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The Hard Sell

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For many years, colleges had a mutual agreement between themselves to not pressure accepted students into depositing their enrollment deposit before May 1st. This allowed the applicant to hear back from all (except waitlisted spots) schools they’d applied to before making their enrollment decisions.

With the recent Department of Justice ruling that this and related practices were a form of market control, that agreement has been discarded. As a result, universities are employing a new variety of marketing and persuasion tactics that you would usually see in the non-educational sphere.

Here are a few of the hard-sell tactics I’ve seen schools trying out this year:

Only a few spots remaining!

This claim to scarcity is false.

Admissions officers carefully assess the number of admissions offers they make in order to create exactly the size class they want. From complex behind-the-scenes calculations, multi-million dollar consultancy fees, data of historical trends and parallels, these offices can predict how many accepted students will enroll down to 1 or 2% (that’s why waitlist movement has been so small in recent years).

This false scarcity is especially unrealistic in this Covid-era cycle as many schools had low enrollment in Fall 2020, and are facing even lower enrollment in Spring 2021. Admissions and accounting offices are looking for even more students than usual to join next year’s freshman classes.

An early deposit will guarantee you your first choice of housing or meal plan!

First, there’s no scarcity of good meal plans. They don’t have only 100 of one good meal plan and 1500 of a less-good one, they would rather you buy the most expensive one and not use it much. This enticement is not very exciting.

However, if housing is your #1 criteria in choosing your future school, this enticement may be worth it to you. Or, if this school is your ideal, top choice, putting in an early deposit might be what you were planning to do anyway. Feel free to take them up on this offer.

On the other hand, if financial, academic, social, famililal, etc. concerns make you want to see what other schools may offer, a housing preference shouldn’t sway you to lock in a deposit at what may be an less satisfactory school.

Hopefully the freshman dorms share similar features or have balanced pros and cons. But, imagine what you could do to make your life more fabulous with the extra $10,000 scholarship from the school that didn’t try this hard sell.

Deposit now so that we can start work on your financial aid offer!

This may be the worst of the hard sell threats/offers. The students who need financial aid the most are the least likely to be able to drop a large enrollment deposit without a guarantee that they will be able to afford the cost of attendance.

Regardless of my ability to pay, I’d seriously reconsider whether this college would support me throughout my time there of if they only saw me as a source of tuition dollars.

Get a bonus $500 scholarship! (for books, computers, etc.)

Much like the second tactic on this list, if your concern about college is affordability, a one time $500 book scholarship is not going to make much of a dent in your overall cost of attendance. Wait a few months, compare your financial aid offers, appeal and negotiate them if you need to. Only then should you make your final decision and deposit at the school that will best suit your needs.

The marketing enticements of the past seem pretty tame compared to these misleading hard sell tactics. Schools aren’t just using your name in personalized emails and trying to make you feel at home, they’re trying to scare you into believing that even after you’ve been accepted you might loose your spot in the upcoming freshman class. Don’t fall for it.

Have you seen other hard sell tactics? I’d love to hear it. Send a summary or screenshot to: lauren@nomad-ed.com

Demonstrating interest in your major

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You’re going to major in Computer Science, but your school doesn’t offer higher level computer courses. You think you’d like to be a doctor, veterinarian, dentist, etc., but your school doesn’t have classes or clubs related to health professions. You’re definitely going to do something that will lead you to elected office and maybe the presidency someday, but you’re not on the student council. You’re going to work as a park ranger, but don’t have an outdoors club.

One of the strangest things i hear from students is that they intend to major in a field they’ve had literally no exposure to outside TV or movies. College admissions advisors feel similarly. How do you know you really want to do this? Are you sure?

When I suggest that you look for experiences in the field, I don’t mean you have to already been working as a doctor to get into medical school. But you should look at how medical schools admit students. Medical schools do have a minimum set of required courses, and a set entrance exam minimum, but they also, and increasingly significantly, look at the hobbies, volunteer and work experience of a student. Do your previous experiences show that you know what you’re getting into? Are you ready for a career which is going to put you in contact with lots of goo, blood, paperwork, etc.? Are you a people person? Do you know how to balance work and self-care?

And it is somewhat similar for undergraduate applications at schools that consider your major when making admissions decisions. If you’re interested in a computer science degree, what do you know about computer science? Are you ready for it?

Given the vast amount of courses, tutorials, interest communities, etc., on the internet, a lack of a course or club at your high school related to your intended major, or a lack of access due to something like the Coronavirus-related evacuations/school closures, shouldn’t stop you from getting some hand’s on, or at least virtual, experience in your intended field.

So, take a MOOC, volunteer for a public health campaign, write postcards for your favorite political candidates, research advances in gene editing or resonance. If you’re interested in something, pursue it. Find out more. Make sure. You can talk about this in your college applications later, or change your mind about your interests.

Maybe it’s not computer science, but really programming you want. Maybe it’s not medicine, but biomedical engineering. Maybe it’s not politics but public service.

Caveat:

For some degrees, even this is not enough. If you’re interested in a performing or studio arts program, especially for a BFA, you’re going to need portfolio material. Or, you can look for schools that don’t take intended major into account in admissions, or schools that don’t consider portfolios or auditions (though you may be expected to produce one in your first year to be eligible for the major).