4 minute read
REIMAGINING ENROLLMENT
Reflections and lessons learned from a virtual Admissions cycle
By Brian Beale, Director of Enrollment
As we head into the new year and our 11th month of virtual admissions, I can’t help but think back to March of 2020 and the beginning of the pandemic. The task of reimagining revisit events for accepted students and families was daunting and consumed our waking hours. What we didn’t (and couldn’t) know at the time was that we would not only be hosting revisit events virtually, but the entire upcoming admission cycle.
When Brimmer closed campus that day last March, like all our peers locally and regionally, our community began preparing and planning for remote learning PK-12. As an admissions department, the team shifted from acceptance mode to crisis planning mode, immediately thinking of all possible ways we could host our upcoming events. Collectively, we attended every possible webinar available through our governing bodies and professional associations, tuned in to podcasts, and reached out to colleagues at peer schools locally and throughout the country for ideas, advice, and inspiration. We brainstormed, planned, and hoped—hoped, of course, that our events would be successful and help us to yield our desired numbers, but also hoped for life to resume to some semblance of normal.
In those first two weeks of April, we hosted 13 virtual events ranging from panels to information sessions to receptions. We learned (sometimes the hard way) about the features, strengths, and shortcomings of Zoom, and we figured out how to transform an otherwise cold or sterile virtual environment into a warm and welcoming experience much like we would offer to families in person. With a lot of hard work, and invaluable assistance from our parent ambassadors, we have fine-tuned our approach with and to events, developed online assessments and virtual tours, redesigned our website pages, and shifted to an entirely virtual interview schedule. We have also elected to be test optional for the cycle, hosted an average of two events weekly, and established a consortium of Boston independent schools to host online panels and fairs. Most importantly, we have managed to provide our applicants with a thoughtful and personalized experience with the signature Brimmer touch that is so critical to all that we do.
This winter, we reviewed what turned out to be the largest number of applications in the history of Brimmer and May School. As exhausting as the past year has been for our office and as much as we are looking forward to a time when we can once again open up our office doors to prospective students and families, there have been many silver linings to this experience, and we have learned an incredible amount as a team and industry. Admissions will likely never be quite the same again, and that is ultimately a good thing. It is in that spirit that I reflect back on our accomplishments and think to the future and the work and opportunities that lie ahead.
When we embarked on this journey last spring, we did so out of necessity and not because we thought it was the best thing for Admissions or Brimmer in particular. As I think back to all the obstacles and challenges of this past year, it is impossible to not also think about the achievements and victories. By going virtual, we have by nature become a more accessible institution and put equity at the forefront. Pre-pandemic, the majority were held during daytime hours in the middle of the workweek. We largely catered towards families who had the flexibility to attend events at such times. Events were also costly to host and required the assistance of many staff members. By recording or livestreaming our events to broadcast at a later date and post to our website, we made them accessible to all. Moving forward, we will consider ways that virtual events can complement our slate of in-person offerings and cater to a larger and broader audience.
Similarly, our interview schedules required families (and students) to take time away from work or school for several hours to attend both a meeting and a tour of campus. I envision virtual interviews being an appealing option for many students and families in the future, especially if they are able to visit campus on another occasion such as an open house. Perhaps we will offer group tours at set time slots (as is typical in college admissions) and the interview via Zoom, giving prospective families more flexibility. While these are just a handful of family-facing options and possibilities, there are also numerous ways now-familiar technology can enhance internal operations given all that we have learned during this period of time.
Needless to say, we have become a more effective and efficient team and have grown in numerous ways. While we, like everyone, were thrown a curveball, we have become stronger as individuals and as a department. While we long for normalcy, to welcome our first visitors to our newly configured and renovated offices in May Hall, and to never again hear the word unprecedented, we are grateful for the opportunities we have been afforded and to be able to step back and both rethink and reimagine what admissions should and can be. I have no doubt that we will continue to provide an improved and more accessible process and experience. ■