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Direct Admissions Tool - High School Staff Resource Guides

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Create Credentials First

Before using the Direct Admissions Tool, users must create an account and register credentials with LoginMN using your professional school email and selecting 'Personal' on the LoginMN page.

Log In Instructions

Only attempt to access the Direct Admissions Tool after you have created credentials and registered with LoginMN. Please bookmark this page to access your Direct Admissions Tool.

The following guides will assist users in the process of registration, preparing and transferring or uploading your CSV file, and viewing and downloading student data.

Register

Open Direct Admissions Tool:
- Go to the Direct Admissions tool homepage and sign in. The Direct Admissions Tool uses your LoginMN credentials.
Select High School:
- Choose "High School" from the dropdown.
Institution Field:
- Important:
  All users must register using only one school, even if you work with multiple schools.
  - Select any one of the schools you are affiliated with to complete your initial registration.
  - After registering, you can request access to additional schools by email (see below).
- To select your school:
  - Click the magnifying glass icon to select an institution.
  - In the pop-up, select "Participating High School" from the dropdown.
  - Find your school, check the box, and click "Select."
- Need Access to Multiple Schools?
  If you need to view student data for more than one school (with different MDE org codes):
  - Complete your registration using just one school as described above.
  - Then, email direct.admissions.ohe@state.mn.us with:
    - A complete list of the additional schools you need access to.
    - Your name and the email address used to register.
    - Your request will be reviewed and processed. You’ll receive a confirmation once access is granted.
    - All users can upload data for any school or MDE org code, regardless of their access level. However, viewing student records is limited to the schools you’ve been approved for.
Complete Required Fields:
- First Name: Pre-populated (editable).
- Last Name: Pre-populated (editable).
- Email: Pre-populated (do not change).
- SIS Vendor: Select from dropdown (if none, select Non-Applicable).
Optional Fields:
- Title: Enter any characters.
- MDE Org Code: Appears if High School is selected.
- Request Upload Access: Check if needed. If you are unsure if you need upload access, send an email to direct.admissions.ohe@state.mn.us
Submit:
- Click "Submit."
- A confirmation message will appear.
- If you navigate away and return, an "access request under review" message will appear.
- You will receive a confirmation email.
- Your access request will be processed within 2 business days. You will receive an email with the outcome, and the application will either grant access or display a denial message.

Infinite Campus

Direct Admissions Extract (Minnesota) | Infinite Campus

For technical assistance or SIS questions, please contact the Campus State Reporting team at statereporting.mn@infinitecampus.com and use Campus’ portal and ticketing system support.

jmc

For questions, please contact Rachel (Support to Training Specialist at jmc) at rachel.cox@jmcinc.com and copy in the jmc team at support@jmcinc.com.

Power School

Enable the feature | SFTP Setup Instructions

For technical assistance or SIS questions, please place a support case at https://help.powerschool.com/ or contact the MBA State Reporting Team at sr_team@mba-link.com.

SKYWARD SMS 2.0

For districts using the SMS product, you can access the original setup documentation directly within SkyDoc by navigating to the following menu path: WS/ST/SA/PS/CF/EC. For additional questions or SIS-assistance, please create a service ticket.

The attached documentation lists the SIS’ set-up as well.

EDUPOINT SYNERGY

Districts should follow their internal support structure’s setup for Synergy support, be it your dedicated staff or regional support staff that contact the Synergy or Support Team to input help desk tickets.

