School-level feature — managed within your school portal at
yourschool.deandesk.com.Video walkthrough
This walkthrough uses the real DeanDesk interface with the fictional Northstar Academy demo school and a calm, AI-generated English voice. Payments and outside services are not connected in the demo.
How admissions works in DeanDesk
The admissions process has three parts:- Configuration — Admins set up the enrollment method, applicant journey, admissions team, and rounds in the Onboarding Policy Manager.
- Application — Applicants sign up at your school’s portal and work through a step-by-step dashboard to complete all requirements and submit their application.
- Review — Your admissions team reviews submitted applications in the Admissions Queue, moves applicants between stages, and approves or rejects them.
Configure admissions with the Onboarding Policy Manager
Open Admin Dashboard → Admissions → Enrollment & Admissions. The page has four tabs:
Changes on the Applicant Journey, Admissions Team, and Rounds & Tracks tabs are saved together. Click Save Changes in the bar at the bottom of the page, or click Reset to discard unsaved changes. The bar shows Unsaved settings changes until you save.
Outside the Enrollment tab, click Preview Application Process in the page header to walk through the application as an applicant would see it.
Northstar demo — Enrollment & Admissions — Enrollment
Enrollment: how students join
The Enrollment tab asks How do students join your school? Choose one method:
Click Save enrollment method to apply your choice. Existing products and student accounts keep their current settings. To keep managing account creation yourself, click Use custom settings instead.
When you choose Enroll through purchase or Both, the tab lists your direct-enrollment products and what each still needs (a linked course or an active price). Use Set up enrollment products and Payment setup to finish configuring them. See Products and Stripe.
Applicant Journey: the step list
The Applicant Journey tab shows the path an applicant follows as a list of steps. Select a step to configure it. Check a step to add it to the journey; uncheck it to remove it. Steps marked Auto turn on when their content is filled in, for example when you select a form or enter terms text. Switch between Edit and Preview at the top of the list to see the journey as applicants will. If your school uses rounds and tracks, choose what you are editing from Applicant journey for at the top of the tab: Default policies (the starting point for every journey) or a specific round and track. Track settings override the defaults for that track only.
The journey ends at Approved, or at Auto-accepted when Admin review is off.
Northstar demo — Enrollment & Admissions — Applicant Journey
Applicant Journey: forms
This is where you attach forms to your admissions process. Forms are created in the Form Manager and then selected here in the Onboarding Policy Manager.1
Create your forms in the Form Manager
Go to Admin Dashboard → Admissions → Form Manager and create the forms you need (e.g. “Parent Questionnaire”, “Health & Emergency Contact”, “Student Essay”). Each form can include multiple question types: multiple choice, short answer, long answer, and file upload. See Forms for the full form builder guide.
2
Select forms in the Onboarding Policy Manager
Go to Admissions → Enrollment & Admissions and open the Applicant Journey tab. Select Fill out forms for adult forms and Add children for child forms:
- Required forms — Must be completed before the application can be submitted.
- Optional forms — Shown during onboarding, but applicants can submit without completing them.
- Child required forms — Assigned to every child application submitted by a parent (in the Add children step).
3
Save
Click Save Changes at the bottom of the page.
Application statuses
Select the Admin review step within Applicant Journey to manage the Application Workflow. If your school uses rounds and tracks, workflow stages belong to each track: choose a round and track in Applicant journey for first. Application statuses define the stages of your review pipeline. DeanDesk includes locked system stages:
Click New Custom Stage to add an intermediate stage that matches your school’s workflow (e.g. “Interview Scheduled”, “Waitlisted”, “Scholarship Review”). In Configure New Stage, set:
- Title and Description
- Color for visual identification in the queue
- Default Email Subject and an Auto-Response Email Template, which is sent to the applicant automatically when their status changes to this stage. Dynamic placeholders include
{{firstName}},{{lastName}},{{username}},{{email}},{{statusTitle}}, and{{statusDescription}}.
Admissions Team
Control who on your team can access and manage applications.1
Set the Admissions Head
Under Admissions Head, select a staff member, or choose No admissions head.
2
Add teachers with full admissions access (optional)
Under Full Admissions Access, select the teachers who should manage applications at every stage.
3
Assign stage committees (optional)
Under Stage Committees, select teachers for each review stage before the final decision (e.g. “Interview Scheduled”). Those teachers only see applications currently in their assigned stage.
4
Save
Click Save Changes.
