By Caitlin Nearhood, university intern
Matt McCoy remembers his prospective student experience at Bluffton University well.

“I remember that there was a giant snowstorm,” the junior accounting major said.

However, what made the best impression on him had nothing to do with the snow storm.
“The admissions people were really understanding and willing to show me anything I wanted to see, even in the snow storm, which was cool,” the Archbold native said.

McCoy, who now works in admissions as a student ambassador, understands the joy and anxiety that comes with being an ambassador, and specifically what being a student ambassador is all about.

“Being a student ambassador is to be a representation of the campus values and to be excited for representing the school-it’s important,” he said.

While taking prospective students and their families on a 50-minute to an hour tour of campus, McCoy points out significant parts of campus and answers questions the students or the parents might have about Bluffton and college life in general. He tries to put himself “in their shoes” by relating to them and see whether they would make a great fit on campus.
In his experience, either the students or the parents are more talkative, which can be difficult at times.

“To me, the most difficult families are the non-talkative families. If I have a non-talkative family, I ask more questions related to them to get to know them more so it isn’t boring. With more talkative families, I’ll be more detailed in my descriptions,” he said.

Of the questions asked on tours, the most frequent questions relate to activities to do on the weekends, nearest places to go shopping, and why he decided to attend Bluffton.

“The parents are usually the ones that ask more questions, because they have more experience and know what to ask,” McCoy said.

Not only are student ambassadors involved with each prospective student’s visit, but admission counselors as well as professors and coaches are involved, too, “to give students an insight as to what they could see next in college,” according to McCoy.
For McCoy, Andy Lehman, his admissions counselor, made an impact on him.

“He was outgoing and energetic,” he said.

McCoy also visited a math class professor Steve Harnish was teaching on his visit and remembers how he took time to explain the concepts he taught at the end of the class.
“It was cool because it was good to get to know a professor, and that he was willing to explain was going on in that class afterwards,” he said.

Student ambassadors must also try to accommodate prospective students during overnight visits, though not every ambassador does. McCoy has hosted four prospective students with most of them wanting to be social.

“It’s exciting because they want to partake in what you’re doing,” he said. “I had one student that only wanted to play Xbox in my room, and I had to encourage him to visit other people with me.”

Would he host a student again? “Definitely, it’s interesting showing students your school.”