College Data - Where is it from & is it Reliable
How does CounselMore update data?
Because college data is elusive, CounselMore purchases data from multiple agencies. CounselMore College Search data/information provides background college data. By background data, we mean college data/information that changes less frequently. Background college data/information is equally important to a counselor's evaluation and presentation to clients. Annual Admissions results, Admitted profile and application policy data/information is a constantly moving target. CounselMore contributes to the collection Annual Admissions results, Admitted profile and application policy data / information as well. We contribute to the collection Annual Admissions results, instep with our community / membership. Our community/membership together minimizes list building for each other by self-contributing to all/any collection Annual Admissions results, Admitted profile and application policy data/information. Current CounselMore usage surveys show that CounselMore counselors are building lists on average in 1 hour. That's the power of community.
HOW DO YOU KNOW DATA IS UPDATED OR CORRECT?
Inside every cell is a small question mark. Have you clicked on that? This will tell you when that specific data point was last updated. CounselMore is the only resource that offers that level of clarity and transparency. When members correct data it is verified by CounselMore's data team.
Behind the [?] you will see different messages (explained below):
IEC - means one of your colleagues, using CounselMore, updated that data point. You will also see the exact date your colleague updated that data point. See community-sourcing below.
Common App - Based on public data.
Petersons - Data directly from Petersons
Data house - The data was retrieved from one of multiple data resources. CounselMore cannot legally display the name of the data source company because their data is static. CounselMore data is very much not static.
University Participation:
Because we are IECs, we aren't shy when it comes to college questions. We will call, we will email admissions. This also includes using CDS.
Purchased data:
We purchase data from multiple agencies that specialize in higher education data. Any time you hear of a college data source - tell us, we will check them out too. We are always on a hunt for data.
Community-sourcing: Every member of CounselMore updates data (see article above for instructions). When a user updates a data cell, they must submit a url with the update. That url is chased and a second pair of eyes reviews the update.
What if the date behind the [?] is old or I know there is something more recent?
Choice 1) "Is this data point, up to date enough for me (the counselor) to propose a list to my student now? Is it 'recent enough' for the present circumstances or...
Choice 2) "Is it a time of the admissions season when data is more frequently released? How can I (the counselor) update the data?
How to update data (other article):
https://helpdesk.counselmore.com/college-data-submit-data-correction
What if someone enters bad information?
Yes, we agree, that's a legitimate concern. We also know, College Advisors don't mess around!
These are individuals who hold sole responsibility for advising young people and their families on crucial significant family and future matters. Our colleagues are individuals who chose that responsibility.
CounselMore was and is owned and built by college counselors. These are our people. Each and every one of us knows the integrity we must bring to the table every day.
We TRUST our colleagues. We, they, us, you = same.
When CounselMore finds incorrect submissions, we reach out to the person directly, educate, correct or regress the update.
For viewers additional reading:
Comparing CounselMore data to other third party resource