Data.
What they don't tell you at the Counselor Breakfast
My experience as a director of admissions & admissions officer:
Questions to ask an admissions director (and what they don’t want you to ask):
What is the admit rate for those who apply Early Decision? Early Action? Regular Decision?
If the college offers an ED2 program: what’s the admit rate for ED1 vs. ED2, and what accounts for the difference?
What percentage of the applicant pool applied test optional?
What percentage of admitted pool applied test optional? (A higher percentage here than the applicant pool overall will indicate that the school likely looked more favorably on those who submitted testing — though there could be other reasons at play)
What percentage of enrolled students are recruited athletes? Are most recruited athletes admitted in Early Decision/Early Action or Regular Decision?
What percentage of admitted students have legacy connections? How do you determine legacy?
Is the admissions decision affected by the student’s “demonstrated interest?” How is demonstrated interest taken into account and determined?
What percentage of your Early Decision/Action applicants are deferred to Regular Decision? What is your historic admit rate of those who were deferred and then offered admission?
If the college offers a paid, fly-in program: what percentage of the students who attended the fly-in program are typically later offered admission? Not all students who attended will ultimately apply for admission, but most will.
What percentage of applicants apply for or utilize an application fee waiver?
Do admit rates vary based on the selected school? Do you publish this information for counselors?
Do admit rates vary based on the selection of major? Does the major selection on the application affect admission? (AOs often say in information sessions that students “can apply undecided!” But the real story is that major selection often affects admission — after all, a college can’t have hundreds of computer science majors enrolled in the class when they only have so many faculty teaching those courses.
