It’s a fair question for any admissions or communications office weighing a video budget: does video actually move the needle on applications, or is it just a nice-to-have? We can point to one clear data point from our own client work.
When The Rivers School, an independent day school near Boston, refreshed its admissions video strategy, applications rose 40% the following cycle. This in turn led to a highly qualified admissions pool, due to a delicate strategy and precise messaging.
The films leaned on real students, faculty, and campus life rather than a generic sales pitch. Rivers had been producing a video on their own for years, but brought Crowley Digital in to elevate the production value, without losing the homey vibe of the concept … Rivers Is.
That result lines up with what most admissions and marketing offices are already noticing anecdotally: families increasingly research schools the way they research anything else online, by watching before they call or visit. A short campus film or trailer gives a family a sense of a school’s culture in two minutes that a viewbook or website copy struggles to convey in ten pages. It’s not a replacement for a campus visit, but it’s very often what gets a family to book one.
What this means in practice for a school’s admissions strategy is fairly specific. The video that seems to move applications isn’t a highlight reel of the building or a corporate-style overview; it’s grounded in real students and faculty describing, in their own words, what the experience is actually like. It’s honest about what makes the school different rather than generic.
If you’re an admissions or advancement office weighing whether a video refresh is worth the investment, the Rivers School result is a useful benchmark rather than a guarantee. Video isn’t magic, but a well-made admissions film, built around real students and a specific, honest story, is one of the more measurable levers a school has for moving application numbers.
