When do high school students want to communicate with colleges?

A new study by Noel-Levitz, OmniUpdate, CollegeWeekLive, and NRCCUA® (National Research Center for College & University Admissions) finds that 94 percent of college-bound high school students said it was important to communicate with colleges during the search process. Nearly two-thirds (62 percent) said they wanted to communicate with campuses before and after applying.

These students (and their parents, according to responses from that group) said that they place high value on those conversations. When asked which recruitment-activities were the most influential, conversation-related activities occupied three of the four top responses—campus tours, talking with students, and talking with admissions representatives, with the campus Website being in the top four as well.

In fact, when asked who they would want to hear from during a live, online video presentation, 80 percent of high school students said they wanted to hear from admissions representatives. Seventy percent said they also would like to hear from current students and financial aid representatives.

Finally, students expressed significant interest in communicating with campuses via live, online chats. This format was their second most-preferred communication option, after e-mail and slightly ahead of social media.

The report is available at the Noel-Levitz Website.