free swag. Focus the effort of your domestic recruiters on your local market and see which students have been left out of the race.

This year my team scored a big hit with the local market by hosting an evening reception on campus for families. We targeted our message to parents, inviting them to celebrate their students’ admission with us. We invited local alumni to share their experiences, and we played games and gave away door prizes. The atmosphere was electric, and many of those students chose to enroll.

GO INTERNATIONAL

On the other end of the spectrum, international students are also a market that your team can tap to bring in a few last-minute deposits. International students have their own separate timeline. Sometimes it is early, but in many countries there is still lots of activity over the summer.

If you have agent networks, check in to see if they have students who did not get into a first choice. Work with your athletic coaches on any international prospects in their pool or networks where they can reach out. Sometimes you will have to offer significant scholarship funding for international students, but if you do the math and still end up with positive revenue, the investment can be worthwhile.

The pandemic caused such disruption in international recruitment that the market is still very fluid. Many of the traditional recruitment methods and markets have changed substantially. Right now, markets like India, Bangladesh, and Nepal are especially active, with the added bonus that these areas have a high level of English proficiency, which simplifies their transition. One important consideration to investigate, however, is how difficult the visa process is in your target countries. In some places, the visa appointment backup is long, so try to target countries where getting one is not as complex.

GO BACKWARD

It should be no surprise that your most recent applications are probably the “hottest.” These may be students who are late to the process or students who weren’t admitted where they hoped and don’t like the choices they have. In either case, if they have recent activity with you they are worth focused attention.

In our office we often make our calling lists based on the reverse date of application or inquiry. We start with the leads that are most recent and work backwards. We do the same with visitors, knowing that their impression of us is the freshest, and we are most likely to make a difference with those students. You might also want to target these students with an incentive, like waiving an application fee, or offering them a small grant to visit campus or complete their FAFSA. The trick is to keep them moving and engaged, so ask them if they will take the next action in the process if you help them.

GO BACK TO THE BEGINNING

Conversely, you may also want to have one more look at those students who engaged with you first. Who were your first applicants? Have they deposited? If not, why not? If you offer early decision, are there students who didn’t complete that you should give one more chance?

If you do any type of qualification or predictive indexing of your inquiries, go back to the students who received your top index scores but have not enrolled. At one point, there was a reason to believe that all of these students had you at the top of their list. What went wrong? Is there any way you can fix it?

Also reach out to the people who might be the most familiar with you, including your legacy admits, the children of staff and faculty, and any tuition exchange applicants. These students all had extra reasons to consider you. Maybe they just didn’t get the attention they needed the first time around. Check and make sure it is not too late.

ASK THE WHY AND THE WHAT

As you reach out to students in your pool looking for possible late commitments, don’t forget that parents can be your allies. A parent may tell you what is preventing their student from choosing you. They may be willing to share if there is an issue that can be fixed, such as a need for a small amount of additional financial aid. Ask them why you might not be the student’s choice and what it would take to get there.

May 1 is no longer the hard date it once was. Many schools are now routinely working through the summer to augment their class size, add diversity, and shore up net tuition revenue. If you hit May 1 and you are not where you need to be, don’t give up hope! There are still students out there looking for a home. With patience and a bit of strategy, you can help them find that home at your school.