Exporting Data via the Export Manager

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Overview

WebAdMIT allows you to create a rich data file containing selected applicant and data elements. Export files are sometimes called "flat files." Exports are especially useful for integration with Student Information Systems (SIS).

Institution users access applicant data for all cycles that the institution has participated in a UniCAS/national CAS. For this reason, we recommend that you include the following fields in all your exports, so that you can quickly identify applicants for each of your CASs and cycles:

Applicant field grouping, CAS ID field
CAS Information field grouping, Association Name field (this will populate as the CAS name, such as ADEA AADSAS, PTCAS, SOPHAS, etc.)
CAS Information field grouping, Cycle Name field (2025 - 2026, etc.)

Creating Exports

Using the Menu Bar, click Export Manager.
Click New Export.
Select an existing list to run the export against, if applicable.
Select an export type (.csv, .xls, or .txt). See Notes and Consideration below for additional guidance.
Enter a name for your export.
Select whether to include column headings. The names of the fields you select in the export become the column headings in the file.
Select how you want to export fields with more than one result. This includes fields like college names, test scores, evaluations, etc.
- Select as many columns as needed to expand the field to display as many results as needed, based on the applicant pool you have chosen (i.e., if an applicant attended 10 colleges, the college field and all fields in that grouping will expand to 10 columns for all applicants).
- Select exactly to set a fixed number of columns allotted for all one-to-many fields (i.e., if you set it to 2 columns, all colleges attended, test scores, and experiences will expand to 2 columns each). Warning: when selecting this option for an applicant who has more answers than the number of columns you selected, you can't control which data points appear in the export. Entering a higher number of fixed columns may help ensure that you export all necessary data.
- Select by field category to specify the number of fixed columns for a category. Selecting this option does not allow you to intermingle fields from different categories. Only sections with one-to-many fields offer the “Many” fields allowed: option.
Indicate if the export should appear in the Menu Bar under the My Exports and Reports subpanel in the Reports & Exports panel. This option provides you with quick access to run the export.
Select who can view the template (e.g., just yourself or anyone in your institution).
Under the Export these fields… column, click the field groupings to view and select fields. See Notes and Consideration below for additional guidance. Be sure to review the Data Dictionaries and Master Code Lists page to learn all the available fields in the Export Manager for your CAS, as well as access lookup tables and master code lists; you can request this document from one of your institution's WebAdMIT admissions users..
The fields you select appear in the …in this order. column. If you previously selected .txt for the export type, you can set a fixed width for each field. Depending on the field, you can also select a data transformation option. These options are useful to IT staff when importing data into an SIS. Review Data Dictionaries and Master Code Lists to learn the transformation options for Boolean fields (i.e., Yes/No), date fields, and datetime fields.
Use the grip icon to drag and drop your fields into the preferred order; the top field will export first, and the bottom last. If you select a "many" field, you can also group data by field or numerically.
- Group by Field exports the data by field category (e.g., College Name 1, College Name 2, College Name 3, College State 1, College State 2, College State 3).
- Group by Numeric exports the data by value (e.g., College Name 1, College State 1, College Name 2, College State 2, College Name 3, College State 3).
Click Create File to save and run the export, Save Export Settings to save the customized export for future use, or Return to Export Manager to discard the export.

Institution User Export Manager Template.png

Notes and Considerations

Review our additional notes and best practices when building your export templates.

