Academic Recruiting

[Pookieray]

I've seen it discussed on here before about State's lack of recruiting in Academics. Currently my son is being pursued by TSUN and gets mail almost daily, and gets has gotten hand written notes from recruiters. The problem is that State has not sent a single piece of mail. None!

My son has not sent his ACT scores to either school but has visited State twice. He is not at all interested in Ole Miss, and was interested in State for a little while, but has decided on going to a private Christian school.

He may have been persuaded to go to State if they had shown any interest and laid out what type of scholarships he would have received. Ole Miss has done this without ANY information being sent to them. While I do understand he could have sent his info to them Ole Miss was able to find him and recruit him.

The reason we have not sent the information out was 1) it costs
2) to keep the phone calls and mail to a minimum
3) it was only between State and the school he has decided to attend

He is a DeSoto Co. student so I am assuming that State can get as much information as any other University in the state.

He has a 33 on his ACT and is probably in the top 3 of his class and has made two 5's and a 4 on the 3 AP tests he has taken
and is taking 2 more at the end of this year.

My question is why State doesn't do a better job of identifying in state students and try to persuade them to attend State?

In all manners of recruiting we seem to be one step behind!

 

[coach66]

We had a good experience last year with the MSU recruiting folks. Call up there

and introduce yourself and tell them what you are looking for from them. I think they will help you.

 

[dawgstudent]

I get your frustration but be proactive. If you want your child to attend MSU - as a parent - call MSU and let them know.

 

[johnson86-1]

I've seen it discussed on here before about State's lack of recruiting in Academics. Currently my son is being pursued by TSUN and gets mail almost daily, and gets has gotten hand written notes from recruiters. The problem is that State has not sent a single piece of mail. None!

My son has not sent his ACT scores to either school but has visited State twice. He is not at all interested in Ole Miss, and was interested in State for a little while, but has decided on going to a private Christian school.

He may have been persuaded to go to State if they had shown any interest and laid out what type of scholarships he would have received. Ole Miss has done this without ANY information being sent to them. While I do understand he could have sent his info to them Ole Miss was able to find him and recruit him.

The reason we have not sent the information out was 1) it costs
2) to keep the phone calls and mail to a minimum
3) it was only between State and the school he has decided to attend

He is a DeSoto Co. student so I am assuming that State can get as much information as any other University in the state.

He has a 33 on his ACT and is probably in the top 3 of his class and has made two 5's and a 4 on the 3 AP tests he has taken
and is taking 2 more at the end of this year.

My question is why State doesn't do a better job of identifying in state students and try to persuade them to attend State?

In all manners of recruiting we seem to be one step behind!

We're not behind. You'll hear these type stories for both sides. I think it depends on how good a recruiter works your area.

That said, somebody gave information to Ole Miss about your son. If you are known to be a state fan, I doubt anybody bothered notifying the MSU recruiter. I'm sure there are lots of legitimate criticisms that can be levied at our recruiters, but if MSU can't count on state fans (alums?) to have their kids send info to the school, and/or let a recruiter know that their child has a 30+ on the ACT and needs to be recruited, then honestly we're screwed regardless of what our recruiters do.

 

[AHSDawg]

Too busy recruiting out of state.... And, I am not kidding. We have recruiters in Memphis, ATL and Houston but do not seem to do as much seeking talent in state. The entire University Registrar's office, financial aid, and scholarship dept needs to be imploded.

My biggest issue is that these people are some of the biggest 'faces' to our students, incoming students and parents... There is not a single one that I have ever seen be anything close to a personable human being. They always give the impression that you are bothering them. This is when you actually get one to pick up a phone or give you a call back. Our University needs a HUGE overall in terms of customer service. There is currently NONE.

 

[DawgatAuburn]

So you didn't give out his information to keep the mail to a minimum and now you are upset that you aren't getting mail?

College recruiting and scholarship money is a serious business. If your son had an interest in a school, then playing hard to get, or in this case hard to find, is a terrible strategy sure to do nothing but upset you with various schools. I hope he's highly successful where ever he decides to go.

