Selected Posts From the MCD Blog

by Leigh Moore (The pace of our blog will heat up for the next 3 weeks, as I continue my annual tradition of March Madness posts. This year, the posts will align with the kind of information a family should evaluate before the student makes a final decision.) As Moore College Data increasingly focuses on family resources, the most important message I have for parents is this: Be parents. When it’s time to make the final decision, adults need to be in the room—not to choo

Institutional Common Data Sets inform our products with data found nowhere else--Early Decision, waitlist, transfer admissions, and much more are worth the lift.

A lot of us want families to ignore rankings when making college decisions. For those who are willing to do so, where do we direct their

by Brad Pochard Fall 2023 Incoming Classes by Round at Selected Colleges As many of our customers know, my stewardship of Moore College Data follows 22 years on the enrollment side of the admissions desk. Until 2023, I served as Associate Vice President of Enrollment and Dean of Admission at Furman University. Naturally, a number of friends and colleagues expressed surprise when I moved to a new and unique spot in the world of higher ed. Why did I decide to work in data ana

College waitlists are sure to play an enormous role shaping the college Classes of 2028. Looking for waitlist data? Here's the latest!

"Students don’t always attend the most selective college which has admitted them." Every year, I post the above reminder on my personal Facebook page. And, without fail, somebody reaches out and thanks me for writing it—I suppose because that which is intellectually obvious during normal seasons of life can lose meaning when the emotions run high. If you ask a twelfth-grader where they are going to college, remember: your response matters to them. They are sometimes too roa

Hi, friends! I have a three-part blog post for you: Part 1 (for my fellow parents of the Class of 2023) Contextualizing the commitment If you have ever bought a house, you know how much information you are provided en route to the closing. I read recently that the average home purchase requires at least 100 signatures from both buyer and seller. Those signatures, of course, represent acknowledgements of information provided. PLEASE, parents, recognize that, despite the

The culture seems resolved to believe that college admissions is a meritocracy, and I get it. World-class achievers have adhered carefully to the prescribed formulas for success handed down to them by their dream colleges. They follow all the rules, rushing toward the goalpost, and we want to believe their efforts will suffice. Unfortunately, most of them are tackled at the one-yard line, courtesy of a bunch of unwritten rules which were never in their playbooks. Then—becau

Every student brings value to the process, an application “wallet” which holds up to six kinds of admissions currency: 1) the academic record; 2) standardized test scores; 3) extracurricular activities; 4) the ability to pay full price; 5) the commitment to attend if admitted, and 6) the capacity to meet a particular need of an institution. Decent performance on the first two measures alone will all but ensure admission to less selective universities, but what about highl

Defining Your Student's Objectives Hello, Moore College Data subscribers, and welcome to the blog. We decided to move our Viz of the Week to a blog format. Every post will bring you a new data visualization, and sometimes we'll chime in with commentary. Here we go! Defining Objectives--A Tool for Your Student Central to the mission of Moore College Data is redefining "fit" in tangible terms. For a school to be on your student's list, it should pass three tests: Is it affo

The framework of my counseling method in both philosophy and practice was scandalously simple: Every college on a student’s list must pass three tests. Think of these as the “three A’s:” Will the school likely be AFFORDABLE for the student/family? Does it APPEAL to the student, both in terms of quality of life and long-term objectives? Is the student ADMISSIBLE to the institution? Admissible means that the applicant’s academic metrics generally align with those of the existi

Last Updated on November 10, 2020 by Real College Matters What is the most profound thing you’ve ever heard? Who said it to you? Amy Frederick is a fellow mom at my church. She is someone I’ve always respected because of her intellect and character, but I can’t say that our lives leave room for a lot of time together. Anyway, somewhere in the dense church mom-fog between infant room drop-off and mission trip send-off, Amy and I found ourselves in a theological discussion. I d

Last Updated on November 10, 2020 by Real College Matters About six months ago, I wrote a blog post about the most profound thing anyone has ever said to me. Now, I’m going to share the best insight I’ve gleaned from an admissions officer at a highly selective university: “If you all would make some decisions before you apply, we wouldn’t be in this mess. The importance of making choices cannot be overstated as the student approaches senior year. “He’s just going to apply to

Forgive me if I write too much about our older son during the next few weeks. It’s been an emotional year of “lasts,” and his journey through high school has and will continue to inform my counseling practices. Almost three years ago, Bob had just returned home at the end of his first year at boarding school. From my perspective, the kid was living large. In addition to all of his fundamental needs being met, he earned good grades, participated in exciting athletics, and enjo