Prepare CSV file

Video Tutorials:

Complete your Academic Review: https://youtu.be/rAOG0pVRTPI
Find your MDE.org number: https://youtu.be/SzTKon-kTdw

Open DirectAdmissions_HighSchoolName_YourName.xlsx, the Excel file for Academic Review Auto-Calculation.
Download a copy of the Excel file to your computer before making any changes.
Prepare the first sheet, "Calculate Student Tiers" Sheet:
- Open the "Calculate Student Tiers" sheet.
- Review the following rows for guidance (do not make any changes to these rows):
  - Row 1: Header.
  - Rows 2-4: Example data in red text for reference.
  - Row 5: "Please Begin Entering Your Student Information in Row 7."
Enter Student Data:
- Start entering data in Row 7:
  - Required Columns:
    - B: MDE Org ID
      Must follow this format: ####-##-### (with dashes).
    - D: Student First Name
      No formatting restrictions
    - E: Student Last Name
      No formatting restrictions
    - F: MARSS Number
      Must be exactly 13 digits.
      All public-school students have a MARSS number.
      If the student does not attend a public school and does not have a MARSS number, enter: 9999999999999
    - G: Student Date of Birth
      Must be in the format: MM/DD/YYYY
    - I: Student Email
      Must be a valid email address.
      Example: student@example.com
    - J: Anticipated Graduation Date
      Must be in the format: MM/DD/YYYY
    - K: Is the Student On-Track for Graduation as determined by the Counselor? Enter "Y" or "N".
    - L: Should this student be included in the Academic Review? Enter "Y" or "N".
    - M: What is the student's unweighted cumulative GPA on a 4.0 scale? Enter the number.
      The value must be between 0.00 and 4.00.
  - Optional Columns:
    - A: High School Name (can be blank)
    - C: ACT ID (can be blank)
- Note: Column O will automatically populate a tier based on the GPA entered in Column M. This column is labeled "Direct Admission Tier - This column is locked by OHE" and cannot be changed by users.
- Note: If your participating high school does not use a traditional unweighted GPA or you have a student scenario where the student’s rendered tier placement is not reflective of their grade level’s academic rigor, please reach out to the Direct Admission Program Coordinator at aaron.salasek@state.mn.us.
Export Data from second sheet, "Spreadsheet to Send OHE":
- Go to the "Spreadsheet to Send OHE" sheet. Fields will auto-populate based on the data entered in step 2 in the “Calculate Student Tiers” sheet.
  Important: You must be on “Spreadsheet to Send OHE” for this step.
  To ensure the export works correctly, you must be on the "Spreadsheet to Send OHE" sheet.
  If you stay on the "Calculate Student Tiers" sheet, the export will still create a file but it will not be usable and will fail in later steps.
- With "Spreadsheet to Send OHE" selected, follow these steps:
  - Select File and then Export.
  - Choose Change File Type.
  - If you do not see CSV (Comma-delimited) in the visible choices, select Save as Another File Type to find it.
  - Select CSV (Comma-delimited) and click Save As.
  - Name your file as follows: DirectAdmissions_HighSchoolName_YourName.csv and click Save.
  - Ensure you are on the "Spreadsheet to Send OHE" sheet and select OK.
  - If you do not see an option to Export, select Save As and change the file type to CSV (comma-separated values).
  - Note: If you see a pop-up saying "Permission to this workbook is currently restricted. If you continue, any restrictions to this workbook will be removed," select Yes.
  - Note: If you see a pop-up saying "The selected file type does not support workbooks that contain multiple sheets," select OK to save only the active sheet.

Important: Reopening the CSV File

After exporting your file, if you open the .csv file in Excel to review or make changes, you may see a pop-up message:

"By default, Excel will perform the following data conversions in this file: Remove leading zeros."

To avoid data errors in later steps, you must select Don’t Convert.

If you select Convert, any values with leading zeros (such as student IDs or ZIP codes) will lose those zeros. This will cause the file to fail in later processing steps.

Upload CSV file

File Requirements:

File Format: Only CSV files are allowed for upload.
Column Headers: Must match exactly in both name and order as they appear in the "Spreadsheet to Send OHE" sheet at the time of export. Any changes will cause the file to fail during upload.
Data Format: All data must follow the required formats outlined in the Prepare CSV File section. This is especially important for fields with leading zeros, which may be dropped if the file isn’t saved correctly.
Error Handling: If the file type or headers are wrong, the whole file will fail, and no records will be processed. If there are data format errors, only those specific student records will fail.