I can't speak for State's philosophy, but there is a cost associated with recruiting from a list of names. Some schools prefer to use their human and financial resources on students who have at least expressed some level of interest. If his two visits there were scheduled with Admissions, you would think that would have gotten him into that queue, or maybe he was and the lack of response eventually filtered him out. I can tell you though, that State's percentage of students with ACT scores in the 30-36 range has gone up each of the last four years, including this past fall. They are doing something right.

 

[Dr. Filth]

I had similar stats to OP's kid, and I got plenty of mail after my mom gave them my name. State wasn't on my radar before then. I wouldn't have gone to State if it wasn't for the recruiters+scholarship money. Out of state resident if that matters.

 

[AHSDawg]

DawgatAuburn is right though. If you sought to not have much info 'pester' you, why are you surprised that there is no info pestering you? I would bet that UM bought or gets a list of all students in the 50 mile radius and sends out the info you are currently getting. Its the 'down the road' school for you.

In the end, having a kid with a 33 on the ACT that you are keeping hidden is going to cost you a LOT of money. At State, he could be getting literally tens of thousands in scholarships. And while your private school will give him a lot, it will also cost a lot more too.

 

[seb304]

Total BS

our admissions counselors and the admissions staff generally are some of the nicest people on campus. They do a tremendous job. It does a disservice to the university for anyone to get up here and BLAST some of the most overworked and underpaid members of the MSU staff.

ETA: Not an MSU employee before that joke is made.

 

[Statedog101]

I took the ACT 35 or so years ago, I don't know what the process is today, but back then you selected 3 colleges and the ACT sent your scores to those 3 institutions.

It's inexcusable for you not to send the scores to the colleges your son is interested in. Colleges fall all over themselves trying to get 33 ACT students to their campus. You need to look in the mirror. Don't mean to be harsh, but you dropped the ball. But it's not too late to get your son into msu.

 

[uptowndawg]

Getting the most out of admissions and scholarships will require a little work on your part. Just because your kid's an ace student doesn't mean that it requires zero work. If you put nothing into it then you shouldn't complain about the results.

ETA: Even 5-star athletes put together a highlight tape and put it out there.

 

[AHSDawg]

You are calling BS on a person that HAS worked for the University and deals with the Registrar's office and Financial Aid office and Scholarship office EVERY semester for the past 5 years. So, careful who you call BS on. I would guarantee you that I have 10x the experience with them that you do.

And, cry me a river on the overworked, underpaid comments. Welcome to Mississippi. Anyone in the State can lay claim to that comment. My situation is not even a difficult one and it generally takes 20-30 phone calls to get a live person on the phone that can actually answer a question. Typically, IF you actually get someone on the phone, they then just transfer you to a person that never responds to your call. When you actually speak to someone, it has generally been a person that acts as though you are asking the world of them when you ask for a simple probleme to be fixed. (especially when the problem was not something in your control and no one in that dept has any idea why it was ever on your account).

 

[horshack.sixpack]

We simply marked for MSU to receive my daughter's scores from ACT/SAT. Didn't cost a dime. Had a great recruiter that was responsible for her high school. I think that State has someone assigned to every high school, but it's not one-to-one so you may have to help them out a little by letting them know you exist. Ole Miss is good at sending communication via snail mail. My kids don't even know how to walk to the mailbox...

 

[horshack.sixpack]

I've had the exact opposite experience with MSU. Quick to respond via phone or email for academic and accounting issues.

 

[AHSDawg]

Wouldn't have said it if it wasn't an issue. I don't relish bemoaning my school. Maybe it irritates me because I live and work in customer service/sales. The things that get a pass at MSU in those departments wouldn't get a pass in my world.

 

[horshack.sixpack]

I don't doubt it. Mileage varies greatly with any entity. Start a Ford/Chevy debate and watch the sparks fly from people who will swear both directions that the other one is a piece...

 

[AFDawg]

** Typical OM--blanket offering every 4 star recruit in the country.

My experience was a decade and a half ago, but it seemed to me like State went out of their way with Roadrunner letters, calls, etc. I had a number of friends who had similar experiences. Dr. Z. even came to my wife's senior piano recital.

