University Admissions Interview Scheduling

Meeting with potential students is a key part of a university admissions’ team’s job. It’s up to them to decide if a student is the right fit for the university. Ultimately, a university is there to serve a student, but, during their time in education, a student is an ambassador for that university. It’s therefore important that both the student feels comfortable there and the university feels they’re a good fit for the environment.

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But scheduling these interviews takes a lot of time. There can be tens or hundreds of people to meet with in a short amount of time. Students may need to meet with multiple people during their visit, too, especially if they’ve got a meeting with a college coach.

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But things can go wrong: traffic can make people late, they could have the wrong time written down, or worse, they just forget. How can you ensure that everything runs smoothly, and visitors are left with a great impression?

There’s a new trend in business, and it’s this: giving candidates the flexibility to choose their own interview time. Universities can achieve this too through using scheduling software that has calendar sync. Letting candidates choose their own interview time is just one way this feature can benefit admissions interviews.

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Giving potential students this opportunity saves administrators hours of time every week. They don’t need to spend time making phone calls to the admissions panel or potential students. Instead, they can generate a link to send to students using the scheduling software. Students can use this link to book their interview themselves. The same link can be sent to one, twenty, or even one hundred potential students, meaning that it takes the same amount of time to arrange ten or two hundred interviews.

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Admissions panels don’t need to worry about interviews interfering with their schedules, either. Only times when all of the interview panel are available are suggested, preventing anyone on the panel from being double-booked.

First impressions matter. If a student is torn between two universities, a seamless admissions interview process may just help them to decide. Utilizing the latest technology shows that universities are forward-thinking and care about a student’s experience. If they use interview scheduling software, they’re likely to be ahead of their competition when it comes to the latest technology, which will help students to get the best from their education.

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Some students will have several interviews lined up over the course of a few days. After a successful interview with one university, they may decide they don’t need the interview slot any more. Real-time calendar sync makes it easy for students to cancel, reopening the slot straight away for someone else to book. This helps to prevent no-shows and ensures that everyone makes the most of their time.

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Likewise if an interviewer can’t make it, the interview can be rescheduled quickly and easily. Everyone affected can be notified straight away, allowing them to make alternative arrangements.

Real-Time Scheduling works with interviewers’ schedules to offer potential students a list of interview slots. Because Real-Time Scheduling uses calendar sync, it updates as soon as changes are made to the interview panel’s schedule.

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Using Real-Time Scheduling, administrators can generate a link to the admissions panel’s schedule. The same link can be sent to multiple interviewees. Students can then use this link to choose their own time slot. There’s no risk of double-booking, either, because everything updates in real-time.

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A Smart Invite can then be sent to interviewees to ensure that the interview gets added to their calendar. Other information such as the location and whom to ask for on arrival can also be added.

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Most calendar services these days allow for extra information to be added. Information such as locations or notes means that students have everything they need to know about their upcoming interview in one place. To find where they need to go, they can click on the address in the calendar invite, and be taken straight to the maps app on their phone.

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Any extra information – such as whom to ask for on arrival, or documents they need to take with them – can also be included in the notes section of the calendar invite. Unlike emails, calendars are available offline, which means that it doesn’t matter if a student stays somewhere with no internet connection, or has no signal at the university: they still have everything they need.