Best questions for student survey about orientation experience

Here are some of the best questions for a student survey about orientation experience, plus tips to make each one count. You can generate your own survey with Specific in seconds—making it simple to get feedback that matters.

What are the best open-ended questions for student survey about orientation experience?

We love open-ended questions because they let students share their real thoughts, not just pick from a list. They’re perfect when you want honest reflections and stories—insight you’d never get from flat options. Open-ended questions are especially useful after major events (like orientation) or when you want context, suggestions, or nuanced opinions that can uncover what’s working and what’s not. When students are trusted to express themselves, you get valuable detail and, often, actionable feedback—exactly what’s needed to improve programs.

1. What part of the orientation did you find most helpful, and why?

2. How did the orientation experience shape your expectations for the year?

3. If you could change one thing about orientation, what would it be?

4. Describe a moment during orientation that made you feel welcomed (or unwelcome).

5. What information or resources were you hoping to get but didn’t?

6. Tell us about any challenges you faced during orientation.

7. How do you feel about your ability to connect with other students during orientation?

8. Was there a part of orientation that surprised you? Please explain.

9. What advice would you give to someone organizing orientation next time?

10. Anything else you wish we had asked about your orientation experience?

Open-ended questions can deliver unexpected insights—some of the best process improvements come from comments no one anticipated. By letting the conversation flow, we invite honesty and depth. A recent survey showed that while 29% of undergraduates rated their orientation as excellent, a larger group (44%) called it only good, indicating there’s plenty to improve if we dig deeper with the right questions. [4]

What are the best single-select multiple-choice questions for student survey about orientation experience?

Single-select multiple-choice questions are perfect when you need to quantify responses or want to kick off a conversation. For many students, it’s easier to choose from clear, concise options—this lowers friction, helps you spot trends, and often acts as a springboard for smart follow-up questions. They’re fast for students and help you quickly benchmark what’s working in your orientation program.

Some examples of strong multiple-choice questions:

Question: How would you rate your overall orientation experience?

• Excellent

• Good

• Fair

• Poor

Question: Which orientation session did you find most useful?

• Academic advising

• Campus tour

• Social events

• Resource fair

• Other

Question: Did you feel welcomed by staff and current students during orientation?

• Yes, definitely

• Somewhat

• No

When to follow up with "why?" It’s smart to pose a follow-up when students pick an unexpected option or when their choice needs clarification. For example, if a student rates orientation as "Fair", asking “Why did you rate it this way?” opens the door for valuable detail and saves you from guessing what went wrong.

When and why to add the "Other" choice? Add an “Other” option when you think your list of choices might miss unique experiences. A thoughtful follow-up lets students elaborate, often uncovering new areas to improve—contributions you’d miss without this flexibility.

NPS-style question for student survey about orientation experience

The Net Promoter Score (NPS) question—“How likely are you to recommend this orientation to another new student?” (on a 0–10 scale)—is a simple but powerful way to gauge overall satisfaction and engagement. It’s actionable, benchmarks well across groups, and if you add follow-ups (“What’s the main reason for your score?”), it gives depth behind the number. For student orientation, it quickly separates advocates from detractors, and helps you prioritize feedback for real improvement. Try the ready-made NPS survey for students about orientation experience to see how it works in action.

The power of follow-up questions

Great surveys go deeper. That’s why we build automated follow-up questions directly into each survey. When you let an AI ask real-time, contextual follow-ups, you unlock richer insights—no more generic or half-finished answers. Studies show that personalized communication and timely follow-up can dramatically improve both the speed and quality of responses. For example, proactive touchpoints (like a quick call before the survey) reduced the need for reminders and got answers back a week faster. [1]

• Student: “The social events were okay.”

• AI follow-up: “What could have made the social events more enjoyable or useful for you?”

Without that follow-up, you have no idea if “okay” means boring, stressful, or just too short—so you can’t act on feedback. Follow-ups make a huge difference.

How many followups to ask? Generally, 2–3 follow-ups per question are plenty. You want enough detail to act, without overwhelming the student. It’s also smart to let people skip to the next question once you’ve gathered what you need—Specific lets you set this up easily.

This makes it a conversational survey: When every reply gets a thoughtful response, the whole survey feels like a helpful chat—not a dull form.

Survey analysis with AI: Even with tons of free-text feedback, AI can sort and analyze responses instantly—and you can analyze responses with AI in one place. No more sifting through walls of text by hand.

These new, automated followups are changing the game—try generating your own survey to see for yourself how much clearer and more actionable your feedback becomes.

How to prompt ChatGPT for great orientation experience survey questions

If you’re experimenting with AI tools like ChatGPT or Specific’s AI survey generator, start with a clear and targeted request. Here’s how:

Start simple, like:

Suggest 10 open-ended questions for student survey about orientation experience.

But you’ll get better results with more context. Try:

Our university recently launched a new student orientation, and we want detailed, actionable feedback. Suggest 10 open-ended questions to uncover what works, where we can improve, and how students feel about their overall experience, logistics, and sense of belonging.

Now let the AI group your questions:

Look at the questions and categorize them. Output categories with the questions under them.

Check the categories—maybe “Belonging”, “Logistics”, and “Event quality” stand out. Then go deeper:

Generate 10 questions for categories "Sense of belonging" and "Event quality".

Refine until the list fits your goals. Add them to Specific’s AI survey editor for instant, easy refinements.

What is a conversational survey?

Conversational surveys are designed to feel like a back-and-forth chat, not a stilted form. A smart AI agent asks your questions, and—crucially—responds with personalized follow-ups to clarify, probe, or simply keep things moving. This is the core of a modern AI survey experience.

Let’s compare manual survey creation versus using an AI survey builder or generator like Specific:

Why use AI for student surveys? AI survey builders like Specific take away the biggest headaches—no more endless tinkering, no more missed context, and no more data wrangling. You get expert-level questions, dynamic follow-up, intelligent analysis, and a feedback experience that feels natural for both creators and students.

We’ve found that using a conversational approach massively increases the engagement and candor of responses. And when you’re ready to dive into the results, Specific gives you best-in-class tools to explore and make sense of your data. See how to create a survey about orientation experience step-by-step—no guesswork, just good conversations.

See this orientation experience survey example now

Get real, actionable feedback with a survey that feels like a conversation. Gather deeper, clearer insights, save time, and experience the next generation of student surveys—see what’s possible and try it out today.