Qualified scholars established Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University to provide quality education to contribute to the development of society. IZU aims for internationalization, to be one of the world’s most prominent and comprehensive universities. Its strengths are in social sciences and humanities, and it has excellent engineering and architecture departments.
IZU started working with DreamApply in 2017. They invested in a well-functioning and user-friendly application management system as the first step towards internationalization. Since then, this forward-thinking university has grown internationally in quite a unique way.
How were things done before DreamApply?
Before implementing DreamApply, we had an in-house developed system. The previous system worked fine, but it did not offer much functionality. Our number of applications was increasing, and it was easy to foresee that we would need a better one.
Like many of DreamApply’s clients, IZU’s system worked, although it was not built for long-term use or for the number of incoming applications they started receiving.
Why did IZU decide to use DreamApply as your application management system?
In our internationalization strategy, IZU had three main priorities:
- Grow the number of enrolled international students.
- Increase the quality of international students and applicants to reach our ideal candidates.
- Increase our financial gain.
DreamApply stood out as the perfect solution at a reasonable price that would reduce the workload of an already-busy admissions and IT staff. Similarly, it improved the enrollment process for international students that was otherwise difficult to navigate for both staff and students.
The flexibility of DreamApply enabled IZU to tailor it in a way that streamlines their unique international student recruitment policy.
What internationalization strategy achievements does IZU report after implementing DreamApply?
We asked IZU staff whether they saw notable changes in their enrollment and overall activities since implementing DreamApply, and these were their findings:
- Compared to last year, our international applicants have grown by +96%, and our enrolled international students have grown by +46%.
- We have been able to be more selective among our applicants. Ultimately, we are enrolling only the students we believe are a good fit for our academic experience. We are also happier with the quality of their studies and cultural background.
- We have been able to lower the fee waivers and scholarships offered to applicants while growing the number of enrolled students. For us, this has meant growing our financial gain. This is very important for us, being a foundation university.
- Our response time has decreased compared to the past, and to the time other universities take to respond. We take less than a month to send an official response to our applicants.
- Inside the DreamApply platform, we have discovered which marketing campaigns work better for us. We have discovered that a good combination of personal references, study fairs, and online marketing works wonders.
Implementing DreamApply meant tremendous success in terms of productivity, increase in student numbers, financial stability, and it simultaneously made students feel more important and engaged throughout the application process. IZU is now among that small percentage of universities that takes very little time to respond to a foreign application officially, and is only a part of what makes them great.
See Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University live: https://apply.izu.edu.tr/
About DreamApply
Founded in 2011 in Estonia, DreamApply is an innovation-driven EdTech organization improving access to education around the globe. DreamApply’s application management software helps more than 300 educational institutions across 40 countries improve admissions, marketing, scholarship management and other internal processes.
DreamApply’s easy-to-use and customizable software increases student enrollment by 30% and reduces application processing time by 40%. With features designed with and for educational institutions, and integrations with commonly used systems, DreamApply empowers teams to get more done with less effort.
Continue exploring by requesting your free, personalized demo.
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