7 ms·

> The score includes about 80 variables including how long they spent on the school’s website, whether they opened emails and at what point in high school they

> The score includes about 80 variables including how long they spent on the school’s website, whether they opened emails and at what point in high school they started looking on the website (the earlier the better). So a student who (wisely) uses browser tracking blocking or disables images/tracking in their email client is negatively affected? That seems like a terrible heuristic.

applecrazy 8y ago
Most college emails from what I’ve seen use tracking pixels and magic links to track applicants’ activity. The magic links don’t need JS to work, it’s a pure serverside redirect from click.[college].edu (or similar) to the page in question.
- philipodonnell 8y ago
  Blocking tracking pixels is fairly common I think for privacy conscious folk. In the email marketing world, not being able to distinguish recipients that are intentionally blocking tracking with recipients who are not interacting is a known issue. It's silly to group them together and use it as admissions criteria. Excluding privacy conscious users... to what end?
  - j16sdiz 8y ago
    Just let the worst college get the worst student. What harm can it make?
    - applecrazy 8y ago
      I think you're underestimating how many schools use this kind of tracking. It's practically industry standard. Elite schools like Harvard, Stanford, etc. along with smaller institutions all use these techniques.
uberman 8y ago
I understand this knee-jerk reaction. However it is completely wrong. It is foolish to block tracking like this. Blocking tracking on a university website or email correspondence would be like setting your LinkedIn profile to private prior doing research on a job opportunity. This is the domain I work in at the moment and I can 100% assure you that anonymous behavior hurts your admission chances significantly. Don't ever visit a campus without letting them know you are there. Same goes for email and web site visits.
- samename 8y ago
  Absolutely not. This sets a dangerous precedent. Students aren’t just trusting their data to your institution, but also all the other entities in between. It is foolish to punish privacy-conscious students. We do not want to create a world where advancement is only possible by giving up one’s privacy.
  - uberman 8y ago
    There are dozens of companies collecting and selling information about high school students. You can't take the sat or act and not be sold. Preventing the very people you do want to take note of your interest is cutting your nose off to spite your face. You can either accept it or not, but as an insider (not affiliated with a college) I can assure you that blocking tracking on email from admissions departments is a huge mistake. But hey, you do what you think us best.
    - samename 8y ago
      In the grand scheme of things, the tracking data collected is nothing compared to what is collected on college applications and standardized tests. Unfortunatey, that’s the world we live in. Fortunately I am not a high school student, but there are many implications to consider here. As an engineer, I would take issue with tracking students behavior. However, I am also more privacy conscious than the average engineer.
- stallmanite 8y ago
pseudocoup 8y ago
Although the software mentioned is pretty good at scoring, a fair percentage of applicants to any university have had no prior interaction with that institution ("stealth applicants"). Moreover the jobs of admin staff are literally dependent on a high volume of qualified applicants. I doubt any admissions operation would use the absence of a score to preclude or penalize otherwise qualified applicants.

applecrazy 8y ago

Most college emails from what I’ve seen use tracking pixels and magic links to track applicants’ activity. The magic links don’t need JS to work, it’s a pure serverside redirect from click.[college].edu (or similar) to the page in question.

philipodonnell 8y ago
Blocking tracking pixels is fairly common I think for privacy conscious folk. In the email marketing world, not being able to distinguish recipients that are intentionally blocking tracking with recipients who are not interacting is a known issue. It's silly to group them together and use it as admissions criteria. Excluding privacy conscious users... to what end?
- j16sdiz 8y ago
  Just let the worst college get the worst student. What harm can it make?
  - applecrazy 8y ago
    I think you're underestimating how many schools use this kind of tracking. It's practically industry standard. Elite schools like Harvard, Stanford, etc. along with smaller institutions all use these techniques.

uberman 8y ago

I understand this knee-jerk reaction. However it is completely wrong. It is foolish to block tracking like this. Blocking tracking on a university website or email correspondence would be like setting your LinkedIn profile to private prior doing research on a job opportunity. This is the domain I work in at the moment and I can 100% assure you that anonymous behavior hurts your admission chances significantly. Don't ever visit a campus without letting them know you are there. Same goes for email and web site visits.

samename 8y ago
Absolutely not. This sets a dangerous precedent. Students aren’t just trusting their data to your institution, but also all the other entities in between. It is foolish to punish privacy-conscious students. We do not want to create a world where advancement is only possible by giving up one’s privacy.
- uberman 8y ago
  There are dozens of companies collecting and selling information about high school students. You can't take the sat or act and not be sold. Preventing the very people you do want to take note of your interest is cutting your nose off to spite your face. You can either accept it or not, but as an insider (not affiliated with a college) I can assure you that blocking tracking on email from admissions departments is a huge mistake. But hey, you do what you think us best.
  - samename 8y ago
    In the grand scheme of things, the tracking data collected is nothing compared to what is collected on college applications and standardized tests. Unfortunatey, that’s the world we live in. Fortunately I am not a high school student, but there are many implications to consider here. As an engineer, I would take issue with tracking students behavior. However, I am also more privacy conscious than the average engineer.
stallmanite 8y ago

pseudocoup 8y ago

Although the software mentioned is pretty good at scoring, a fair percentage of applicants to any university have had no prior interaction with that institution ("stealth applicants"). Moreover the jobs of admin staff are literally dependent on a high volume of qualified applicants. I doubt any admissions operation would use the absence of a score to preclude or penalize otherwise qualified applicants.