No black boxes.
Every recommendation in your AdmitScale blueprint traces back to public data and a transparent fit model. Here's exactly how it works.
Public, audited data
We ingest the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the U.S. Department of Education's College Scorecard. These are the same datasets used by federal regulators, journalists, and the Common Data Set initiative. Coverage spans 6,000+ U.S. institutions and is refreshed continuously. We surface admit rates, mid-50% test ranges, average net price by income band, completion outcomes, and program-level data.
Profile-weighted fit
Your guided assessment captures GPA, course rigor, scores, intended major, activities, leadership, financial preferences, and geographic openness. Each input contributes a transparent weight to a fit score per school, broken into academic, extracurricular, and value components. There is no opaque ranking — your report shows the components behind every recommendation.
Tiering against admitted classes
Reach, match, and safety are calibrated against each school's admitted-class profile, not its marketing. We compare your academic indicators to the published mid-50% range, factor in selectivity and yield, and apply a margin of caution at the most selective end. Schools below 8% admit rate are explicitly flagged as unpredictable bets — even for stellar profiles.
Honest limits
No model captures essays, recommendations, demonstrated interest, demographic context, institutional priorities, or the real human reading your file at 11pm in February. AdmitScale gives you a calibrated starting point — not a verdict. We're explicit about what we can and can't see, and we never claim to predict admission.
Data we use.
- IPEDSIntegrated Postsecondary Education Data System — admissions, enrollment, completion, finance.
- College ScorecardU.S. Department of Education — net price by income, program outcomes, debt and earnings.
- Common Data SetStandardized institutional reporting on admissions, demographics, and academic profile.
- Public institutional reportsSchool-published profiles, fact books, and Common App reporting.