The cycle of an admission professional can be compared to many things. I like to think of it as a long hike up and down a mountain. The hike often starts off flat where we have lots of energy and excitement for hiking up a beautiful mountain on a crisp autumn day. We are well-rested and hydrated. Just like the beginning of the admission cycle, the summer is over, kids are back in school, the weather is nice and we are ready to start the admission season. We have a marketing plan in place and we are thrilled to start the journey of another admission season. Inquiries start coming in and the possibilities of how we are going to shape these classes seem infinite.
During the hike, we begin our incline, at first the inclines are gradual as we wind around the bottom of the mountain. This is where we start planning and executing open houses and tours. We are feeling hopeful and happy with much excitement and wonder as to who is coming to our school and how will our classes shape up. As applications come in, we feel the rush of adrenaline. We have more applications than last year at this time or the applicant pool is more in line with who we had hoped to attract. We have more diverse candidates with interesting profiles applying to our school. We are on a high, it is like climbing a difficult pass and then we are rewarded with a great view, fresh air and blue skies.
Then we begin screening students and those who we thought sounded great in their applications are starting to look worrisome. For example, the perfect applicant hit the largest donor’s son with a toy during the kindergarten play date. The donor’s kid left the play date screaming and saying I don’t want to go to “that” school. “What about the other one mom?” The perfect Kindergarten teacher who read the story during the Kindergarten play date is freaked out and grumbles to you that if you put that student in my class, “I will quit.” The climb is getting harder and harder. You are out of breath and sweating like crazy. You drink more water and stop to catch your breath.
There in front of you as you run tours, answer calls, and help with marketing, are the 100 plus admission files that you need to review. It seems that the more you review, the more complicated the files get. You start to panic; will you get them read and reviewed on time for the committee meetings? Sleep is something you can only daydream about. The admission committee begins reading files and you reach a plateau in your climb. The air is crisp and you see the top getting closer and closer.
Then you get a call from your board of trustee’s president, “I know I shouldn’t be doing this, but I strongly recommend that you accept student x, I know that he has some issues, but nothing we can’t handle, right?” But, there is only one space in that grade and there is a brilliant athlete who brings diversity and academic promise that you had your eye on all season. The soccer coach tells you that if you don’t find him a great player, the school’s reputation for having a terrific soccer team will diminish and so will your applications. Your climb is getting harder. You are now walking vertically, pulling yourself up with a rope, while stones slip around you. You are low on water and the sun is burning your neck. Tears are blurring your vision. It wasn’t this hard last year you gasp. The financial aid committee is meeting and tells you that they are over budget and that you need to stop giving financial aid. You tell them that you can’t fill your Kindergarten without a few more scholarships. They say, find a few more full payers as we are out of money. But, from where, your application deadline has long passed?
The vertical climb has stopped you have made it to another mountain pass and you stop and think that all is good. You are at the point in the admission cycle that you have finished your last parent interview and you have 60 spaces in kindergarten to fill and 80 solid applicant parents have told you that this is their first choice. You are killing it. You are smiling as you see the end in trail. The peak is getting closer and you can see signs of that beautiful view and you can taste that gourmet sandwich that your hiking partner packed for you. Acceptances have gone out and you have held successful yield events. Now you are waiting for the contracts to come in and they are coming in quickly. You get another adrenaline rush as things are starting to look great. You catapult yourself to the top of the mountain, you admire the view, you drink more water, take some photos. You then realize that there is one more mountain peak to climb to reach the end of the hike. You could stop here, but not you, you must finish.
As you are nearing the top, the wind kicks up and it even starts to rain. This is when you realize that you need seven more contracts to fill your class with a small waitlist. But, what happened to the last five who still haven’t sent in their contracts. Then something odd happens, five parents who swore on a stack of bibles that your school was their number one choice, did not send in their contracts. In fact, they went to five other schools. No pattern here, just random other choices. You clutch your stomach, shriek to your colleagues, curse the parents for lying, curse yourself for believing them, and realize you can’t go on. How do I tell the board that I am under enrolled and that you have given out too much financial assistance? No, I can’t make it to the top of that mountain, I just can’t do the last rock scramble to the top, you are slipping on wet rocks as you try to scurry to the top, and you shake your head and say, I can’t continue.
But, you must continue…
Here are your options, you slog up to the top, eat your soggy lunch, and scramble down the mountain wet and defeated.
Or you can be the consummate admission professional and realize that this the year that the trail has not ended and that you are not on your way down, but on your way up. You must imagine a longer mountain that might not have an end. If in this situation, here is what I recommend:
- Take some time for self-care. You might ask for a few days off to rejuvenate or use Spring break as a time to take some time for yourself.
- Make a new marketing plan. Call it Admission Plan, Phase 2.
- Determine where you still have spaces.
- Call your feeder schools and see if there are students who still need a school.
- Talk to your ambassadors see who they know and who they have heard still needs a school.
- Have a small open house geared toward filling the grades where there are openings.
- Have a community event to attract some of the kids and parents still looking for a school
- Check your digital marketing strategy. Make sure you are still getting your name out there. Advertise where you have openings.
- Do a post-card campaign.
Most important, keep your head held high, your confidence up, and continue your journey.
Sindy Udell
Director of Admission
Milton Gottesman Jewish Day School of the Nation’s Capital