USC Viterbi wanted to boost yield and knew that the authentic experiences of their student ambassadors would be the key to creating meaningful connections.
The solution
As Assistant Director, Graduate & International Recruitment Jessica Raquel Stern, put it: “We wanted to see whether we could reach out to students in a way that was impactful to them. We knew that speaking to a current student would be huge. There’s nothing like speaking to a peer.”
“When students are so far away, you want them to feel present in the institution. We thought that hearing from a student would give them that personal touch.”
USC launched Unibuddy Chat in March 2019. The setup was straightforward, even though they had never had a structured ambassador program before.
Stern said: “We were able to create an ambassador program in a short space of time because Unibuddy provided all the materials, resources and human support to get it right.”
The results
An impressive 67% of admitted students who used Unibuddy went on to deposit.
But the platform has contributed to more than just yield. USC Viterbi is now gaining new insights into their prospects.