Live Session - Goin’ for Domestics: How Community Drives Domestic Student Conversion

Domestic students need community too, and universities are starting to act on it

When universities talk about pre-arrival community, the conversation usually starts with international students.

That makes sense. They are moving countries, navigating visas, finding housing, and adjusting to a new culture. But focusing only on that group misses something important: domestic students are also making a major transition, and many are doing it with just as much uncertainty.

That was the focus of our recent Goin’ for Domestics live session, where we explored how student community can support domestic student conversion, belonging, and better decision-making before arrival.

The discussion brought together perspectives from university recruitment, marketing, and strategy, and made one thing very clear: domestic students are not a passive group that simply “shows up.” They have questions, doubts, social needs, and decision barriers too.

Meet the speakers

The session featured a panel with experience across different markets and institutional perspectives:

Ana Mendizabal, International Marketing Advisor at Utrecht University, shared how Utrecht expanded its community approach to include domestic students and what they have learned from doing so.

Penny Kossifos, Head of UK Student Recruitment at King’s College London, brought deep experience from both King’s and her earlier work at UCL, where Goin’ was introduced as part of student recruitment and community-building efforts.

Mark Pettitt, CEO of Edified, joined from Australia and added a broader sector perspective on recruitment behaviour, decision-making, and the changing expectations of domestic students.

The session was hosted by Lars Molenaar, co-founder of Goin’, who led the discussion around what universities are seeing in their own communities and how domestic engagement connects to both recruitment and retention.

What you’ll take away from the session

Here’s a snapshot of what the session unpacks in more detail that universities will want to hear in full:

1. Domestic students may be more uncertain than institutions think
The panel discussed how doubt, hesitation, and late decision-making are often more visible in domestic cohorts than universities expect.

2. Community does not need to be split to work
The session challenges the assumption whether domestic and international students should sit in separate communities, and what happens when universities let students shape the experience more organically.

3. Peer-led spaces work best when they feel authentic
One of the clearest takeaways was that over-involving staff can kill the thing universities are trying to create. Students need a space that feels like theirs.

4. Different student groups use community differently
Not every student needs the same level of interaction. Some want broad visibility and lots of connections. Others are looking for a smaller number of deeper, more meaningful peer relationships.

5. This is not only a support story. It is a strategy story
The session touched on how community can help universities think differently about recruitment, access, conversion, and the student journey as a whole.

Watch the session on demand

The full session is now available to watch on demand.

If you work in student recruitment, conversion, widening participation, onboarding, or student success, this is worth your time. The discussion moves beyond assumptions and gets into the real questions universities are asking:

• Do domestic students actually need this kind of support?
• Should domestic and international students be in the same community?
• What kinds of outcomes are universities seeing?
• How do you do this without making the space feel institutional or forced?

Watch the full session on demand here:

What came through clearly in the discussion

One of the strongest themes in the session was that universities often underestimate how much uncertainty domestic students carry into the decision-making process.

That uncertainty may look different from the international experience, but it is still there. In some cases, universities are seeing up to 40% of admitted domestic students still unsure about their decision. It can show up in concerns about moving to a new city, finding housing, managing finances, commuting, making friends, or simply figuring out whether the university and programme feel right.

Ana explained that at Utrecht University, this became increasingly clear once they looked beyond the assumption that domestic students already “know the system.” In reality, many are still making a major life change, and some groups need more support than institutions expect. That includes students moving away from home for the first time, first-generation students, and students who may be considered “local” on paper but are entering a very unfamiliar environment in practice.

Penny reinforced this from a UK perspective. Domestic students may arrive with a shortlist of preferred universities, but that does not mean they feel settled or confident. In many cases, the deciding factors are not academic. They are social and practical. Students want to know what life will feel like, whether they will find their people, and how manageable the transition will really be.

Mark added an important point from the Australian context: domestic students are often assumed to need less support, but in practice they may be less likely to ask for it. That makes early, peer-led connection even more important.

The social side of decision-making is still underestimated

A key insight from the session was the reminder that student choice is not purely rational.

Prospective students compare courses, costs, rankings, and locations. But when it comes to making the final decision, emotion plays a major role. Feeling comfortable. Feeling wanted. Feeling like you can imagine yourself there.

That is where peer connection matters.

Throughout the discussion, the panel returned to the same idea: students often trust other students in a way they do not trust institutions. Universities can provide information, but peer conversations bring that information to life. They reduce anxiety, make the experience feel real, and help students test whether a place fits.

That matters for international students. But it matters for domestic students too.

Why this matters beyond conversion

This session was not just about recruitment.

Again and again, the conversation pointed toward a bigger institutional issue: students are under pressure from the moment they arrive. They are expected to perform academically while also building a social life, settling into a new routine, and adjusting to a completely new environment.

When students arrive already feeling isolated or unsure, the pressure compounds fast.

That is why the panel spoke not only about conversion, but also about retention, belonging, and student wellbeing. Helping students build social confidence earlier can remove pressure from the start and create a much stronger foundation for success once term begins.

Change the narrative of the domestic student journey 

A lot of universities are still treating domestic recruitment and student community as separate conversations.That is a mistake.

The institutions moving fastest are starting to recognise that belonging begins before arrival, In some cases, universities are seeing up to 40% of admitted domestic students still unsure about their decision.and that domestic students are not exempt from uncertainty just because they live in the same country.

If you are exploring how to better support domestic students before arrival, or how to strengthen conversion without piling more work onto staff, the full conversation is worth watching.

Or, if you want to see how this works in practice, book a walkthrough of the platform and see how universities are already applying this approach.