Steps:

Begin the Upload Process:
- Click the "Upload Student Records" button in the “Student Upload Center” section.
Enter Details and Upload File: Enter a description, upload your file, click "Submit."
- Uploading for Any School:
  - You can upload data for students at any school with any MDE Org ID, not just the school you are linked to.
- Who Can See the Files:
  - Anyone linked to the same high school you registered with will see the uploaded files associated with your high school. You will see their uploads, and they will see yours. After a file is uploaded, anyone linked to that school can download or remove the file from the "Student Upload Center" section. All past uploads will appear in the table.
- Multiple Schools:
  - If you are linked to multiple schools, you will only see the uploads for the school you first registered with during the Direct Admissions Tool registration process, not the additional schools you requested access to via email. However, you can download all student data for multiple schools in the student data section at the top of the Tool. This is covered in the Direct Admissions Download Student Data – Multi School User guide.
Processing Results:
- Results will appear under "Last Upload Results" in the "Student Upload Center" section. This may take a few minutes.
- Only the results of the last file uploaded will appear here.
- Record(s) Created: Shows the number of records created. Each row without an error creates one record for the student.
- No Record(s) Created – Duplicate: Shows the number of rows that were identified as duplicates and therefore did not create new student records.
  - A duplicate is any row where all required fields exactly match a previously submitted and successfully created record.
  - Optional fields are ignored when determining duplicates.
- Error(s): This will display the number of records with an error.
  - Any record with an error will not create a record. You must fix and resubmit these records.
  - Additional details on which records failed and why will display. Errors are tied to the student's email address. If no email address is provided, the error will not have a specific indicator.
  - Blank rows will not create a record and will not display an error.
Check for Newly Created Records:
- Check the Student List in the Student Records and Survey Results section at the top of the Tool. Only successfully imported records will appear here. Records with import errors will not be included.
- For more information on viewing student data, see the appropriate Direct Admissions View & Download Student Data guide for single high school or multi high school users.

Single-school user

Student List Overview:

Display: The Student List is located within the Student Records and Survey Results section at the top of the Tool.
Page Navigation: The table shows up to 25 records per page. Use the navigation arrows below the table to move between pages.
Sorting: By default, the table sorts by Last Name (A-Z). You can sort any column in ascending or descending order by clicking the column name, but only one column at a time.

Column Order:

Name
First Name
Last Name
Email Address
Academic Tier
Survey Sent Date: Blank until the survey is sent. Only the last sent date shows. The survey link stays the same, and students can update responses anytime.
Not Interested: Defaults to "No" until changed in the survey by the student’s selection.
College Selected: Defaults to "No" until changed in the survey by the student’s selection.
Selected Colleges: Lists colleges chosen by the student in the survey.
Created On: Shows the date and time the record was created. Use this column to identify the most recent record for a student, especially if multiple records exist due to changes in required fields like GPA or Academic Tier.

Search Instructions:

Type in the search box to look through all columns.
The search starts from the beginning of each column.
Add * (asterisk) to search the entire text.
To clear, delete the text and click the magnifying glass to see all records again.

College Selected Filter Instructions:

This feature filters the Student List based on whether a student has selected a college.

Filter Options:

Yes - Displays only students who have selected a college.
No - Displays only students who have not selected a college.
All - Displays all students, regardless of college selection.

Download Steps:

To download the data from the student table, click the Download button next to the search bar. This will create an export file with all the data from the student data table.

Multi-school user

Student Data Table Overview:

Important: You will only see data in the student table for the school you selected during registration. If you are associated with multiple schools, the additional schools will NOT display in this table.
Table Display: The table is at the top of the page, with the Upload Students (+Create) section below it.
Page Navigation: The table shows up to 25 records per page. Use the navigation arrows below the table to move between pages.
Sorting: By default, the table sorts by Last Name (A-Z). You can sort any column in ascending or descending order by clicking the column name, but only one column at a time.