Elizabeth St. John shows a group of new tour guides the ropes as she leads them into the PCCM. REBECA BAGDOCIMO/ THE DEPAUW
The number of admissions ambassador applications this year nearly doubled from previous years. With over 80 applicants, the admissions staff must accommodate for this large pool of interested students by adjusting its interviewing process.
Anna Logan, DePauw’s admissions visit coordinator, is not surprised by this increase in numbers.
“I think we did a better job of advertising,” Logan said. “It just seems like in past years, I had a lot of students contact me after the process was over saying, ‘I’m interested in being a tour guide,’ and they had completely missed out. So I just wanted to make sure that this year, we advertised it more broadly to be sure that everyone was aware of it.”
In order to initially obtain applicants for the admissions ambassador position, the staff asked faculty to nominate students. The staff reached out to these students first by informing them about the process and sending them the application. Next, they advertised on campus through the classifieds.
“Sometimes, that works great," Logan said. "Other times, it seems like you put something on there and it just gets lost. So I tried to go back to it often, almost daily, and refresh it so that students would see it."
The staff also used word of mouth to spread the news about the position through their current ambassadors, senior mentors, members of the admissions staff and even Tiger Hosts.
First-year Megan Mannering learned of the position in a different way.
“I work for D3TV’s “The Source” as an anchor, and one night, I was reading on the teleprompter that they were looking for admissions ambassadors. I thought that it would be right up my alley,” Mannering said.
There are currently 40 ambassadors on staff, 14 of whom will graduate this May. Logan also said that a number of the current ambassadors will become senior interns, but that exact number is still unknown. From these numbers, Logan expects to hire between 20 and 25 new admissions ambassadors.
In order to accommodate for this large increase in cuts that the staff must make, they will enact a two-step interview process, as opposed to the singular interview conducted in previous years.
“We’re going to let all of the applicants go on a tour so that our applicants have an idea of the knowledge that we like our ambassadors to have,” Logan said.
Logan explained that the position requires an adequate amount of work and commitment, and the mock tour gives the applicants a chance to realize that.
“It’s a time for us to be able to see their presentation and interpersonal skills in a somewhat more casual setting, but the kind of setting that they would be in when they’re out on a tour,” she said.
Those who rise to the top of that process will be invited for a final interview, and candidates will be selected.
Logan stressed that the admissions ambassadors play a vital role in the Office of Admissions. Due to DePauw’s location near I-70, Logan said several families stop by to simply take a tour and leave.
“So the ambassador position is key,” Logan said. “They may be our one shot at getting a family hooked, so we just want to find the most dynamic students that can help us with that.”
“It’s funny, when I do these tour guide interviews from year to year, one of the things we say is to tell us about their college experience and what really hooked them on DePauw," she continued. "You would be surprised at how often we hear, ‘I just remember my tour when I came. The tour guide was wonderful, they told such good stories, they were so impressive…’ After you’ve done this for a few years and you’ve talked to current students and their process coming in, you realize how impactful it is.”
While admissions ambassador positions experienced an unusual spike in applicants unique to this year, the first-year mentor positions continue to become more and more competitive each year.
The process for hiring first-year mentors commences at the beginning of the spring semester.
“We ask all potential mentors to go through an information session,” said Dean of Students Cara Setchell. “We get a lot of interest in the position, and it’s not always clear to people what a mentor is. They can see what their mentor did for them, but there is so much behind the scenes that mentors do.”
Next, candidates must fill out a standard application, submit two recommendations and participate in a group interview. These interviews began on Tuesday night and will continue throughout the week. The interviews, however, are unlike those for a traditional job.
“Candidates are put into a group of eight to ten of their peer candidates, and we take them through a couple of activities to see what their leadership style looks like, what their interpersonal skills look like, how they communicate with others, what role they play on a team, how they think through some critical issues,” Setchell said.
Junior and first-year mentor Lizzy Gering enjoyed the unique interview process.
“The interview process made me really nervous at first,” Gering said, “but when I got to the group interview stage, it was so much fun. I loved comparing ideas with people and coming up with answers as a group on a time crunch. The energy in my room was really high and positive. We seemed to play off of each other really well.”
After review of applications and group interviews, finalists are selected to participate in a two-part individual interview, one with Setchell and the other with a current peer mentor. Peer mentors help run the mentor program by supervising groups of first-year mentors.
Current first-year mentors who want to return to staff for the following year must apply again. There are about 25 current mentors who want to return, and there are 45 mentor positions to be filled each year. Setchell anticipates hiring 20 to 30 new mentors. With100 candidates for the position, only one in four applicants will be hired.
The position has been attracting more rising seniors as opposed to sophomores and juniors in recent years. Setchell said that this was an intentional move by the staff.
“I like having that diverse perspective on staff,” Setchell said. "Sophomores can relate more easily to a first-year student, whereas a senior has more distance and can give different perspective. They can say things like, ‘I know that situation probably seems really, really overwhelming to you right now. I was there as a first-year student, but let me tell you how I’m looking back on it now and the perspective I’ve gained on it.’”
Along with recruiting a diverse team of first-year mentors from different backgrounds, campus experiences and interests who can learn from each other, Setchell explained that she primarily asks four things of her first-year mentors to do for their students.
“Be there, listen, show care and empathy and concern, and refer them to different resources on campus who can be a part of their support network,” she said.
Gering found her first-year mentor experience exceptionally gratifying.
“Nothing is as rewarding as seeing your mentees succeed, or talking through a problem with them and seeing the moment that something clicks in their head, and they just light up,” Gering said. “I feel like a proud mom every time I see one of my guys write an article, or perform in a concert, or get really involved in a club, or get elected to a cabinet position, or get an A on a test. I brag about [them] and their accomplishments all the time, big and small.”
Logan hopes to have new admissions ambassadors selected by March 10, while mentors should be announced by April 1.
