Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to common questions about AdmitData's data, admission-chance estimates, and privacy.
- What is AdmitData?
- AdmitData is a free platform that brings transparency to college admissions. It combines real, student-contributed application outcomes with public data sources so applicants and families can research acceptance rates, test-score ranges, student outcomes, and scholarships, and estimate their own admission chances.
- Where does AdmitData's data come from?
- Two sources. First, real students contribute their own application outcomes (stats and admission decisions). Second, we enrich each college with public federal data — primarily IPEDS (the U.S. Department of Education's institutional survey) and the College Scorecard — for figures like acceptance rates, SAT/ACT ranges, enrollment, and outcomes.
- Is AdmitData free?
- Yes. Browsing colleges, comparing schools, exploring trends, and searching scholarships are free. Contributing your own profile unlocks the admission-chances estimate and scholarship discovery.
- How does the admission-chances estimate work?
- It's a k-nearest-neighbors model: your profile is compared against the most similar real student profiles to estimate how you'd fare at a given school. The estimate improves as more students contribute real outcomes, and it's presented as a guide rather than a guarantee.
- How does AdmitData protect student privacy?
- Per-college statistics are only shown once enough profiles exist for a school (a k-anonymity threshold), so no individual's data can be singled out. Contributions can be made without exposing identifying details, and sensitive fields are encrypted at rest.
- How is AdmitData different from other college search tools?
- Most college search tools rely on official published figures alone. AdmitData adds a layer of real, student-contributed admission outcomes on top of that public data, and turns it into a personalized admission-chances estimate — so you see not just a school's average stats, but how applicants with profiles like yours actually did.
- Can I contribute my own admissions outcome?
- Yes. You can add your stats and decisions through a quick contribution in a couple of minutes, or a full profile with more detail. Every contribution improves the data and chance estimates for the next applicant.
- How current is the data?
- Student contributions appear as soon as they're submitted. Public-source figures (IPEDS, College Scorecard) are refreshed as new survey years are released, so college stats reflect the latest available official data.