Northstar demo — Enrollment & Admissions — Admissions Team
Rounds & Tracks
Schools begin with Single-stream applications, where every applicant moves through one continuous queue. When the next cohort arrives, open Rounds & Tracks and use Switch to cycles & tracks: enter a New cycle name, a New track name, and Who the track is for, then click Create cycle & track. DeanDesk automatically moves all existing applications into a closed Previous Applications cycle and General track, then opens the new cycle and track for applicants. The switch to cycles and tracks is permanent. Existing statuses, payments, reviews, and assignments are preserved, and there is no rollback workflow to manage. See Admission Cycles below for details.
Northstar demo — Enrollment & Admissions — Rounds & Tracks
Managed application forms
A public form can create an Applicant account and manage its application. Configure this in Form Manager, including the destination cycle and track where applicable. Successful submission of a managed form replaces the ordinary form-owned application steps. The form’s Automatically accept applicants setting determines whether the application is approved immediately or enters Under Review with the Admissions Head assigned. A notice at the top of the Applicant Journey tab names the managing form and links to Edit form. You can also change the form’s auto-accept behavior from the Admin review step; click Save Changes before leaving. Only one form can manage a single-stream journey or a particular cycle and track. The policy editor keeps profile completion, admin review, and acceptance forms configurable while marking form-owned steps inactive. Turning account creation on without managed-application mode leaves an application in Draft for the applicant to finish manually.Application fees
You can require applicants to pay fees before submitting their application. Fees are configured in the Pay application fees step of the Applicant Journey tab.1
Add the step
Check Pay application fees in the step list, then select it.
2
Add fees
Under Adult / parent application fees, click Add Fee and enter a Fee name, Amount, and optional Description. When the Add children step is on, you can also turn on Child application fees, which are charged once per child application.
3
Allow waivers (optional)
Check Allow fee waiver requests on a fee to let applicants request a waiver during the application. Waiver requests appear in the Admissions Queue for approval or rejection.
4
Add a card surcharge (optional)
Under Credit Card Surcharge, turn on Add a surcharge for card payments and enter a Percent fee, a Flat fee, or both. ACH payments never include the surcharge.
5
Connect Stripe and save
Application fees are processed through Stripe. Make sure your Stripe account is connected under Admin Dashboard → Finance → Stripe, then click Save Changes.
Review fee waivers on the Fee Waiver Requests tab of Admissions → Admissions Queue. When a waiver is approved, the applicant’s fee requirement is marked as resolved and they can proceed with submission.
Northstar demo — Admissions Queue — Fee Waiver Requests
Preview pricing with the Review Simulator
The Review Simulator (in the Finance area of the Admin Dashboard) previews the application Review & Submit order summary for any user — without creating a test application. Pick an applicant, a family member, a tuition product, and a price plan, and the simulator shows exactly the order summary and discount behavior that applicant would see at review time.Apply Now flow
Visitors can begin an application before they have an account. Clicking Apply Now on your school’s public site does the following:- The visitor selects a cycle and (if applicable) a track first.
- DeanDesk prompts them to log in or sign up. Their cycle/track choice is preserved across the auth flow.
- After signing in, they land directly inside the application workspace for the cycle/track they chose — no need to navigate back.
The applicant experience
Applicants access your school’s portal (e.g.yourschool.deandesk.com), create an account, and are presented with the Application Workspace — a guided, single-screen view of their entire application with a stepper, progress bar, status chips, and a requirements summary.
The workspace shows every step the policy requires, the current status of each, and back/next/submit controls along the bottom. The steps shown depend on the policies you configured in the Onboarding Policy Manager.
Onboarding steps
The applicant dashboard walks applicants through the following steps. Each step appears only if it is in the journey on the Applicant Journey tab:1
Complete profile
The applicant fills out their personal information. If Complete profile is in the journey, all required profile fields must be completed. If Require a profile picture is on, a photo must be uploaded.
2
Register children (if enabled)
If Add children is in the journey, the parent creates one or more child applications. For each child, they provide the child’s name, date of birth, emergency contact, medical information, and complete any child-specific forms configured in the Onboarding Policy Manager.
3
Complete required forms
The applicant fills out all required forms and any optional forms they choose to complete. A progress indicator shows how many forms are done.
4
Add payment method (if required)
If Add payment method is in the journey, the applicant adds a credit or debit card via Stripe.
5
Select program enrollment (if required)
If Choose program is in the journey, the applicant selects the tuition or program products they are enrolling in and completes payment before submitting. To collect tuition after acceptance instead, use acceptance requirements with a payment form.
6
Pay application fees (if enabled)
If application fees are configured, the applicant pays the required fees or submits a fee waiver request (for waivable fees).
