<p>Inside Baylor University's admissions office, almost anything is quantifiable. When a high-school student calls, an admissions representative ranks the student as soon as he or she hangs up the telephone. Callers who happen to mention that Baylor is their top choice get a 1 (on a five-point scale). If they seem likely to apply, they receive a 2. Those who are not sure about Baylor, but are somewhat interested? They get a 3.</p>
<p>The university records and rates every bit of correspondence with each prospective applicant. This fall even student tour guides have begun to assign scores to high-school students who give any hints of interest in Baylor....</p>
<p>Mr. Steen's [ass't vp of admissions] staff enters this information into a database called Bearhaus, which allows admissions officers to keep track of all their communications with students. The database uses statistical models to interpret the numbers, assigning each student an overall score that tells Baylor how likely he or she is to apply, and later, to enroll.</p>
<p>The models also cross-reference demographics and information about a student's academic profile in assigning scores. That way, students who are highly sought after can be identified, sometimes so the college can recruit them more aggressive....</p>
<p>Don Munce, president of the admissions-research center, says colleges are buying more ...names each year. At large public universities, those lists can have between 50,000 and 150,000 names, and private universities on average purchase lists of about 20,000 names….</p>
<p>I'm wondering why Baylor, a school that accepts something like 70% of applicants, really needs to put this much effort into the process of keeping track.</p>
<p>I think Baylor is unusual in the comprehensiveness of their model. I've attended conferences where they presented this system, but I haven't heard of many other schools who try to gauge level of interest. I ever formally polled some of our top research peers (public and private) and most said they had found no way to reliably use "interest" as a variable in their yield models.</p>
<p>Now what is true is that when you're a prospect, colleges may gauge your likelihood of application. If they got your name from student search, you're not as strong a prospect as someone who sent in test scores. That may influence things like whether or not they bother sending a rep to your high school, or whether you'll be mailed a simple brochure vs. a glossy viewbook. But that's not as involved as what Baylor does. It's all pre-application stuff....once you apply, you're as good a prospect as anyone else.</p>
<p>I can see its value to Baylor as a powerful predictive tool for yield. It also helps them use their resources effectively--not wasting too much time "recruiting" people who are planning to come anyway, or trying to recruit people who probably will never apply (or enroll if admitted). Instead they can deploy resources where their efforts may best pay off.</p>
<p>I'm not sure this is "a very depressing" study (?). It's very nerdy, a number-crunchers dream. But depressing?</p>
<p>College is a business (albeit nominally non-profit) and isn't Baylor a private school? Why is anybody surprised about this? Academics is quantifiable, enthusiasm is much harder to determine. Having a class of students that is strong academically and enthusiastic about attending is every admissions director's dream. The surprise to me is that this practice is not more widely followed.</p>
<p>As for why Baylor, which admits most of its applicants, wants to know which applicants are really interested, it is surely trying to raise its stats by enticing high-stat applicants who prefer Baylor for whatever reason. It has a graduation rate problem as well as a yield problem </p>
<p>I'm with Cowtipper....most kids who would be inclined to read such an article are more sophisticated than we give them credit for. They already understand the need to show interest, and now that they can see in black and white that SOME schools guage and validate interest in this manner I suspect many many admission offices across the country will have their phones ringing off the hook. Their ears will also be ringing from hearing "you're my #1 choice!!" Just another level of 'the game' to kids, and once they beat this level as well, the colleges will find that they were beaten at their own game as far as yield is concerned. Absurd!!!</p>
<p>Seems to me that if a kid is motivated enough to call the admissions office, that is already one Big Positive Sign of Interest in the school's direction!</p>
<p>The most depressing data being collected by colleges, IMO, was not even discussed: finanacial information. Everything they are doing with admissions data, you can bet they are doing with financial data provided through FAFSA, CSS, and supplemental forms. The colleges have complete financial information on their customers. They know exactly what price the market will bear.</p>