Archive for 'Student Search'

A student’s perspective

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Applying to college has been a big part of my life for the past year and a half. It is an extremely important process for someone my age, looking ahead to where I’ll spend the next four years. But it’s definitely a process that could use some work! Here are some of the things I experienced, that I thought might be valuable to share with you.images

I think simplifying applications would be beneficial to all colleges (and helpful to the students who are applying). Sometimes, when completing applications, I felt like the information that was being asked of me was a little too personal.

The fees associated with certain schools’ applications was ...

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July 13th – Mark Your Calendars

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On Monday, July 13th at 1:00pm ET, we’ll be on air with Abby Laporte’s show, “Abby’s Road” – a live webcast and podcast chronicling Abby’s search for the right college and her life as a high school senior. We’ll be joined by other high school seniors to talk about their college search process as well. I encourage college admissions officers to listen in live at http://live.twit.tv

About Abby’s Road
Abby Laporte is a rising high school senior who lives in Petaluma, California (about 45 minutes north of San Francisco). I met Abby through her dad, Leo Laporte (see below). This summer he’s giving Abby the “keys” to his recording studio to develop her own ...

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Sad, Sad Search

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It’s been one month since the College Board released the names to colleges of hundreds of thousands of PSAT test takers during what used to be the start of the next recruiting cycle for some (and still is for those lost in traditional search methods).  Each year we follow a couple of high school students – typically in their Junior year – and review the materials they receive online and in-print.  And each year we get the same comment from the students and their parents that basically boils down to “do they know their stuff all looks the same?”

search-emails“Craig” is one of the students we’re following this ...

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XpertTip No. 58: Admissions: A perfect storm

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It doesn’t take a psychic to see the makings of a “perfect storm” brewing in college admissions today.

Most specifically, I’m talking about the fact that the number of graduating high school students is declining while the price of tuition keeps rising.

With an industry in flux, you’ll be competing with more schools for fewer students and asking them to pay higher prices. And something’s gotta give.

I know from my conversations that many of you are already feeling the effects and have taken hits to your application and deposit numbers.

It’s only natural to ask “How do we begin to satiate hungry presidents, trustees and deans who have lived ‘high on the hog’ for so long — feeding off of the glut of ...

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Xpert Tip No. 50: Access Xpert Summit content

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“How are you motivating your bloggers?” “Can you give me some examples of great email messages?” “We are finally ready to setup our social network!”

“How do you handle moving data?” “What does Jeff Kallay do as part of a campus visit audit?” “Where can I learn more about SRM and Banner integration?”

No, the XpertTip hasn’t gone haywire — these quotes were all overheard last Thursday at the 2008 Xpert Summit.

The event was a huge success, with 97 clients from all over the country joining us for our very first users group meeting.

As promised, we have made content from the Xpert Summit available as part of a private group on the TargetX Knowledge Center.

To access exclusive Xpert Summit content, ...

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XpertTip No. 33: 9 tips for writing a better search email

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Today’s tip comes to you live from Music City!

I’ll be speaking tomorrow morning, but for now I’m here in Nashville going over a few “student search” messages for clients (and trying to decide where to have dinner;)

If you haven’t thought about search already, it’s that time of year again. The alphabet soup-like roster of lists like “PSAT,” “NRCCUA” and “ACT” will become available over the next few months.

When it comes to search, email can be one of the most effective tools you use to build your inquiry and applicant pools. It’s fast, there’s no postage and it’s trackable. Best of all, email allows for an instant response — provided you move the reader to respond.

Here are 9 simple tips for ...

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