What are reverse admissions, and why do they matter?

When one is asked to conjure up a picture of the admissions process, one tends to think of a student researching a number of universities and then applying to them.

Traditionally, the collection of data, process of determining fit and choice to apply is entirely one-sided: student to university. Often, the student becomes overwhelmed with a huge amount of information, given the vast number of universities out there.

What would it look like if, instead, part of the decision-making process were shouldered by the university?

The admissions landscape is evolving and part of the transformation involves the reversal of the traditional process. Awareness of what this looks like and familiarity with the innovative tools that have resulted can help counsellors to be more effective in their practices.

Non-traditional admissions routes

Two non-traditional admissions processes that do not require the student to make an application are reverse and direct admissions.

Both admissions processes involve students filling out basic profiles on a platform of choice (more on this later) and universities looking through these profiles themselves to make an offer or an encouragement to apply. 

As direct admissions are only applicable with US domestic students, this article will focus on reverse admissions, which apply to international students as well.

How reverse admissions work

In my practice, I use two innovative platforms that facilitate reverse admissions and effectively bridge universities and students: MĒTŌ and Concourse.

For both platforms, students sign up and input important details, such as their grades, classes, subject interests and estimated family contributions. These two platforms then share this information with universities in their networks, to different effects.

MĒTŌ

Through MĒTŌ, universities will send students whom they deem to fit the profile of a competitive applicant an encouragement to apply. This comes in the form of an email with the name and contact information of an admissions officer, and students are encouraged to reach out with further questions.

Concourse

Through Concourse, universities send direct offers of admission to students who would be a good fit, based on information in the students’ profiles. The offers come with clear delineation of scholarships available and the option to chat directly with admissions officers. Students do not need to complete applications and, when they have indicated their interest, they are added to a university’s admitted-student communication pathway to receive the next steps. There is no obligation and no risk for students to participate.

Strategic use of these tools

An encouragement to apply, received through MĒTŌ, can help a student to build an even more strategic application list, because they know that a university only sends an encouragement once they have looked through a student’s profile. This is helpful especially if you have a policy that limits the number of applications that students can submit.

Receiving an offer on the table through the Concourse platform helps students in several ways. A student might receive an offer from an institution they are not familiar with, but which matches their requirements – which showcases to students another potential fit. An offer can also provide a substantial sense of relief by providing a possible plan B if their original list falls short.

Both encouragement and offer give a significant boost to confidence and can be introduced as early as the spring semester of junior year (Year 12).

Counsellors can request the list of universities in each platform’s network. With the knowledge of which universities did and did not provide an encouragement to apply or an offer, the counsellor can adopt a bird’s eye view and deliver informed guidance with intimate knowledge of what universities are looking for.

Benefits of reverse admissions: a tale of two students 

What are the benefits of reverse admissions for students? They include improved agency, a boost to morale and the ability to weigh up their options. I’ll demonstrate this with stories of two of my students (names changed to protect their identity) who used each tool to their benefit. 

Example 1

Student one entered my office, crestfallen. The visit was to deliver the news of her rejection from a highly selective school in Early Decision I.

After encouraging her to take some time off to process the news, I then gently pointed to the long list of other selective schools that had sent encouragements to her on MĒTŌ. She broke into a small smile and said she had no idea why the universities would be interested in her – and this gave me another chance to affirm her in her strengths and accomplishments.

I then told her to think about which university to apply for Early Decision II, given that the deadline was in a few weeks’ time. The following week, she bounced into my office to brainstorm the idea of the supplementary essay for her chosen ED II school, which was based on one of the notes of encouragement on MĒTŌ. Without the platform, this course of action would have ended differently.

Example 2

I had heard of student two before I met her: she was the student athlete of the school. So it made sense that, in one of our first meetings, she indicated an interest to apply to the US, given the fact that she could continue to play sports in university there.

However, after a few meetings of excitedly brainstorming ideas for her application essays and even writing up first drafts, she quietly mentioned that her parents had told her that they would not let her apply to the US, because of the financial burden and the distance from home.

I signed her up for Concourse a month later and told her still to indicate the US as a region of interest. A few weeks later, she entered my office in disbelief and with a huge smile – she had received admissions and scholarship offers from US schools, even though she had not submitted an application.

She took these offers to her parents to present a case that a US education was not necessarily financially backbreaking and was perfectly feasible within their limits.

These offers are part of the deliberation now, and her dream of studying in the US was made possible even without a direct application. 

How to get started

MĒTŌ is free for all schools; Concourse is free for CIS-accredited schools and available at a low cost otherwise. If you are interested in using these two platforms, please feel free to reach out to:

Blake Thomsen of MĒTŌ: bthomsen@meto-intl.org

Rebecca Kelley of Concourse: rebeccakelley@eab.com