Why Senior Search Works

There are many compelling reasons to launch a Senior Search campaign this year, and College Board Search consultants are here to help you do it. 

Boost your applicant pool 

Nearly 15% of the graduating class entered into Search during their senior year. If you fail to license seniors after August, you’re missing an opportunity to add additional margin in the heat of application season. 

Improve access 

Seniors taking the SAT are more likely to be from underrepresented populations. Communicate with them on their college search timeline by picking up new names that meet your criteria year-round. 

Identify unseen talent 

Many seniors retest to improve their scores. Our partnership with Khan Academy provides a free and high-quality SAT practice program that helps students from all backgrounds improve their scores. As such, many students who didn’t meet your sophomore and junior Search criteria may meet your criteria today. This opens opportunities for you to attract previously unseen talent. 

Saturate your primary market 

Building brand awareness in new markets takes time, but you have an advantage close to home. When it comes down to choosing a college, students travel an average distance of just 107 miles¹ . Saturate your primary market by talking to seniors directly about visiting and applying. It’s not too late to recruit these students who may be familiar with you and compelled by your geographic location. 

Build affinity 

Watch and track student interaction and follow up quickly. You have less time to build affinity with seniors, but less time to maintain it. Encourage your counselors to respond quickly to all campaign behaviors that indicate engagement. 

Find international students 

Traditionally, the highest number of international students take the SAT—and thus enter the Search database—in October and December. Searching near these data release dates will ensure you are communicating with these students. 

Separate your institution from the competition 

Roughly 60% of Search users licensed seniors last year. Conducting Senior Search ensures you are starting a conversation with students at the same time as your competitors.

How to Find All Qualified Students in Your Search 

Search filters support you in finding the right students for your institution but can hinder your Search when applied incorrectly. No campus can afford to miss out on recruiting admissible students in their most important markets, so keep these filter recommendations in mind. 

Use all College Board exams when building your orders 

Using more than one exam type will help you be more thorough. For example, by October, less than 70% of the senior cohort available in Search will have an SAT score. If you Search for Seniors using only SAT, you’ll miss out on more than 30% of the senior cohort who were added to the database due to PSAT or AP testing. 

Include all students with a verified postal OR a verified email address 

Most students in College Board Search have both a verified email and a verified postal address, but some only have one type of verified contract information. You’re better off having one way to a contact student than to not contact a student at all. When you set the criteria to “include only students with both a verified postal AND a verified email address,” you eliminate approximately 20% of qualified students from your Search.

Include students who skipped a question 

If you are using the High School Academic Performance filter, be sure to check the box to “include students who did not know or did not respond” to the question. We know that some students don’t answer optional questions for various reasons. If you leave this box unchecked, you’ll miss out on approximately 11% of students. 

Use other filters sparingly 

College Board Search gives you access to many filters to narrow your pool of students. It’s important to keep in mind that applying filters liberally can cause you to unintentionally filter out students who ultimately meet the criteria you’re looking for. The safest approach is to modify filter selections according to market. Narrowly define your most important market(s) by geography and/or test score and use no or few additional filters. As you move into secondary and tertiary markets, apply more filters as needed, but always base your selections on empirical evidence. Outside your primary market, for example, you might also filter for interest in your well-known majors.

¹ Hillman, Nicholas, and Taylor Weichman. 2016. Education Deserts: The Continued Significance of “Place” in the Twenty-First Century. Viewpoints: Voices from the Field. Washington, DC: American Council on Education.