Why the Common Data Set Should Be Your New Best Friend
Applying to college can feel like navigating a maze with constantly shifting walls… and to make it even more confusing, the volume of anecdotal information can be overwhelming. Whether it’s those “expert” admissions Instagram accounts or something you heard from another parent while standing on the sidelines at a game, so much of the information that families are bombarded with is only half-true.
Or just straight-up false.
Thankfully, there is an objective source of standardized, verifiable admissions information available for hundreds of U.S. colleges and universities: The Common Data Set (CDS). Rather than relying on a random Reddit sub-thread, the CDS will give you actual facts in an understandable and practical form.
Ok, so what is the Common Data Set (CDS)?
According to the CDS 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”.
Basically, it’s a report card for each college detailing a number of factors related to enrollment, retention and admission.
How do I find the CDS?
I usually just type in the school’s name and Common Data Set into Google (ex: “Boston College Common Data Set”). You may have to look around a bit, my most schools will have a link to a downloadable PDF of their most recent CDS. On the Boston College site that I use in this example, it’s in the upper right hand corner. While the CDS covers everything from student life to faculty demographics, you can skip right to Section C. Section C is where all the most important admissions info is located!
Go see Section C!
Section C is the admissions info jackpot of the CDS. Here are the five most important, insightful subsections:
C1: Enrollment stats. This shows how many students applied and how many were accepted. This is where you can really see the discrepancy between male and female applicants. BC accepted approximately 2800 men and 2800 women, but 6,000 more women applied.
C2: Waitlist info. Not gonna lie: this part is usually pretty dismal. Schools show many students were placed on the WL, how many accepted the spot, and then how many students accepted the spot. BC accepted about 350 of the 4000 kids who accepted a WL spot.
C5: Minimum admissions requirements. This part doesn’t come as a surprise: for most competitive colleges, you’ll need four years of all the core courses. If you have a HS senior who is trying to convince you that he doesn’t need to take science, it’s helpful to show him this chart.
C7: Admissions criteria. This chart dispels many rumors about interviews, demonstrated interest and legacy (or “alumni relation” as stated on CDS). Take a deep dive on this chart! You can see how many factors, from academic rigor to score, from volunteer work to personal character are evaluated. For example, many students seem to think interviews are important, but the CDS shows that the majority of schools do not consider interviews important at all in the admissions process.
C9: Test data. Have I mentioned that I loved the CDS? This part is soooooo good. You’ll see how many admitted students actually submitted test scores. The BC CDS shows that only about 1000 of their 6000 or so admitted students submitted an SAT or ACT. Friends, that’s not a lot. The vast majority of their admitted students were admitted without a score. There’s a chart that breaks down the score analysis of the score-submitters, which are (of course), relatively high. The upward trend in average scores at all schools (not just BC) can be attributed to this phenomenon: scores look higher because only high scorers are submitting them! Don’t get me wrong, I still love for a student to have a nice, high score, but the data shows that - at least on the 24-25 CDS—many students are still going test-optional at highly selective schools like BC.
C21: Early Decision Data. Obviously, only schools that have an ED pathway will report this, and I’ve found that on some schools’ sets, this info is occasionally left out. Still, the vast majority of schools with ED include the ED stats on CDS. And my goodness, this is some very revealing data. BC admitted 1434 out of 4288 ED applicants, making their ED admit percentage 33%, versus 16% overall. The ED applications were admitted at two times the regular rate. Yes, ED is problematic in myriad ways, but that’s a topic for another blog post. That said, CDS clearly reveals the advantage at ED confers.
I hope I’ve turned some of you into data nerds! The college admissions rumor complex is vast and anxiety-producing: my hope is that the hard facts of the CDS will soften some of the stress.