That being said, they're probably going to focus their efforts on the folks they think they can get. If you didn't send them test scores and whatnot, it's not surprising they didn't pressure you. Also--let this be a lesson for others--pretty much everything you want to know about scholarships is available online.

 

[Pookieray]

I guess my original post was a bit vague. I'm not upset that we haven't gotten any information from State, my surprise is that we have from other schools that we did not visit and had no intentions of ever attending. We have done all the "homework" on the only two schools that he had intentions of attending. When we visited State they gave us a tour of campus and told us what they have to offer. We even knew the scholarships he could/would get. The only thing we didn't do was send in his official ACT score.

Once we left campus we have not heard anything! Not that we are upset and I feel confident that if my son were to contact them or apply there would be no problems getting what he needed. My son made his decision on what he wanted from a University, not because of anything State did or didn't do. We are not upset, just curious as to how State contacts students and recruits them versus the other schools. There might be other students that are in the same boat that State is missing out on for the same reasons. I do think when a prospective student attends your University a follow up would be the norm.

We are all still State fans and I would love for him to go there, but he made his decision to attend Harding on his own.

Again, we are not at all upset with the school because it wasn't based on anything financially or because he felt like he wasn't wanted, I'm just surprised that
there wasn't a follow up given that we had attended a recruiting session.

If *** were to visit a 5* recruit once and never follow up, I'd be surprised and may want to re-evaluate how we do business.

 

[The Peeper]

Funny you bring this up, just yesterday I go to the mailbox and there is

AGAIN several pieces of mail from MSU for my already committed to MSU Sr. in high school. She had ACT scores sent to MSU, we went up to an orientation session back in late Fall (not that she needed another trip around the campus, been going there since she was <2 yrs old) and have been literally flooded with mail, email, phone calls and eventually yes scholarships. We were laughing yesterday about how they could be saving $$$ by stopping the mail, she literally gets letters, hand written cards, etc 3-5x/week. We couldn't have asked for a better experience so shame on you for not sending a letter or two and stopping by registrars office. We set up a special Gmail address just for recruiting type stuff and get email from MSU several times a week, either from Roadrunners, Bio-Science (her major), Dining Services, dorms, etc etc. By saving a couple bucks on postage you are definitely costing yourself tuition $$$ because my daughter doesn't have a 32 on ACT and is getting a lot of $$$.

 

[00Dawg]

I come at this from the alumni officer side, but I can attest that experiences vary wildly from locale to locale, and from student to student. Different factors include the quality of the local recruiter (if you have one), how active your nearest alumni chapter is in student recruiting, where the school is targeting recruiting that year (Mississippi has a shrinking high school population at the moment), and what scholarship efforts are getting the focus during that academic year (at State this can change with Dr. Keenum's newest priority list).
Generally speaking, our student recruiters are motivated, but very stretched on the areas they have to cover and the resources they have to cover them with.

 

[paindonthurt_]

Maybe you had a bad experience, but you are making generalizations off of those experiences. And that's BS.

2 to 4 years ago our admissions were steadily going up due to the work of academic recruiting. That was something I think Dr. Lee started and Dr. Keenum saw through to results.

Its like someone said earlier every school has their complaints, but we aren't doing a terrible job. Part of what Ole Miss is doing now is in direct response to the increases we saw 2 to 4 years ago.

 

[Sapsdawg]

My son receives mailings, emails, handwritten notes, etc. Maybe you're kid's not smart enough.*** Seriously, there is a breakdown somewhere I guess, but we get equivalent amounts from State and Ole Miss and a half dozen other universities.

 

[Palmettodog]

I can confirm this. MSU was at my son's high school last week recruiting.

He attends River Bluff HS in Lexington, SC. I'm all about them recruiting out of state and I assume they are recruiting in state just as much, if not more. Unfortunately I don't think my son will have a high enough GPA to wave the out of state tuition. It's a shame because he's got the SAT and ACT scores to waive it.

