Insights from the Inside: “It Just Felt Right”: What Students Really Care About—and How to Actually Find Out

By Allison Turcio

If you ask a student why they chose a college, more often than not you’ll hear some version of, “It just felt right.”

Meanwhile, we in higher ed love to believe college choice is driven by carefully weighed pros and cons, neat comparisons of ROI, and rational cost-benefit analysis. It’s not. Even cost, which is arguably the most rational factor, is felt. Students need to feel assured that the investment (and yes, the debt) is worth it. Merit scholarships? They make students feel valued.

(Special shoutout to all the financial aid professionals who have to smile through the classic line: “But College X gave me more money” when you know full well your net cost is lower.)

But here’s the thing: none of this has to be a mystery. You don’t have to guess what’s behind that “felt right” moment. You can find out  and you can do it in-house with the people, tools, and data you already have.

FEEL > FACTS

Too often, we sit in conference rooms speculating about what students care about like “they want career outcomes,” “they’re worried about debt,” “they’re choosing based on rankings” without actually asking them or looking at what they’re telling us in plain sight. We want to believe students pick a college because of outcomes, rankings, and tuition calculators. But the decision is deeply emotional.

Students ask themselves:

• Do I belong here?
• Do they see my potential?
• Does this feel worth it?

When you understand what drives those feelings, you can market smarter, communicate better, and (most importantly) deliver on what you promise.

Yes, hire the consultant. Yes, do the big research study. But don’t use them as an excuse to wait. You can (and should) be getting smarter about what drives student decisions constantly. Even if it’s just for your own understanding of your audience, or to build empathy for what they’re feeling, it will make every conversation, every campaign, and every campus experience you shape that much stronger.

1. Talk to the People Who Talk to Students Every Day

Your admissions counselors, financial aid officers, and even your tour guides are sitting on a goldmine of insights. Ask them:

• What are the top 3 questions they’re hearing?
• What objections or hesitations come up over and over?
• What surprises them about what students care about?

You’ll find patterns fast and you’ll uncover some misconceptions. (Case in point: “fancy dorms” may not matter as much as “Can I pick my roommate?” or “How late is the dining hall open?”).

2. Actually Ask Students And Listen to What They Don’t Say Out Loud

Surveys, focus groups, and even quick post-tour pulse checks can reveal more than you think, but don’t just ask, “Why did you choose us?” That question will only get you what they think you want to hear. Instead, ask things like:

• What almost stopped you from choosing us?
• What made you say yes?
• When did it start to feel like this was the right place for you?

And don’t forget social listening. Students are telling the world what they think on TikTok, Reddit, and Instagram. They’re comparing your campus food, bragging about scholarships, and yes, complaining about your parking situation.

3. Dig Into the Data You Already Have

So much of this is already sitting in your systems if you know how to look:

• Tour & Event Behavior: Which events convert best? Who RSVPs but no-shows?
• Marketing Campaign Data: Which emails or social ads get the highest engagement? Which CTAs are students clicking on?
• Financial Aid Data: What’s the scholarship amount where yield jumps? (That’s not just financial; that’s emotional perceived value.)
  
• Enrollment & Retention Data: Are the things you’re promising in marketing aligning with what keeps students enrolled?

Even web analytics can tell a story. If “career outcomes” is one of your top-visited pages, students are telling you what they want to feel confident about.

4. Don’t Ignore the Families

Parents, guardians, and influencers matter, too. In-depth interviews or just listening to what they ask on tours can uncover a lot. And sometimes, their language reveals the emotional undercurrent:

• “We need to feel like she’ll be safe here.”
• “We want to feel like this is worth the debt.”
• “He felt like people cared about him here.”

That word—feel—comes up constantly. Pay attention to it.

Start Small. Start Tomorrow.

You don’t need a 40-page research report to get better at understanding your students. You can:

• Ask your admissions team one new question this week.
• Read 10 recent tour surveys (or better yet, shadow a tour!) 
• Scroll TikTok or Reddit for 20 minutes with fresh eyes.
• Pull your top-clicked marketing emails and look for themes.

Do that, and you’ll already be making more student-centered decisions than most of your competitors.

Because here’s the truth: college choice is not just about who has the lowest tuition, the nicest dorms, or even the best career outcomes on paper. It’s about how a student feels when they picture themselves on your campus.

The good news is you can find out what drives that feeling. You just have to be willing to ask, listen, and look in the right places.