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BITS Design School’s student-centric pre-admissions process helps them exceed admissions target by 17%

Learn how BITSDES automated the pre-admissions process to be efficient and student-centric

Time to read: 8 minutes

Smooth lead management, a single-window application process, and tailored communication help BITSDES enhance student engagement along the lifecycle

About BITS

The Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) is a deemed university with a rich history of over sixty years, with five campuses in Pilani, Goa, Hyderabad, Dubai, and the Mumbai metropolitan region. BITS’ mission is to advance knowledge and educate students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century.

The Challenge

Automating the admissions process for efficiency and a better student experience

One of the primary reasons behind BITS’ national reputation is its rigorous intake process built around merit, transparency, and equal opportunity.

The legacy admissions systems in use for the Mumbai campus lacked the flexibility to adapt to changing requirements. Also, it did not support admission events management, and did not integrate with digital advertising platforms, which are key capabilities for any university admission process.

Therefore, when BITS opened the BITS Design School (BITSDES) in Mumbai, they decided to implement Salesforce to meet their technology needs for effective admissions management.

“Salesforce helped us automate and expedite our rigorous admissions process, and make interactions along the lifecycle more student-centric.”

Nandita Abraham

Dean, BITS Design School

How Salesforce Helps

A swift and simple pre-admissions process helps over-achieve applications target by 70%

The pre-admissions process at BITS Design School has now been automated with the implementation of Salesforce Education Cloud. All student leads are captured in one place and nurtured through to enrollment.

Students access an application portal to fill in and submit their application and documents. They can also track their progress here and refer to relevant guidelines. This access to a single portal for their whole journey has greatly simplified the application experience.

For BITSDES, the entire application management processes, ranging from application reviews to shortlists for interviews are managed on one platform. This allows the team to process applications faster. The resultant efficiency has helped manage and enroll more students.

Both the BITSDES team and the applicants now have a single view of documentation, important dates and ongoing interactions. This ensures complete transparency for all stakeholders. Also, the student 360 view that is continually enriched through student interactions helps the BITSDES team respond in a highly personalised manner. This leads to smoother, faster and more fruitful interactions along the application lifecycle.

In the very first run for the latest academic year, this end-to-end automation helped the design school exceed the targeted applications by 70% and class enrolment by 17%.

This was one of the key factors that led to a significant 53% saving in marketing expenditure, that would otherwise have been spent in attracting students for further application rounds.

“Automated processes on Education Cloud help our admissions team function more efficiently and the real-time student 360 enables them to respond faster, in a more personalised manner,” says Nandita Abraham, Dean, BITS Design School. “The platform also makes the application process friendlier and easier for students, helping us create a strong impression from the start.”

“The simplification of our pre-admissions processes on Education Cloud has boosted admissions at the get-go and helped us connect with students early on as a friendly, approachable institution.”

Nandita Abraham

Dean, BITS Design School

Personalising outreach and communication along the student lifecycle

BITSDES constantly communicates with the student community throughout the year. Student outreach spans promotional campaigns for prospective students, communication with existing students about new courses, and alumni about events and executive education.

With Salesforce Marketing Cloud, BITSDES can use the student data and insights from earlier campaigns to design more impactful communication, and target and deliver them effectively. The marketing team can also measure the effectiveness of campaigns in realtime and optimise them immediately.

Next: Automating the admissions process across BITS schools in the Mumbai campus

The pre-admissions processes for the schools of management and law at the Mumbai Campus will soon be entirely on Salesforce, including a soon-to-be-launched executive education programme at the school of management. Encouraged by this year’s success, the team is likely to increase student intake goals for the schools of design and law in the next cycle.

The Salesforce Difference

Transparency and student-centricity have been foundational principles of the BITS philosophy since its establishment. By enabling teams to adhere to these values while also boosting their efficiency and responsiveness during the critical pre-admissions process, Salesforce has emerged as a long-term partner on the BITS mission to shape students that best serve the nation and the world.