Step Number	Step Description	Notes and Considerations
#4	Export types	Review additional information by clicking each link below: Export type definitions You can select the following export types: Comma-Separated Values (.csv): a delimited text file that uses a comma to separate values. Microsoft Excel (.xls): Microsoft's proprietary binary file format. Fixed Width Report (.txt): columns have a fixed width, specified in characters, which determines the maximum amount of data the column can contain. No delimiters are used to separate the fields in the file. Multi-row Designation file (.csv): a delimited text file that uses a comma to separate values. If an applicant applied to more than one designation, then each designation is listed on its own row. See examples below. Multi-row Designation file (.xls): Microsoft's proprietary binary file format. If an applicant applied to more than one designation, then each designation is listed on its own row. See examples below. Best practices and scenarios when using Multi-row Designation files If an applicant applies to more than one program at your school (i.e., organization), you can choose if an applicant's Designation field grouping data will be listed on one or multiple rows. For example, if Aimee Applicant applied to program A and B at your program, you can choose: Comma-Separated Values (.csv) or Microsoft Excel (.xls). In this scenario, the applicant's information will populate on one row and all fields under the Designation field grouping (e.g., designation, application status, etc.) will be repeated (e.g., Designation_0, Designation_1, Application_Status_0, Application_Status_1, etc.). This is the standard behavior in WebAdMIT. Multi-row Designation file (.csv) or Multi-row Designation file (.xls). In this scenario, the applicant's information will populate on two rows, one for each program they applied to, and all fields under the Designation field grouping (e.g., designation, application status, etc.) will be listed as one column (e.g., Designation, Application_Status, etc.). Note the following details for multi-row designation files: If you select Multi-row Designation file (.csv) or Multi-row Designation file (.xls), only the data in the Designation field grouping are separated on each row. Other data, such as experiences, are repeated on each row. If you select Multi-row Designation file (.csv) or Multi-row Designation file (.xls) but do not include any fields from the Designations field grouping, then the applicant's data will populate on one row. Office and MS Excel versions prior to 2007 common issues and solutions An Office 2007 security feature may prevent you from opening an export or report in .xls format. Adjust your export type to .csv to avoid this issue. Additionally, versions of MS Excel before 2007 limit data to 255 columns, including data points that may generate more than one column, such as Colleges Attended. For larger exports, use .csv format. These files can be opened in MS Excel 2007 and later, even if they exceed 255 columns. Exceeding the export fields limit will result in an "Internal Server Error" message. To export all fields, try dividing the fields into two or more separate exports. Understanding how .csv files address data values written as sentences Some fields in WebAdMIT include data values written as sentences. For example, this can be custom fields, reviewer comments, or interviewer remarks you enter in WebAdMIT, or it can be an applicant's essay or personal statement they enter in the application. When exporting these fields in .csv format, the values appear with quotes. This is how .csv files are created as a standard. Any values containing a comma or a line break will be wrapped in quotes to signify the included data makes up one value in the field. This prevents your software from misinterpreting typed commas as commas used as separators to start new values. If you're viewing the same .csv file in Excel, you'll notice the quotation marks don't appear, because Excel recognizes their purpose. You can learn more about .csv standards here: https://techterms.com/definition/csv.
#10	Selecting fields	Be aware that the export data order for "many" fields is arbitrary; it does not follow the order from the application, least important to most important, chronological, alphabetical, etc. Additionally, the order that data exports in one field grouping does not necessarily match the order that data exports in a similar field grouping. For example, ABC University may be listed as college 1 in the College(s) Attended field grouping while in the GPAs by Transcript field grouping, it may be listed as college 3. If you're exporting college and GPA data for an applicant, note that the college code ID is unique for each college and can be used to manually match data across different field groupings. To do so, include these fields where applicable: College(s) Attended field grouping, College Code field GPAs by Transcript field grouping, GPAs by Transcript College ID field For example, the college code ID "3127" for the University of Dayton is the same in the College Code and GPAs by Transcript College ID fields. College Code field GPAs by Transcript College ID field

Step Number

Step Description

Notes and Considerations

Export types

Review additional information by clicking each link below:

Export type definitions

You can select the following export types:

Comma-Separated Values (.csv): a delimited text file that uses a comma to separate values.
Microsoft Excel (.xls): Microsoft's proprietary binary file format.
Fixed Width Report (.txt): columns have a fixed width, specified in characters, which determines the maximum amount of data the column can contain. No delimiters are used to separate the fields in the file.
Multi-row Designation file (.csv): a delimited text file that uses a comma to separate values. If an applicant applied to more than one designation, then each designation is listed on its own row. See examples below.
Multi-row Designation file (.xls): Microsoft's proprietary binary file format. If an applicant applied to more than one designation, then each designation is listed on its own row. See examples below.

Best practices and scenarios when using Multi-row Designation files

If an applicant applies to more than one program at your school (i.e., organization), you can choose if an applicant's Designation field grouping data will be listed on one or multiple rows. For example, if Aimee Applicant applied to program A and B at your program, you can choose:

Comma-Separated Values (.csv) or Microsoft Excel (.xls). In this scenario, the applicant's information will populate on one row and all fields under the Designation field grouping (e.g., designation, application status, etc.) will be repeated (e.g., Designation_0, Designation_1, Application_Status_0, Application_Status_1, etc.). This is the standard behavior in WebAdMIT.
Multi-row Designation file (.csv) or Multi-row Designation file (.xls). In this scenario, the applicant's information will populate on two rows, one for each program they applied to, and all fields under the Designation field grouping (e.g., designation, application status, etc.) will be listed as one column (e.g., Designation, Application_Status, etc.).