 

[AHSDawg]

Again, you are undervaluing my 'experience'. My experience is over 5 years and it is virtually the same EVERY SINGLE SEMESTER. Now, more times than not, my experience was with financial aid moreso than registrar's office but I am telling you right now, the service is not there. Exactly how much more experience do you guys have with them to call "BS" on my statements? And, reading off the 'welcome to MSU' pamphlet isn't actually saying that YOU have had to call them and deal with them on your situation.

 

[DirtyDog]

My daughter is a sophmore in HS and she's already getting letters from all over, but I'm happy to report that MSU was one of the first. The ACT still allows you to select schools of interest and those schools have contacted us. I think you are odd case at best. If you want your son to go to MSU, I believe they will jump on board to recruit a kid with great academics and test scores so a simple phone call will solve your issue. I don't think that it is a widespread recruiting issue based upon my daughter and her friends. MSU is all over them with recruiting literature for academics and most of them are sophomores.

 

[LawDawg97]

I have heard just the opposite. That MSU recruits the academically gifted

harder than any of the area schools. I've heard this from Ole Miss parents - that though they want their kids to go there, they can't deny that the MSU recruiters have shown more love. I wouldn't impugn our whole approach just because your child has not had the love others have - I'd take it up directly with the administration and maybe you'll find there is a reason on the oversight.

Congrats on the ACT score though

 

[futaba.79]

State's easy to deal with..........

and my experience trumps yours by about two decades.

 

[AFDawg]

I don't intend to discount either of your experiences, but perhaps it's worthwhile to note that Admissions and Scholarships, Student Financial Aid, Student Recruitment, and the Registrar are all different departments. The first three answer to the Director of Enrollment and the last is over in Academic Affairs. You two could be describing entirely different sets of people.

 

[AHSDawg]

BINGO! We have a winner. You are exactly right. I am betting that very few of you on here have as much experience as I do with financial aid. I am a peculiar bird and when looking at my wife's info as well, I have been dealing with them for 20 years now. Multiple degrees, etc.

 

[AHSDawg]

You have been dealing with financial aid for 20 years as a student?

 

[ReadyReady]

I do think when a prospective student attends your University a follow up would be the norm.

Hard to argue with this. Also hate to see that so much of one's initial experience with the university still boils down to "it depends on your recruiter," according to my own experience (nearly 15 years ago now) and so many others in this thread. A good student going on a campus visit ought to count as proactive enough to get some type of follow-up.

One more thing to add - I think recruiting depends quite a bit on your major. I was in engineering and the people from the college/department took over the recruiting rather quickly. Had a National Merit Semifinalist sibling three years later in Arts & Sciences who had to pull teeth to get any kind of contact with the dept initiated. It's strange to me that the experiences could be that inconsistent.

 

[paindonthurt_]

you had 5 years experience with them as a student? Ok.

You don't think the majority of this board has also? Or at least 2 to 5 years.

Also what does being a student have to do with academic recruiting? Recruiting is getting them here. Much more important to blow smoke up there *** and get them here. Treat them like whatever after that as long as they stay.

Same for football, basketball and baseball.

 

[AHSDawg]

Wow. are you serious? You must have loved Rick Stansbury's transfers

I have had experience with them for the past 5 years as a student seeking additional degree. Got my undergrad at MSU about 15 years ago. Dealt with them for my 4 years then. In between those time periods, I have been involved with them for about 8 years while my wife got her undergrad and grad degrees. So, yes, I have quite the extensive experience with them.

I brought up recruiting with financial aid because almost EVERY student that receives their scholarship package has to deal with financial aid if for no other reason than to get their check.

And academic recruiting has a lot to do with being a student, numbnuts. Are you truly so stupid as to not understand that MOST of our students have siblings? I really hope you have just gotten your panties in a wad and are trying to be 'o so cool'...

 

[UpTheMiddlex3Punt]

Why didn't you send his ACT scores to State or UM? You're paying for the test and, at least when I took it, can request the scores be sent off for no additional charge at the time of registration to, I think, 3 or 6 different schools. I remember submitting to MIT and Harvard just because I didn't want to leave the form blank.

It's like an ECE professor at State told me one time: toot your own horn because no one else is going to do it for you.

