May 17, 2013 June 13, 2013 The Campus Tour. Every college and university offers one. The problem is some are not as effective as they could be, and that has a direct impact on yield and enrollment. And we have the research to prove it. Find out: - Which aspects of the campus tour have the greatest influence on decision-making - How campus tours compare with each other across the country - What you need to know to make your tour an interactive and effective recruiting tool

1. What Makes a Campus
Tour Memorable and
Effective?
Jeanne Gosselin, Senior Consultant
Paskill Stapleton & Lord
Friday, May 17, 2013
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2. 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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3. 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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4. 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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5. 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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6. 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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7. 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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8. What Makes a Campus Tour Memorable and Effective?
Are these
the people
I want to be
friends with?
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9. What Makes a Campus Tour Memorable and Effective?
Are these
the faculty
I want to
teach my
classes?
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10. What Makes a Campus Tour Memorable and Effective?
Is this environment
I want to live in?
Can this be home?
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11. 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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12. 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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13. What Makes a Campus Tour Memorable and Effective?
How does your
tour stack up?
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14. 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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15. 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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16. What Makes a Campus Tour Memorable and Effective?
The tour guide: a closer?
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17. 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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18. 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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19. What Makes a Campus Tour Memorable and Effective?
Q&A
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20. THANK YOU
Jeanne Gosselin
Senior Consultant
jgosselin@psandl.com
413.739.5289
Janet Sieff
Business Development
janet@psandl.com
412.904.3133
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