Admissions Imitates Life
I spent part of this afternoon calling people who had expressed interest in one of Vanguard’s graduate programs. As I did, I was reminded of how people often have a hard time saying what is really going on. They don’t want to offend, so they say that they’ll get back to you next week . . . or that they have put things off for now . . . or that they have to wash their hair. But my sense is that many of them really meant to say, “No thanks, Vanguard’s not a fit for me.”
Maybe it would be easier if I was able to get a better read of people over the phone. But since I can’t, I have a hard time removing anyone from our contact list who hasn’t communicated, “No thanks.” What if they really mean what they are saying about getting back to me next week?
So I’ll encourage anyone that’s out there to be more direct with the colleges they’re looking at for undergrad and grad studies—if you’re no longer interested in a school, say so. It’s good for everyone.
Just let us down easy.