7
Accept terms and submit
If Accept terms is in the journey, the applicant sees your terms on a dedicated review step. They must check the box accepting the terms before the Submit button is enabled. Once submitted, the status changes from Draft to Under Review, the application is assigned to the Admissions Head, and your admissions team is notified.
Applicants can move past the program selection step without picking a program at that moment. Where a program selection is required, it is still enforced at review and submission — the applicant just isn’t blocked from exploring the rest of the application first.
Single-page application layout
By default, applicants move through the application one step at a time. If you prefer a single scrollable form, turn on Single-page application in the Sign up step of the Applicant Journey tab. When single-page mode is enabled:- All application steps render as sections on one scrollable page.
- The sidebar checklist becomes a table of contents — clicking an item scrolls to that section instead of navigating to a separate step.
- Per-step save buttons disappear. Profile answers auto-save shortly after the applicant stops typing, with a saving/saved indicator so applicants know their work is captured.
- Review & Submit remains its own page, reached from a single call to action at the bottom of the application (or from the checklist).
Post-submission donation prompt
After an applicant submits, you can have DeanDesk show a donation prompt that surfaces your active donation campaigns. This is an opt-in nudge for new families who have just completed signup and may be motivated to support your school.1
Create or pick a donation product
In Finance → Products & Donations, create one or more donation campaigns you want to surface. See Products for donation campaign settings.
2
Enable the prompt
In the Onboarding Policy Manager, open Applicant Journey and select Submit application. Under Donation Prompt, turn on Show a donation prompt after submission and choose the Donation campaigns to show. If none are selected, the prompt stays hidden. Click Save Changes.
3
Applicants see the prompt
After submitting their application, eligible applicants are shown the prompt with links to the selected donation campaigns. Skipping the prompt is always an option.
Application Process Preview
Admins can preview the entire applicant flow without signing up as a test applicant. From the Onboarding Policy Manager, click Preview Application Process in the page header (on any tab except Enrollment) to walk through every step exactly as an applicant would see it — including the steps the current policy adds for adults, children, and any selected track.Admissions setup workspace
Schools on an admissions-only plan start in the System Setup workspace (/admin/system-setup). A short guide explains the three stages — System Setup, Fine Tune & Publish, and Application Review — and Begin Setup opens the checklist. Click Show guide in the page header to see it again.
The dashboard and most admin tools unlock after the three System Setup steps are complete. Steps open in order; the header shows your progress, and Refresh reloads it.
1
Stripe Setup
Decide whether payments are part of your admissions process. If they are, finish connecting the school’s Stripe account before continuing. See Stripe configuration.
2
Application System
Enter a Cycle name and Track name, then click Create Cycle and Track. This creates the first admissions period and application path that applicants apply into; you can add more later under Admission Cycles.
3
School Setup
Confirm the colors, font theme, logo, logo and title sizes, and whether the school title shows in the header, then click Save School Setup. You can change these later in School branding.
The Admissions Queue
The Admissions Queue is where your team reviews and manages submitted applications. Go to Admin Dashboard → Admissions → Admissions Queue.
Northstar demo — Admissions Queue — Adult Applicants
Viewing applications
The Adult Applicants tab opens with a row of stage counts. Click a stage tile to filter the queue to that stage. The table shows each applicant’s:- Applicant name and contact details
- Track (cycle-based admissions only)
- Stage, color-coded to match your configured stages
- Progress and outstanding Requirements
- Assignee — the assigned reviewer, or the Admissions Head by default
- Applied date
Export applicants
Use the Export header action (next to Email Applicants) on the Adult Applicants tab to download applications as an Excel workbook.1
Open the export dialog
In the Admissions Queue, click Export to open the Export applicants dialog.
2
Choose what to include
Check the application stages you want to export. For cycle-based admissions, a Track dropdown lets you export All tracks or a single track.
3
Download
Click Export Excel file to download the export as an
.xlsx file.Exports respect stage permissions — a stage-assigned reviewer’s export only includes the applications they can see in the queue.
Reviewing an application
1
Open the application
Click an applicant’s row to open their application details.
2
Review submitted information
On the Application tab, review the Requirements checklist (profile, required and optional forms, payment, and program enrollment), completed form submissions, and child applications if applicable. The Profile tab shows personal and contact details.
3
Leave a private review
On the Private Notes tab, write your assessment under Your Private Review. Optionally choose a recommendation — move to the next stage or Recommend reject — then click Save Private Review.
4
Assign a reviewer (optional)
Under Assigned Reviewer, assign the application to a specific team member. New applications are assigned to the Admissions Head by default.
