An authentic experience

It is remarkable how colleges work so hard to match their competition that they forget how to be themselves. So when families come for a visit, it is impossible for them to see what makes your institution unique. Why are faculty excited to come to class each day?  What types of research or artistic products are revolutionizing their fields?  What kinds of connections happen for students that might not happen anywhere else? How are students transformed on your campus? So much of a school’s story gets lost in claims of strong SAT scores and state-of-the-art facilities.  Each campus tour blurs into the next and families don't believe knowing why they should be excited to send their student your way.

Reliable Information

Colleges often unwittingly send conflicting messages to candidates.  We have seen alumni reps meet students at Starbucks and leave them with totally in accurate information about eight school’s standards or the students’ chances I'm getting in.  We have heard admissions reps tell students the financial need plays no role in admissions while the application delves deeply into the family financial status. And we have seen colleges overtly corking students who have no hope of acceptance simply to boost their numbers encounters like fees leave a bad impression with families the travel the grapevine and can undermine a school’s carefully crafted outreach efforts.

Giving colleges a family’s-eye view of their process

Working with hundreds of families going through the college admissions process every year places Kennedy consulting in the unique position of being able to help colleges see themselves as families see them.

Secret Shopper

Our secret shopper experience involves us in contacting and exploring your campus just like a family would.  The resulting report let's you see at all.

Where are inquiries responded to? Was the response quick, courteous, and accurate? How did this vary by department? What happened on the campus tour? Did we meet students and faculty who conveyed PS sense of The school, or did we get the same pitch that we would get at 90% of the schools we visit? What did the campus feel like? Was it vibrant and welcoming or cold and institutional? Why? Could we park? Could we find our way? We're staff helpful? How was the food? What impressions do your applications and publications convey? And most importantly, if these answers aren't what you'd want, how can you transform the process?

Secret shopper is a quick, revealing, and rare opportunity to put yourself in the family's position. We take the politics out of the process and give you our institution the frank and honest feedback that is often difficult to solicit from within. Our assessment can provide valuable affirmation a what you are doing well or be the jumpstart you need to revitalize those aspects of the campus experience that haven't been yielding admissions results

Please contact us to learn more.