College Admissions and Merit Aid Decisions in the Digital Age

Today – before a single human eye glances at a test score or the opening line of an essay – admission decisions are being pre-sifted by machine, using AI-driven “predictive analytics” fueled by data reaped from the Internet. Colleges rely on these “enrollment management systems” to accurately predict things like an applicant’s intention to enroll, their likelihood to succeed, and their ability to pay. And applicants ignore this new reality at their peril.

The College Funding Coach helps by keeping tabs on exactly what the big-data bots are watching, and making sure you’re giving them the right online content to monitor. It’s the type of knowledge you’d never get from a conventional college planner. But it could well be the difference between making a human impression – or being stopped at the gate by a robot.