For the past decade, colleges nationwide have been declining in admissions every year.
In the past few years, delays in FAFSA and the increase of online college options have made attending post-secondary more challenging causing the traditional in person college admissions rate to decrease. In response, colleges and universities around the country have been implementing direct admissions, a new and easy way for students to apply for a college of their choosing.
Niche is one of the first tools to pilot this program. Niche is a website and app where students can check school information nationwide. Along with their new direct admissions program, students can view the school’s ratings and information regarding the location and specialization. Niche functions similarly to a dating app. While the app doesn’t allow users to swipe left or right, the tool provides a list view containing all schools that match the user’s interests and GPA level.
“Tools like Niche are helpful because they demystify the college process. It makes it feel a little bit more like accessible and equitable which is a good thing,” said Grace Wenzel, associate director of undergraduate admission and Bright College recruitment.
Direct admissions take advantage of users who only enter simple information, including GPA and interests. Drake has slowly started to roll out a direct admissions option exclusively on Niche. Users match with schools when admissions criteria and offered majors align with the student’s interests and GPA. When each match occurs, the user is automatically accepted into the institution and directed to a new page provided by each school to finish officially committing. Because of the program’s quick and straightforward nature, Niche mentions in the fine print that admissions are based on only the information entered. If what was entered on Niche is incorrect and is stated on a high school transcript, the admissions decision could be revoked.
“I think there’s some anxiety of the unknown of what the next steps are, the worry of student loans, being able to afford a college or choosing the right major. There’s a lot wrapped up in hitting submit,” said Wenzel.
The main difference between the direct admission process and completing an application directly through Drake is that the Drake website requires students to upload their transcript upfront, while Niche allows students to be accepted into the school before uploading their transcript information.
Another popular option students use to apply for colleges is a non-profit organization called CommonApp. CommonApp can also be used as a “one size fits all” application process. CommonApp lets users apply for an extensive list of schools quickly. Niche has a quick process for applicants where students enter their GPA and interests. CommonApp, however, requires students to undergo a lengthy application process to fill as many admissions requirements as possible. While signing up for Niche, it will take only five to 10 minutes to sign up and start searching, and the CommonApp will take you six to eight weeks. CommonApp requires users to complete documents such as essays and letters of recommendation, while Niche doesn’t require any documents upfront. If a prospective student only looks at Drake, Drake doesn’t require essays or letters of recommendation to apply. Drake recommends that any applicant take an in-person tour of the campus before using it to help students comprehend what life on campus looks like.
“A GPA only measures the academic intelligence of a student, and it doesn’t really measure the creativity of the person”, Freshman Lucia Diaz said.
Even though Niche can admit students quickly, users must supply their high school transcript and financial information using the link the institution supplies after a match has occurred. Direct admissions can benefit students who want to apply to schools quickly. However, a significant part of this process is that students most likely wouldn’t have taken an in-person tour of the school or would not have known more than surface information regarding campus life.
“Based on the information users are providing us, they would be admitted. Every school can set their own GPA threshold to accept students,” Wenzel explained
Currently, not every institution offers direct admissions. As direct admission programs continue to grow amongst the college scene and gain more users, the awareness of Drake will grow with it.
