"Spoilt for choice!"

What’s the good way to bring prospective students into close contact with current students who enthusiastically promote their degree programmes and share information that isn’t easily accessible?

It’s simple: make them moderators and seat them on a university-green interview couch. At both virtual college information evenings on May 18 and 20, Verena Schiche and Christopher Husar joined live from the university’s Celsiuz Transfer Lab to engage in virtual conversations with students, alumni, and faculty members.

“Whether it was business administration, health care management, or Social Work, thanks to intensive preparations and the great willingness of all participants to get involved, we met representatives from every degree programme who were available to answer our questions after their respective one-minute pitches,” says Victoria Hohlfeld, who also hosted the virtual program at the previous college information day.

Verena reports that, leading up to the event, she was primarily interested in culture and management, but through the discussions, communication psychology increasingly came into focus for her.

“This allowed me to ask students and alumni what the highlight of their time at the university was. I found this personal insight fascinating. I’m going to take another look at some of the feedback.”

Both events were streamed live on YouTube and have been available on demand ever since. It was a good concept that went over well with the audience. While an average of over 80 people watched the livestream simultaneously on May 18, it had already racked up 650 views on the university’s YouTube channel by the following day. The broadcast reached similar viewership numbers two days later.

Connection That Makes a Difference

“We’re especially pleased that these events have brought us new subscribers to our HSZG channel,” says Victoria Hohlfeld happily. She emphasizes how important it is at such events to foster a sense of connection between prospective students and the respective program representatives.

Co-host Christopher is also convinced of this. On May 20, at the start of the broadcast—which focused on natural sciences and engineering—he was almost certain he wanted to study applied natural sciences. “Over the course of the evening, however, the many conversations sparked my interest in Molecular Biotechnology, which was then topped off by energy and environmental engineering,” the 19-year-old says with a smile.

In addition to the degree programmes at HSZG, the program also provided in-depth information on other areas: whether it was research, college sports, life and housing in the beautiful “Dreiländereck” region, or the “Come-In” weeks before the start of the academic year, these and similar topics rounded out the program.

Text: Cornelia Rothe, M.A.