Marymount Manhattan College was seeking ways of boosting their yield. With many of their applicants coming from a long way away, getting prospective students onto campus is a challenge – but the college still wanted to give everyone that personal experience.
As John Versaci, Admissions Counselor, puts it:
“What was also important for us was meeting our prospects at the places where they’re at and giving them that direct response from a student ambassador.”
Not only that – but prospective students were asking questions that would be best answered by a current student.
Marymount Manhattan College launched Unibuddy in March 2019. Just two months after launching, there have been over 180 conversations.
And it’s having an impact: 29% of Unibuddy users have now deposited – higher than the institution’s average.
John said: “It’s reduced the workload of our admissions counsellors – and it is giving students a digital link to a current student that is increasing their connection to the school. It’s also a lot more personable. For example, an ambassador answered a question about Open House, and the ambassador could check in after the Open House to see how it went.”
As a smaller institution, Marymount was able to secure buy-in from across the college: with many faculties involved in implementation and running the platform.
The college also ran a Unibuddy Live chat, which had a noticeable impact on deposits.
John said:
“One student asked a question, got an answer, and half an hour later they deposited.”
