Data-Informed Tips to Understand College Admissions: Part 2
Today’s post is part two about understanding admissions data and how you can use this information in creating an effective college list. In part one I discussed some of the important data points admission officers use in understanding their enrollment funnel, pictured below. I invite you to review part 1 to acquaint yourself with some of the terms, including “yield”.
A typical college admissions funnel. I’ve added “Melt” because some schools are looking at this data point very closely.
Now I’ll help you understand where to find some of this data utilizing a school’s Common Data Set (CDS). With my clients, I use a proprietary platform called College Planner Pro. This system makes it super fast and easy for me to look up important data about thousands of schools. But much of this data is available for anyone and just takes some knowledge and time to find.
The Common Data Set
Pulled from the CDS Initiative website, “The Common Data Set (CDS) initiative is a collaborative effort among data providers in the higher education community and publishers as represented by the College Board, Peterson’s, and U.S. News & World Report. The combined goal of this collaboration is to improve the quality and accuracy of information provided to all involved in a student’s transition into higher education, as well as to reduce the reporting burden on data providers.”
Each school’s CDS is divided into various sections, labeled from A to J. Here are the main sections and what you can learn from them:
A. General Information: Basic information about the school, including its location, type (public/private), and academic calendar.
B. Enrollment and Persistence: Data on the school's enrollment, including the number of full-time students, graduation rates, and retention rates.
C. First-Time, First-Year (Freshman) Admission: Information about the admissions process, including application fees, test score requirements, and acceptance rates.
D. Transfer Admission: Similar to section C, but focused on transfer students.
E. Academic Offerings and Policies: Overview of academic programs offered, special study options, and important academic policies.
F. Student Life: Insights into campus life, including data on housing, extracurricular activities, and demographics of the student body.
G. Annual Expenses: Information on tuition, fees, room, and board. This section helps families estimate the cost of attending.
H. Financial Aid: Details about the types and amounts of financial aid available, as well as the average financial aid package.
I. Instructional Faculty and Class Size: Data on faculty numbers, student-to-faculty ratios, and class sizes.
J. Disciplinary Areas of Degrees Conferred: Numbers of degrees awarded by program area.
I’m going to focus on Section C which provides very useful admission data for first-time, first-year college students and use actual school data.
Let’s start with a popular state school in Colorado - Colorado State University. You can locate their CDS by searching for “Colorado State University common data set”. I’ll link to it here.
Section C1 gives you the overall admission numbers as you can see in the table below.
Colorado State University Common Data Set information for fall 2022: Table C1
Using this information, we can calculate two important data points - admission rate and yield.
Admission rate is calculated as the number of students admitted divided by the number of students who applied.
Yield is number of students who enroll divided by the number of students who were admitted.
Looking at the above table, we would calculate this information for CSU as follows:
Admission Rate: (29,943/32,994) = 90.7%
Yield: (5,571/29,943) = 18.6%
Let’s take a look at another popular state school - University of Washington. A snip of their table C1 is below…
University of Washington (Seattle) common data set information for fall 2022: Table C1
You’ll notice that this table is slightly different from the CSU table but we can still find the information we need, namely the admission rate and yield.
Admission rate (full-time): (24,942/52,488) = 47.5%
Yield (full-time): (7,340/24,942) = 29.4%
Finally let’s look at a highly selective, private institution - Emory University in Atlanta, GA.
Emory University Common Data Set information for fall 2022: Table C1
A quick look at the table tells you that the numbers are going to tell a different story.
Admission rate: (3,767/33,179) = 11.3%
Yield: (1,424/3,767) = 37.8%
You now know how to find important admissions information for any school you are interested in and use it in creating an effective college list. I invite you to look up the CDS information for some schools you are interested in and talk about it as a family. What do the numbers tell you and how can it help you in creating your college list? Of course these numbers are just part of the story and we will continue in part 3 of my admissions data post coming next week.
When you look at the above CDS data, are there any numbers that surprise you or have potential consequences for society? (Hint: take a look at the application numbers for men and women at all three schools.)
Do you have any particular schools or information you’d like to find? How is this information helpful to you? Let me know in the comments below or reach out to me directly at mark@mastalskicoaching.com.
I empower college-curious and college-bound students and families with the knowledge, tools, and confidence for college success. I will guide you through the complexities of college admissions and beyond, so you can create your boundless life.
Have a question or comment? Please leave it in the comment section below or contact me at mark@mastalskicoaching.com.
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