Laredo, Texas 12/17/09
Focus Group #2
United High School Students
Hispanic Honors (6 – All Juniors)
All students were of Hispanic background
All spoke Spanish
A few of the students had parents who went to college. Most of them in Mexico.
Some of their parents are much more open to them going away to college than
others
Laredo was described as a “ditch” or a “hole” they want to get out of
Careers they are interested in following:
o Forensic science
o Border patrol
o Mechanic
o Medicine
o Criminal law
They have been researching the following schools:
o University of Michigan
o University of Chicago
o Texas A&M University – Corpus Christy
o University of Texas at San Antonio
o Texas A&M University
o University of Texas at Austin
o Texas State University
o Rice University
o Baylor University
o University of Notre Dame
Reasons to go to college:
o To be successful
o Want to give to their parents what they weren’t able to give them
o Want a better life
o Don’t want to struggle like their parents have struggled
Tools used to research colleges:
o Counselors
o Teachers
o CollegeBoard.com
o College fairs
o Internet
1
o Princeton Review
Big college vs. Small college
o Bigger schools have better quality of professors
o Small schools offer better student attention and smaller classes
o Small schools lack the recognition that larger ones have, and therefore,
their degrees might not be as valuable when applying for jobs
Most important factors in considering schools:
o School recognition
o Amount of aid
o Where will that school take me in life? Value of the degree
o Distance from home
Not too close, but not too far
Paying for college
o They all need financial aid and scholarships in order to be able to pay for
college
Factors that could prevent them from going to college:
o Cost
ASU
o No recognition at all
o Arizona State University
The 30 second Theater spot
o Successful college
o Only one noticed it was in San Angelo
Still, she didn’t know where that was
o Affordable
o Looked much like all other college ads
o Inspired curiosity to research it further in some
o A few caught the website but they said it could have been clearer
o Too fast
o They gave it a 7 out of 10
ASU Video
o Lots of majors offered
o Good student/professor ratio
o Looks like a big high school – positive!
o Friendly / Comfortable / Homey
o Affordable
o Convincing
2
o Stress free
o Nice dorms
o They will definitely consider it
o Recognition is a problem, not well known
o They gave it a 9/10
Suggestions for information missing in the video
o Cost
ASU Brochures
o Over 100 majors offered
o Princeton Review
o Acceptance rate of medical school students is impressive
o International studies is appealing
o Much more affordable than other schools
Association with Texas Tech University
o They picked up on this during the video
o This means that it is recognized by larger schools
Very positive!
Name change
o Texas Tech at San Angelo would make it more popular
o It would attract many more students
o It would give it the recognition that it lacks
o However, they are concerned that the school would grow too much and
lose the small school and small classes that are appealing to them
o Changing the name to San Angelo University was not liked, because they
think that losing the “State” in the name brings it down to the level of a
community college
“State” gives is authority
Best things about ASU:
o Hands on learning
o Nice campus
o The city seem to welcome you
o Student / professor ratio
o Advanced and high tech
o Athletics
o Friendly environment
3