Students settling in, classes starting, admissions teams gearing up to hit the road… it can only mean one thing: Fall semester is officially upon us! Before you get swept away with the busyness of the season, make sure you take the time to review our Top 5 Admissions CRM Focus Areas for Fall to help ensure you’re getting the most out of your CRM and effectively supporting Fall 2025 enrollment.

1. Fall Travel

Hundreds of hours are about to be spent on fall travel, with counselors and road warriors heading to high schools and college fairs throughout the country and abroad. Help them have a successful season and ensure your data stays clean by:

  • Implementing an automated communication plan prepared for prospective students and high school counselors to let them know about upcoming travel plans.
  • Watching, and having a plan, for duplicate records for organizations and CEEB codes.
  • Leveraging travel-centric reports and tools (like Voyager if you’re in Slate).
  • Using QR Codes at college fairs that direct students to inquiry forms. Or, for a more advanced approach, consider using them for online check-ins.
  • Integrating with a vendor that enables you to leverage college fair inquiry forms.

2. Campus Visits

With fall comes a massive influx of campus visitors. In addition to making sure the grounds and buildings are in tip-top shape, pay attention to your database.

  • Is your database ready to collect information about students’ guests? Parent information (thank-you notes and follow-up comms), sibling emails (future prospects) — they’re all important.
    Pro Tip: Collecting parent information? Why not make a parent drip campaign?
  • Are your pre– and post-event communications built?
    • Are you sending invitations?
    • Event reminders?
    • Are you reaching out to people who didn’t attend?
    • Will you be sending post-event information and surveys?

3. Reporting

Don’t let the effort of collecting data go to waste — reporting is key!

  • How are you reporting on your travel? Are you analyzing that information? Using it to influence future travel?
  • Are your funnel reports up to date for the upcoming year? Is your Vice Provost already asking for 2025 numbers? (Hint: They should be.)

4. Third-Party Applications

Thousands of students take advantage of third-party applications. Do you have systems in place to quickly and smoothly integrate them?

  • Did you get your Common App, Coalition App, and other third-party mappings updated?
  • Have you tested your imports?

5. Application Reading

Nothing is worse than sitting down for a reading session and encountering issues. Before reading season kicks into high gear, make sure you’re ready for it.

  • Update your scholarship fields
  • Review and set up this year’s reading structure
  • What’s your game plan for training new staff on your application reading process?

Let's Get Across the Finish Line Together. 🏁

Our team of experts is well-versed in all major admissions CRMs and is ready to put their combined experience to work. Through our flexible SparkAssist service, you can learn with us and become an expert on all things Salesforce, Slate, and Element451. Or, hand us a project for one-time completion. No project is too small or large for us!

  • Drip campaigns development and automation
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If you’re interested in learning about Spark451’s SparkAssist options, please reach out to us!