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    Presentation

    Recruitment & Marketing

    Confidence Boosters: How Peer Advocates Help Prospects Make the Grade

    Friday, April 25, 2025
    11:00 AM - 12:00 PM PT
    Intermediate
    Approach: Tactical
    Level: Intermediate
    In an increasingly competitive and complex admissions landscape, nurturing prospective graduate students’ confidence is critical to their decision-making process. In this session, Renad Aref, Assistant Director of Admissions Recruitment at the Graduate School of Education at SUNY Buffalo, and Diego Fanara from Unibuddy will explore how institutions can use current students as advocates to build trust and support prospects.

    By connecting them with peers who share authentic insights and personal experiences, institutions can create a supportive environment that fosters confidence and encourages informed enrollment decisions. Attendees will discover strategies to implement or enhance peer advocacy programs, and learn how authentic, peer-to-peer interactions can increase both applicant confidence and enrollment success.

    Learning Objectives:

    • Understand how peer advocacy programs enhance student confidence: Gain insights into how connecting prospects with current students fosters trust and empowers prospective graduate students to make more informed, confident decisions.
    • Learn best practices for implementing or optimizing peer-to-peer initiatives: Explore actionable strategies for selecting and training student advocates, and hear how SUNY Buffalo and Unibuddy have successfully structured their programs to support personalized, authentic interactions.
    • Measure the impact of peer advocacy on engagement and enrollment: Discover key metrics to track the success of your peer-to-peer programs, from increased prospect engagement to higher application and enrollment rates.