Spring Admissions 2024: Trends You Need to Know
Spring 2024 is almost here, and the higher education landscape is continuing to experience the lingering effects of the pandemic and evolving student priorities. While the 2023 cycle saw record application numbers and increased competition, it also started key trends that universities and prospective students need to navigate.
- Going Virtual: Virtual tours and online events/communication tools are no longer simply temporary fixes. They’ve now become integral parts of the admissions process, catering to student convenience and geographic diversity.
What can you do? Stay updated on trends and look to refined virtual experiences, augmented reality campus tours, and AI-powered personalized interactions to drive admitted students’ decisions.
- Beyond the Numbers: Test-optional policies are here to stay, with institutions focusing on holistic review processes. Demonstrated passion, extracurricular involvement, and personal essays hold even greater weight now.
What can you do? Encourage students to showcase their unique strengths and tell compelling stories. One of the best ways to gently signal this is by sharing original success stories from your current students.
- Financial Clarity: Student financial concerns are prominent and it’s important to highlight scholarship opportunities, financial aid options, and career-oriented program benefits to demonstrate the return on investment a university education offers.
What can you do? Keep communication lines open, both through emails and virtual events. Consider hosting a Financial Aid 101 workshop or an “Ask Me Anything” session, or sending out an e-blast with information about your institution’s scholarships and aid options to make these topics less daunting.
- The Human Touch: Technology plays a crucial role and the importance of personalized interactions shouldn’t be overlooked.
- What can you do? Invest in student ambassadors, offer one-on-one consultations, and prioritize timely communication to build genuine connections with prospective students to keep the process humanized.TruLeague is here to help!
- Post-Acceptance Help: Converting accepted students into enrolled ones requires targeted engagement. Many struggle to grasp what impact attending your institution will have on their life, let alone trying to understand how they will fit in on campus.
- What can you do? Highlight campus life, student success stories, and unique opportunities to keep them excited and invested in your institution.
The key is to adapt, personalize, and prioritize genuine connections. By offering a seamless, informative, and engaging experience throughout the admissions process, you can turn prospective and/or admitted students into proud members of your university community.