Many small schools have trouble when it comes to establishing an effective admissions process. Small schools tend to favor doing admissions manually, but that traditional method is no longer your best option. Luckily, there are now sophisticated software solutions that can vastly improve the admissions process for you and your school!
Why Conducting Manual Admissions is So Painful for Your Small School
The admissions process is key to effectiveness in any small school, so only using a manual process is often detrimental to productivity. Here are three reasons why only using a manual admission method is painful for your small school:
#1: It is very time-consuming
It isn’t easy to track information manually, so using a manual process will inevitably slow down other important areas of the school. In addition, you need to maintain separate spreadsheets for each grade level and type of student you might have in your school.
#2: Manual Admission Systems are not flexible
Using a manual system takes a lot of time and resources to make even simple changes. For example, if you need to increase the size of your student body or change the requirements for submitting an application, you have to manually update each student’s profile on some sort of spreadsheet.
#3: A manual admission process does not provide an accurate picture of the student population
Another problem with a manual system is that it may not give you a clear or accurate picture of your school’s enrollment trends. In some cases, this could leave you without enough students to support all your staff and programs. Small schools need to have a clear way on how to keep track of their enrollment numbers, and often time the paper method is not practical.
These are just three of the many pains of conducting a manual admissions process. There is a variety of affordable software out there that can easily help with this process!
5 Ways an Admissions Software Will Help Reduce Time and Effort in Managing the Entire Admissions Process
Now, it is time to look at how utilizing admissions software can help reduce the time and effort needed in the admissions process. Here are five ways admissions software can greatly help your small school:
#1: Accuracy is improved using software
When using admissions software, you can set up all eligibility requirements when you are ready to start receiving applications. This provides you with more control over when and how these requirements will be added to your system. Simply put, there’s no need for constant updates. It can also take in information much more efficiently as you can enter information once, and it goes out to every student profile.
#2: Save time with a streamlined process
Once you have set up your eligibility requirements, admissions software doesn’t need any input unless you make a change. The software prompts students when they meet the requirements for a particular grade level. The software also knows when a student does not meet the admission requirements and automatically closes that student profile. This means you don’t have to do any data entry making it an extremely streamlined process from start to finish!
#3: A user-friendly interface can save your staff a lot of time
The best admissions software programs are easy to use and save you time. You can easily access your admissions software anywhere, which allows you to work on enrollments at school or remotely. This saves your staff the hassle of having to recreate documents, emails, and spreadsheets once they are back in the office! This is a great way to show how administrators can support teachers and other staff.
#4: Provides reports for developing sound strategies
Admissions software provides schools with reports that are easy to read and understand. You can track historical enrollment data, see how many students meet admission requirements, view applications by grade level or eligibility category, locate incomplete records, know which families are on your waiting list, and much more!
#5: Track all the information you need for important decision-making
The best admissions software also includes a student information system that tracks all the essential information you need for enrollment management. This means you have everything from contact information, demographics, family data, and much more at your fingertips!
Small schools can benefit so much from an admissions software program. Not only does it help save a lot of time and effort, but it can also provide a boost in accuracy when processing admissions!
Other Aspects to Bear in Mind When Choosing an Admissions Software
Finally, here are some questions you should keep in mind when thinking about implementing admissions software in your small school.
#1: Will my school have the technical capabilities to use a software program?
The first question you should ask yourself when thinking about purchasing admissions software is whether or not your school has the proper technical capabilities in place to use it. Not all schools have their own servers and computers maintained by trusted staff members; this means that you might not have the necessary technical capabilities to utilize admissions software.
#2: How much time and effort could an admissions software program save my school?
The next question you should ask yourself is how much time and effort your school already spends managing its admissions process. If it’s a lot, you will want to invest in admissions software to save you a lot of time and effort.
#3: Can my school afford to purchase admissions software?
The final question you should ask is whether or not your school can afford the software’s price tag. Not all schools have a financial budget explicitly dedicated to purchasing admissions software so that it might be out of the question for lots of small schools. Luckily, there are low-cost options available, but you need to make sure that you have set aside a budget for it.
Keep these three questions in mind when your school is considering making the switch to software instead of manual!
While an admissions software program can be a lot of work to set up initially, the long-term benefits of investing in it are well worth it. Not only will your school save lots of time and energy, but it will also become more streamlined and efficient. If you do decide to invest in an admissions software program for your small school, look for a dynamic system that is user-friendly and includes a student information system! The admissions process is the first step in building a positive relationship with students. This is the prime time to establish a good teacher-student relationship!
SchoolCues is an all-in-one school management system for small schools with limited budgets and resources. Our solutions include admissions and enrollment, online payments, student information system, gradebook, communications, parent engagement, donations and fundraising, alumni management, and more. Schedule a demo with us today.