Description

The Admissions Data Source underpins three separate dashboards with varying objectives: the Undergraduate Admissions, Graduate Admissions, and Admissions Lists dashboards.

Key Business Questions

The Undergraduate and Graduate Admissions dashboards can be used for answering a number of questions, such as:

The Admissions List dashboard is helpful for answering questions such as:

Admissions Dashboards Usage Guide

The Undergraduate and Graduate Admissions dashboards function similarly with respect to their filtering capabilities and available views (Overview, Admissions Funnel Details, Academic Profile, and Demographic Profile).

Individuals may customize any of the dashboard tabs. For example, you can broaden the scope of terms, add demographic filter type, and more. Due to the complex nature of the admissions data source, we suggest reaching out to the Analytics Team, through a Help Desk ticket or an Analytics Doctor Appointment, if you have specific questions regarding customizations.

Note that some of the data fields are restricted. If you don't have access to restricted student mart data columns, these fields will appear as 'Null' or empty values. If access is needed, please see Federated Authorization.

Filters

For each dashboard within the Undergraduate and Graduate Admissions workbooks, you can improve the speed and performance by selecting your typical filters (school (program), comparison type, etc.) and saving it as a custom view. Click on the filter icon to reveal the menu. The filters will drill down to the admissions population you’d like to compare. Note that pre-filtering the population and saving this as a custom view will enhance performance speed.

Open

View the selected comparison type in the title box after hiding the settings and filter menu.

 

Open

The drop-down menu options in filters often rely on other filter selections. For, if you chose the ‘UPB’ campus, this will reduce the drop-down options for the ‘Application Center' filter. The filters that are related to others in the menu are boxed within the same color.

Applicant vs. Application Counts

Because one applicant may submit any number of applications, the dashboards provide the data per applicant count and per application count. You may toggle between the applicant/application views as shown within the descriptions of the dashboard below.

Open

Toggle between “applicant” and “application” data.

Timing Matters!

When viewing admissions data, it’s important to consider both the the comparison type you’ve selected and the time of year. The admissions cycle and enrollment calendar follow different patterns, therefore you must keep in mind which comparison type you selected, where we are in the admissions cycle, and if the comparison type’s data overlaps with the enrollment calendar’s data. More details regarding about data snapshots are available here.

Viewing the comparison types below highlights important differences. Read through the image captions. With the examples' data update falling in December, enrollment data will look particularly strange and highlights the disconnect of admissions cycle to enrollment calendar.

Open

Week-to-week comparison type shows the data as of the same week count from the previous years. In this example, you can see that December’s charts do not provide enrollment data because the admissions week in question doesn’t overlap with the Fall Term enrollment calendar.

Open

The Most Recent comparison type will provide today’s admissions data for each term. A December data upload’s numbers will look odd for enrolled counts because the previous years' enrollment calendars overlap with today’s admissions data upload. The future Fall Term’s enrollment calendar does not overlap with December admissions data.

Open

The Term Census comparison type shows data frozen when the data upload date matches the term’s census date. September 28 is the Fall term census date. In December, the future fall term’s census date has not passed. Therefore the graphs are presenting the “most recent data” in the image above.

Admissions Overview & Funnel Details

The Admissions Overview and Funnel Details tabs chart and count applications or applicants through the funnel stages: application, admit, deposited, and enrolled. Conversion rates are shown in a chart or table, allowing for quick visuals and calculations for reports and presentations. Both tabs provide three years of comparison that changes as you select different comparison types.

These dashboards provide information for three comparison years, the current admissions cycle and two years prior. The Overview tab charts applicant or application counts for a single comparison type at a time: ‘Week-to-week,’ ‘Term Census,’ and ‘Most Recent’ data comparisons. Meanwhile, the Funnel Details present all comparison types at once with calculations for admit, melt, and yield rates.

It is important to remember that both tabs present the most current data if the term census date has not been reached for the term in question. For the impact of your comparison type and the data upload date, see the Timing Matters section above.

Open

Admissions Overview

Open

Admissions Funnel Details

Academic & Demographic Profiles

The Academic Profile tab provides a three-year comparison of applicants' test scores at the various stages of the admissions funnel. Like the other dashboards within the Admissions workbooks, you may select one of three comparison types: Admissions Week, Term Census, or Most Recent. Different from the other Admissions Dashboard tabs, the academic data exists per applicant and not per application. You can see below that there is not an option to toggle back and forth between applicant and application views.

 

Open

To change the test results, click on the Filter icon.

 

Open

To change the test results and related test components, click on the Exam icon.

The Demographic Profile tab provides visualizations of applicants or applications based on a selected status (admitted, deposited, etc.). Begin by filtering to a specific admit term and then setting the other filters to capture the population you’d like to review. This tab does not break down comparisons of terms or admissions years, instead you will see the most recent data based on the filter options and term you’ve selected.

Open

To move around the map, first hover of the image to reveal the toolbar.

Admissions Lists Dashboard

The Admissions Lists serve as a source for more detailed, per-application level of information. Viewing many lines of data at once is often useful for data clean-up and management of records maintenance practices. The Admissions Lists can also be used to review the status of admitted applicants, generate event invitation lists, and other tasks that may require applicant or student data before it is available in downstream information systems. Finally, these dashboards provide a searchable space the most recent data for specific applicants.

Individuals may customize any of the dashboard tabs. For example, you can broaden the scope of terms, add demographic filter type, and more. Due to the complex nature of the admissions data source, we suggest reaching out to the Analytics Team, through a Help Desk ticket or an Analytics Doctor Appointment, if you have specific questions regarding customizations.

Note that some of the data fields are restricted. If you don't have access to restricted student mart data columns, these fields will appear as 'Null' or empty values. If access is needed, please see Federated Authorization.

Open

Hover over the far left bar charts to unhide the + button. As you expand the data groups you will see more granular detail. Each row will act as a filter. Use CTRL+SHIFT to select multiple rows.

 

Open

Click on the filter icon to expand the list of options.

Graduate Admissions: Understanding Application Status

In an effort to standardize data entry and process for graduate admissions, the Office of the Provost provided guidelines to all graduate schools regarding the program action and program reason codes to use when creating and maintaining applicant records.

In summary, the guidelines are*:

This document outlines how Pitt schools must record graduate admissions decisions in PeopleSoft to ensure a complete and accurate applicant record. Applications are automatically loaded with an APPL status via the ABL integration, but all subsequent decisions must be entered manually. Every applicant record should follow a logical progression through admission, response, and matriculation stages, ending in either MATR (enrolled), WAPP (withdrawn/no response/deferred), or DENY. Schools are also responsible for cleaning up outstanding offers before a term begins and handling deferrals differently depending on whether the applicant has already been matriculated.