Google form vs Dreambound registration

Pursarth Tuladhar

November 14, 2022

Getting the right registration software for your school is important and both Google Forms and Dreambound's registration are useful tools to consider. We've created a short comparison guide so that you can easily compare the two for yourself and find the right tool to manage your registrations and grow your school.

Registration Capabilities:

When evaluating which tool is right for you and your school an essential question to consider is how integrated does your registration process need to be with the rest of your school's operations?

Google Forms:

Google forms has created a strong registration tool for most users in which different types of questions can be added (such as multiple select, and more). Here is a sample view of the California Department of Education’s use of a Google Form. (Suggestion - Here’s how you can easily create and edit Google Form)

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Once the student fills out the form, you can easily track it using Google Spreadsheet. Here we’ll show you how the two tools work together. This might be a great option if you have a lot of time organizing and creating spreadsheets for each course.

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Dreambound Registration:

Managing different students and courses can be challenging, so Dreambound created a registration tool that focuses on the needs of trade school leaders.

Here are some features that can improve and innovate how you handle enrollment

Simple and time-saving way of adding classes - a tool specially designed for schools that allows you to add easily, edit, and manage class schedules.
Track students per course and class schedule - having to go through different spreadsheets or tools won’t be necessary, as all the student data you need are stored and organized for you to be able to manage different rosters.
Dreambound’s goal is for you to be able to focus on essential tasks and eliminate time-consuming tasks.
Collect vital information/document - you can select which information and/or document is vital in the registration process. Students can upload it using the tool. Some examples are a High school diploma or GED certificate as well as Driver's license, permit, or state ID to verify their identity.
Creates a school program page for your school - this would create traffic to your school, increasing the probability of getting more students to enroll. Students can see your class schedule and get a sense of how the program works.

To better explain it, here’s a sample

Here’s a Loom video on how to sign in & add a class. Here’s another one on how to check Enrollments

Payments:

How big of a factor is tracking payments for your school operation? Do you prefer receiving the upfront fee before processing the student’s registration?
Here you’ll see how these tools can assist you with collecting and keeping track of payments.

Google Forms:

Google Forms doesn’t have a feature to accept payments right off the bat; however, if you search online, you’ll be able to see tons of alternatives. If you’re tech-savvy, this is great for you as it will allow you to choose and customize which would work best.

Here are some options:

Adding a link to a third-party website - A simple solution to this is linking a third-party payment website (like PayPal) to your Google Form. The link could be shown once they’re able to complete the form. This is limited though as you can only request a fixed amount using the link. Meaning if you have different courses with different tuition fees, you’ll need to create multiple Google Forms, Google Spreadsheets (To keep track of submissions), and third-party payment links.

Including your payment information - Another one would be adding the details of your PayPal, Cash App, and Bank account information to the Form. You can even add an option where they would need to add a screenshot of the transaction. This is great as you wouldn’t need to have multiple links for the payment and gives the students more options.
Just note that with this one, you’ll need to track each individual student that have made the payment to make sure that it went through and check if they paid the right amount according to the class that they chose.

Use third-party tools - There are tools like Neartail Form builder, a Google Form Add-on, which enable payment within Google Forms with Stripe. This is great and convenient because they won’t have to open other apps/websites to make the payment and it gives the student the option to pay using their Credit/Debit card.

If you’d like an easy approach, this is a good option although they do have additional charges.

Stripe charges you a flat fee plus a percentage of the total amount. On top of it, Neartail charges a 0.5% application fee. This is in addition to the subscription fee of Neartail which costs $12 per month for the basic subscription while the premium subscription costs $27. One of the differences is for the basic subscription, it’s limited to only 100 responses per month while the premium is $27

Dreambound Registration:

Dreambound makes payment effortless. After the student selects a class, they can pay then and there using their credit/debit card. Dreambound will even assist them if they don’t have a card they can use.

They’ll have an option to pay for the class in full while some schools allow payment plans where students can pay midway through their course.
Once the students make the payment, this will then be transferred to you by the method of your choice. It can be a Mail check or Bank transfer.

Dreambound doesn’t have a set-up or subscription fee.

We do have two types of accounts. We have the Free and the Partnered. Here is to better compare it.

Marketing:

Are you interested in marketing your courses online? Do you find it time-consuming or costly?

This might be an essential factor to consider in choosing the right tool that works for you and what you think would be beneficial in the long run.

More and more people rely on the internet to search for information and courses, which is why being visible online is crucial.
This is one of the most significant advantages of Dreambound. You’ll have an SEO-friendly landing page coupled with a world-class online registration flow that would increase student registration and revenue for your school.

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Which one is better?

Both are great and practical tools for getting work done. One can be more timesaving than the other, depending on your needs. Considering the students and how they perceive your business, using these tools is best.
Essential questions to ask are