Admissions: Marketing 101

According to Queensland Government, marketing is "the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion and distribution of your ideas, goods or services to satisfy the needs of individual consumers or organizations."  

The key take aways here that play into the world of admission are: 

     1. The importance of planning and conceptulizing the product (your child) and

     2. The necessity to position yourself as a person that can help to satisfy the needs of the organization.

For every child that is seeking admission to an elite educational institution, it is often helpful
to think of themselves as a product, where the application represents all of the features, highlights and benefits of purchasing (accepting) that product. Each school (organization) is searching for the right products to satisfy its needs and when that student comes along, it is like a match made in heaven and admissions committees become eager to buy whatever it is that you have to sell.  

Along with the need to present your best possible self during the application process, it is equally imporant to understand who your consumer is. What is it that schools are looking for? How can you help an institution achieve higher academic, extra curricular, or cultural growth? These are the major questions that admissions offices must ask themselves when reviewing each and every applicant profile:

    1. Is this applicant academically capable?
    2. Will they add to the extra curricular success of our school?
    3. How will they add to the cultural landscape of our student body?

Taking these three things into account, admissions committees weigh the pros and cons of each application in order to make the best decision that they have given the presented information. The most you can do is meticulously curate that profile to help make their decision as simple as possible, but it is also important to
keep in mind that admissions is more of an art than a science. The institutional needs of a school are a fluid, they change from year to year based on, among other things, the graduating class, changes in faculty, and shifts in domestic and international culture.

Knowledge is power and arming yourself with as much information as you can have about each school is important in helping you highlight the most compelling parts of yourself when putting together your admission profile. Good Luck!

As a consultant, one of the most enjoyable parts of my career is visiting schools and admissions offices to stay abreast of changes in the industry. My goal is to leverage this knowledge to help families find suitable schools that represent the right "fit" for their child. I want to eliminate as much uncertainty as I can. Do be in touch with any questions at all!