 

[johnson86-1]

BINGO! We have a winner. You are exactly right. I am betting that very few of you on here have as much experience as I do with financial aid. I am a peculiar bird and when looking at my wife's info as well, I have been dealing with them for 20 years now. Multiple degrees, etc.

How many doctorates do you have?

 

[NTDawg]

I started a thread about this same thing last year. My child is a junior and currently has an unweighted GPA of 4.0 takes as many honors/AP class as he can and has taken the ACT once and made a 28. He sent his scores to State and two other schools. He did not send them Ole Miss or Baylor but he gets more mail from either school than he does from State (I'm not sure why he gets so much mail from Baylor). He has meet his recruiter from State once at school, during a college fair. However, that is the only direct contact that he has ever had. He would rather take a beating than go to Ole Miss but they are doing a much better job of recruiting him than State. Our experience is same as everyone else that I have talked to at his school.

 

[RocketDawg]

I really don't understand how they could have overlooked a 33 on the ACT. Do universities have access to scores regardless of whether the student chooses to have the scores sent to a particular school? I would think they do, and the reason I say that is that I was contacted by MSU when I was in high school back in the dark ages because of my scores, and my son was too in the mid-90s. I think they must have just let one slip through, because surely they are able to get the high scores very easily in the computerized age we're in. Give'em a call.

 

[Pookieray]

Ok, let me try to explain the point I intended to make.


When my son took the ACT I told him to not list any schools until he decided 1) on what he wanted to major in 2) on maybe 3-4 schools. He did decided on the major (Bio-Med Eng)
and then started looking at schools that offered that major. He lets me know and gives me a list of schools and we narrow it down. We visit schools, he selects school, and we send ACT score. We did it this way so he will choose the school he is most comfortable with not because of the amount of scholarships, although I'm certain it would be easier on us it he had chose State.


I don't see the need to send scores to schools that you have no intention of going to and not knowing what you plan on majoring in at that time. You take the ACT as a Junior and most do not have a clue as to what they want to do.




Now, even before we sent in his ACT score to the school he ultimately chose we had phone calls and mail. We toured state also, we had a nice visit and everyone was very helpful. We took down several kids all with very high ACT scores(2 with 30+ and 2 with 29's). The person in charge spent a lot of time with us and was very nice. (All this before we sent in ACT scores) We told him what our son had made and he told us about the scholarships and what to expect and all the dates to adhere to and gave us a packet of information. That is the last we have heard from MSU. I do understand that the only info they had about our son at that time is what we had told them. However, my concern is that approx. 30-40 other schools didn't have that much information and have managed to send him mailings after mailings after mailings. About 5 of them are what one would consider very elite schools.


We are not upset, because we wanted our son to make his decision on where he wanted to go to school.


I'm just curious as to how schools like Ole Miss and others manage to send out information but a school that he was actually interested in does not.




I'm am a State fan as is my wife, son, and daughter. We would love our son to go to State and we always want what is best for State. I'm concerned that this might be a cause for someone that is narrowing down their choice based on scholarships and they may choose to go elsewhere because the info is not getting to them for whatever reason.


Again, I understand that we did not send scores to State and we are not upset over not getting mail. This is just to let someone know that there may be a problem in the recruitment of gifted students in Our State!

As to why we didn't send the scores to State or OM?
There is time plenty of time to send them if that is where you want to go! Time was not an issue, he can still go to either school. My whole point is that other schools get there info out there to the students and know who and where the gifted students are, I'm not sure State knows how or does this.

 

[UpTheMiddlex3Punt]

Get you now.

For the record, I was recruited harder by Ole Miss and Alabama than I was by State. All I got from State were an endless supply of Roadrunner letters. Bama sent me an unsolicited full scholarship offer and Ole Miss tried to impress me with a giant-*** book one of their southern studies professors wrote.

 

[Pookieray]

Not so sure your correct on "Even 5-star athletes put together a highlight tape and put it out there."

I'd say 5* athletes Coach or Athletic director puts a highlight tape together. And you can bet Nick Saban knows where the 5* kids are and all there is to
know about them way before he gets a tape from the school. That is what recruitment is all about. There aint no sit back and wait.