Note the following details for multi-row designation files:

If you select Multi-row Designation file (.csv) or Multi-row Designation file (.xls), only the data in the Designation field grouping are separated on each row. Other data, such as experiences, are repeated on each row.
If you select Multi-row Designation file (.csv) or Multi-row Designation file (.xls) but do not include any fields from the Designations field grouping, then the applicant's data will populate on one row.

Office and MS Excel versions prior to 2007 common issues and solutions: An Office 2007 security feature may prevent you from opening an export or report in .xls format. Adjust your export type to .csv to avoid this issue. Additionally, versions of MS Excel before 2007 limit data to 255 columns, including data points that may generate more than one column, such as Colleges Attended. For larger exports, use .csv format. These files can be opened in MS Excel 2007 and later, even if they exceed 255 columns. Exceeding the export fields limit will result in an "Internal Server Error" message. To export all fields, try dividing the fields into two or more separate exports.

Understanding how .csv files address data values written as sentences

Some fields in WebAdMIT include data values written as sentences. For example, this can be custom fields, reviewer comments, or interviewer remarks you enter in WebAdMIT, or it can be an applicant's essay or personal statement they enter in the application.

When exporting these fields in .csv format, the values appear with quotes. This is how .csv files are created as a standard. Any values containing a comma or a line break will be wrapped in quotes to signify the included data makes up one value in the field. This prevents your software from misinterpreting typed commas as commas used as separators to start new values. If you're viewing the same .csv file in Excel, you'll notice the quotation marks don't appear, because Excel recognizes their purpose. You can learn more about .csv standards here: https://techterms.com/definition/csv.

#10

Selecting fields

Be aware that the export data order for "many" fields is arbitrary; it does not follow the order from the application, least important to most important, chronological, alphabetical, etc.

Additionally, the order that data exports in one field grouping does not necessarily match the order that data exports in a similar field grouping. For example, ABC University may be listed as college 1 in the College(s) Attended field grouping while in the GPAs by Transcript field grouping, it may be listed as college 3.

If you're exporting college and GPA data for an applicant, note that the college code ID is unique for each college and can be used to manually match data across different field groupings. To do so, include these fields where applicable:

College(s) Attended field grouping, College Code field
GPAs by Transcript field grouping, GPAs by Transcript College ID field

For example, the college code ID "3127" for the University of Dayton is the same in the College Code and GPAs by Transcript College ID fields.

College Code field

College name data in Excel with college name and college code highlighted

GPAs by Transcript College ID field

GPAs by transcript school name data in Excel with GPAs by transcript school name and GPAs by transcript school ID highlighted

Downloading an Export from Recent Files

Once you run an export, you'll automatically be sent to the Recent Files page. You can also retrieve exports run within the past seven days from this page. Note that the times listed on the Recent Files page are in Eastern Time.

If your export has a large number of fields, it may need additional time to produce.

To download an export:

Using the Menu Bar, click Recent Files.
Click the file link in the Download column. Once you download your export file, you can use your system's software to sort, reorder, and filter the data.

WebAdMIT Export Manager Recent Files Mar 2023.png

Managing Exports

To manage existing exports, click Export Manager from the Menu Bar. You can view and perform the following actions for exports that you created or that other users created and shared with you.

Institution User Export Manager Page.png

Running Exports

Click the export name to run it.

Reordering Exports

Use the grip icon to drag and drop the export into the preferred order.

Pinning Exports to the Menu Bar

Click the checkbox to pin an export in the Menu Bar under the My Exports and Reports subpanel in the Reports & Exports panel; this option provides you with quick access to run the export.

Editing Exports

Use the pencil icon to edit an export. Note that only export owners can make edits. If you'd like to edit or see the settings of an export that you are not the owner of, you can create a copy of it instead.

Copying Existing Exports

Use the duplicate icon to copy an existing export. If you copy an export, any field included in the original export that you do not have access to will be removed in the copied export.

Deleting Exports

Use the trash icon to delete an export. Note that only export owners can delete exports.