The role of students as leaders of the School expanded this year to include admission efforts. Six admission liaisons, one from each House, were selected and are responsible for assisting with efforts in the admission office a minimum of two free periods each week.
Juniors Katie Brindell, Griffeth House, Matt Gill, Zimmer House, Josey Goldner, Erlandson House, Justin Izmirlian, Inman House, and Wiley Sharp, Inman House, and sophomores Margaret Maclin, Milford House, and John Newton, Barnes House, are the School’s ambassadors to prospective families. They personalize the admission process for potential families by immediately responding to an inquiry with a handwritten note or a personal e-mail to the student. In addition to these six, Charlie Weissinger, junior, serves as a student ambassador.
“Because of their additional efforts and commitment to go above and beyond their expected responsibilities as students, they develop a vested interest in the success of the School,” Brian Boone, director of admission, said. “They gain practical experience in sales and business practices that they can include on college applications and they play an instrumental role in organizing and planning prospective families’ visits to campus.” The liaisons continue to stay involved with the families throughout their admission process.
"I like being on the inside of the administration," Sharp said. "It makes me feel responsible, and gives me something extra to take pride in."
“The liaisons are one of our first points of contact with prospective families. They add another valuable step in creating a dialogue that encourages the students and their parents to ask more detailed questions about residential life and that, in turn, allows the heads of house to follow up with the families by responding directly to their needs and interests,” Darla Betts, admission secretary, said.
According to Betts, the liaisons also help the admission staff by assembling information packets to mail to inquiring families.
The liaisons get asked questions that prospects would not feel comfortable asking admission staff. “The first question always is, ‘So, what’s it REALLY like?’ followed by, ‘Do you like it really?’” Maclin said.
“The most popular question asked to me would have to be, ‘What made you want to come to school here?’ Brindell said. “Second on the list would be, ‘What do you do on the weekends?’ Other common ones are about what it is like to live in a dorm, whether the classes are difficult, what is the workload, whether the food is good, etc.”
"Most kids ask about the weekend and what we do for fun in the dorms, and most parents ask if there will be adults watching to make sure the kids are kept in line," Sharp said.
“I hope I have helped the students see what school is like by actually talking on a personal level with a real student,” Maclin said. “Sometimes faculty just doesn’t always get the point accurately displayed.”
“I see the admission liaison as someone who can help me fill our House with kids that he would like to go to school with,” Casey Zimmer, head of Zimmer House, said. This makes the job not only an admission one, but a retention one as well because the liaisons are in a position to help fill the School with kids they hope will stay at School throughout high school.
“Basically, when I get a visit scheduled with a family, I ask Matt to plan out the rest of the visit, such as who the student is going to class with and who he is staying with,” Zimmer said. “Matt really does a lot behind the scenes. For example, when one kid came to visit from Hilton Head, Matt first counseled his hosts on what was expected of them and then took pictures of the prospective student everywhere. When I talked to my student hosts to ‘prep’ them for the visit, one of them cut me off and said, ‘Yes, yes, Matt already told us all of this.’ It was great.”
“I like meeting and working with other people,” Gill said. “I think I’ve made a difference in helping the school find kids by getting in touch with people’s friends from all over and introducing them to Darlington. Plus, this job also is helping me experience working in the real world.”
“I believe that the liaison has an immensely positive impact on the prospective student, who obviously feels better about Darlington when it is an actual student who is showing the School,” Greg Griffeth, head of Griffeth House, said. “When I deal with a prospective student, I’m sure they sit there and wonder if I’m just trying to ‘sell’ the School because it’s my job. However, when Katie Brindell speaks sincerely about the School, they can accept it because she has no paycheck extrinsically motivating her.”
“I love working to advertise the place I love,” Brindell said. “Hopefully, I help to draw in students who love it here as much as I do. I think I have helped the school to bring in the kind of students that fit Darlington’s motto and mission.”
"I feel that I have assisted the school getting new kids because of the personal connection which makes a kid feel welcome," Sharp said.
The admission liaisons not only work with prospective families when they come to visit the School, they also correspond with interested families. “My interaction with the admission liaisons has consisted of highly productive and seemingly entertaining phonathons,” Ballard Betz, assistant director of summer programs and admission, said.
Liaisons and housemates have gathered three times so far this school year to eat pizza, socialize, and correspond with prospective students. “Their hard work is commendable and much appreciated,” Betz said.
