by Interstride
Background
The Admission Office at Claremont McKenna College (CMC), a liberal arts college that welcomes 50 international students to campus every fall, wanted to increase student connections and boost awareness among international students.
Despite receiving more than 1,400 international applicants annually, CMC’s small admissions team faced challenges in effectively engaging prospective students in a streamlined and scalable way. Jennifer Hirsch, the Senior Associate Dean of International Admission at CMC, had been manually matching prospective international students with current ambassadors, using information from spreadsheets and emails in a time-consuming process.
Having implemented Interstride’s career portal for current international students and alumni, CMC and Hirsh turned to Interstride for support in increasing international student engagement and enrollment.
Interstride products integrated:
- Student career portal
- Prospect admissions portal
Why Interstride?
Using Interstride’s admissions portal, a high-touch engagement platform designed for international students, Hirsch is able to facilitate connections without acting as an intermediary. Prospective students chat directly with ambassadors and admissions officers, join communities that fit their interests, and can access a built-in library of resources tailored specifically for international students – all in a singular engagement hub.
CMC can effectively showcase impactful stories and data that international students care about within Interstride, including employment outcomes. “It helps international students see where their peers before them have landed and the successes they achieved during and after CMC,” Hirsch emphasized. Given international students’ unique employment and visa considerations, highlighting demographic-specific trends are crucial during the admissions process.
CMC further extends its support for international students by leveraging Interstride’s career portal. Enrolled students at CMC receive ongoing, tailored assistance in navigating international student life and building career readiness.
Through Interstride, CMC ensures a seamless end-to-end experience for international students, from admission to graduation.
With a generic tool, international students have to sift through information that is less relevant to them. Having a dedicated platform like Interstride for international students allows both applicants and students to find tailored resources and support from admissions through graduation.
– Jennifer Hirsch, Senior Associate Dean of International Admissions at CMC
Impact
Since using Interstride, CMC has successfully onboarded dozens of student ambassadors who are actively engaging with prospective international students from over 65 countries. The college has seen a significant influx of prospects in the pipeline, accompanied by an improvement in the quality of connections being established.
According to Hirsch, the admissions platform has surpassed expectations, significantly enhancing the team’s efficiency and overall engagement. “My workload has decreased substantially,” said Hirsch. Prospective students can easily find and connect with ambassadors through the Intestride portal on CMC’s website. With time back from playing matchmaker, Hirsch and the team can focus on answering important questions from students and thoughtfully engage international prospects from start to finish.
I gained more insight into [CMC] which helped me to identify that it is the place I want to be
– International prospective student from Hong Kong
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