If asked, suggest to the student they investigate comparable institutions to formulate their own opinions of interest. Otherwise and foremost, focus on the positive, factual benefits of your institution.
I would say that the YTI mission statement explains what YTI is all about, that direction to the YTI website would further offer information about our various campus locations and programs and that I wouldn't be able to offer intelligent comparisons because I don't know what other institutions programs or policies are except what one might find on their websites.
It is important to stay focused on what your instition offers and provide the facts there. It is important to let the student know you can only provide the facts on your instituion and that they will need to do the comparison on their own.
Since we are unaware of another institutions practice, I can only give them information on our institution. So I can tell you here...this is what you will experience......
Answer the student in a way that focuses on positive aspects about our school and welcome them to do their own research on comparable schools to form a decision that benefits them.
I tell students I am not familiar with other schools programs but am happy to discuss our programs.
I would encourage the prospective student to research similar programs at other institutions.
Dorothy I like that you refer to your school's mission statement as I think that is an important element of sharing with prospective students what your institution is all about!
I would talk about our programs and what we offer. I would recommend that the prospective student do their own research and visit the other schools to make their own judgement.
I would only offer information about what our institution has to offer and not compare the two.
We would let students know that we are not able to discuss other institutions, but we can offer information about our own programs. Also we can let the student know that they are encouraged to make their own comparisons to make an informed decision.
I always encourage a student to visit other schools and obtain information from them so that they can form their own opinion about each school if they ask how we compare. In my response, I let them know that I work solely for my school so I can answer questions regarding my school (or I can find the answer for them), but when it comes to other schools, they have to do the research on their own. The students I have spoken with have never had an issue with this type of response.
I would tell the student that I am unfamiliar with the other school and unable to answer that question. I would suggest that the student do their own research on the other school.
You cannot not bad mouth the other institutions or say anything negative about the other schools.
Each school operates differently, the best way to learn more about other schools is to visit them yourself as we do not have any knowledge of their school.
Thanks for your thorough response, Jennifer. I agree that putting some responsibility for researching options back on the prospective student, when done as you indicate, is actually appreciated.
With respect to transfer of credit, it is not enough to state that transfer is at the discretion of the accepting institution. Full and thorough disclosure is the best course. For that reason, YTI's catalog and enrollment agreement both state that (1)we are a Nationally accredited organization and that traditional regionally accredited institutions rarely if ever accept credit transfer form nationally acredited institutions and (2) other nationally accredited institutions accept transfer of our credits at their discretion.
I would respectfully let the student know that I can provide them with all the information about our institution that they would need to make an informed comparison through their own research of other institutions.
Encourage the prospective student to make their own comparison by thoroughly researching their options and answer all questions they have regarding our program or directing them to somone who can.