5
Update the stage
Under Application Stage, choose a stage and click Update Stage. In Customize Status Email, review the pre-filled subject and body from the stage’s email template, add optional attachments, and click Send & Update Stage.
Northstar demo — Applicant detail — Application
Northstar demo — Applicant detail — Profile
Request additional forms during review
On the applicant’s Application tab, use Assign a form to request an additional form, with an optional Due date and Instructions. Review the assignment and submission status from the application. These requests are separate from the reusable form requirements configured for the whole journey.Approving an applicant
When you click Approve, the Approve Applicant dialog lets you choose roles under Assign Roles and optionally set Course Enrollment, Project Enrollment, Add to Roster, a Welcome Email, and Email Attachments. Click Approve & Send Email. When an application is approved:- The applicant receives the acceptance notification (if an email template is configured for the Approved status).
- The applicant’s account is automatically set to active — no separate activation step is needed. This applies to manual approvals and auto-accepted applications alike.
- For child applications, admins can click Create Account on the Child Applications tab to convert the child record into a full student account with the Student role.
- The student can then be enrolled in courses either manually through User Management or automatically if program enrollment was completed during the application process.
At schools where only children enroll, approved adults receive the Accepted Parent role instead of the Student role. See The Accepted Parent role below.
Acceptance requirements
Some schools accept an applicant first and collect tuition (or signed enrollment paperwork) afterward. Acceptance requirements handle this: you pick one or more forms that every accepted applicant must complete before they are fully approved. Because forms can include payment questions, a tuition payment form is the most common requirement. Acceptance settings are available when Admin review is on. A direct restrictive form assignment is a separate control and can restrict the recipient’s access until completion. Configure them in the Onboarding Policy Manager: open Applicant Journey and select the Acceptance forms step.1
Choose the acceptance forms
Under Acceptance forms, select the forms accepted applicants must complete — for example, a “Tuition Payment” form with a product payment question, or an enrollment contract.
2
Choose the access level while requirements are pending
Under Access while completing requirements, choose:
- Restricted (default) — the applicant keeps application-only access until every requirement is complete.
- Full — the applicant receives their portal access at acceptance, and the requirements appear as pending to-dos with a reminder banner.
3
Save
Click Save Changes.
- When you approve, the application moves to the Accepted stage instead of straight to Approved. The applicant is notified and emailed a list of their remaining requirements, and the forms are assigned to them automatically.
- When the applicant completes the last required form (including any payment it collects), their approval finalizes automatically: their role, course enrollments, rosters, and welcome email are applied, and the application moves to Approved. Your admissions team is notified.
- An email you compose in the dialog when moving the applicant (only if you edit the pre-filled content).
- The email template configured on the Accepted stage in the Admin review step’s workflow. For cycle-based admissions, each track’s status set can carry its own Accepted template — use this when different cycles or tracks need different next-steps emails.
- The Application Accepted — Next Steps system email, editable in the system email library.
{{formNames}} placeholder is also available if you want to reference the forms inline.
Acceptance requirements only apply when applications are reviewed manually — they are unavailable while Admin review is off. With rounds and tracks, choose Default policies or a specific track in Applicant journey for before selecting acceptance forms.
Admission Cycles
For schools that run multiple admissions rounds, DeanDesk supports a cycle-based admissions system. This is an advanced feature that builds on top of the standard onboarding flow.What cycles and tracks are
- Admission cycle (round) — A single admissions round, usually a year or admissions season (e.g. “2026 Admissions”, “Fall 2026”). In the Onboarding Policy Manager, cycles are called Application Rounds.
- Application track — An application choice inside a round with its own requirements, forms, fees, and workflow stages (e.g. “Full Time”, “Part Time”, “Weekend”). Tracks let you customize the admissions experience for different applicant groups within the same round.
Creating a round
1
Create a new round
Under Application Rounds, find Create a new round. Enter a Round name, choose an Initial status, and click Create Round.
2
Set the round status
Select the round and choose a status: Draft (visible internally while you set it up), Open (applicants can start new applications), or Closed (no new applications, but records remain available).
3
Make it the active round
Click Make This the Active Round so new applicants are directed to it.
Creating tracks within a round
1
Select the round
Select the round under Application Rounds. Its tracks appear below.
2
Add a track
Enter a Track name, choose Who it is for (Mixed, Adult, Child, or Family), and click Create Track. Use Close Track or Open Track to control whether applicants can choose it. Double-click a track’s name to rename it.
3
Configure the track's journey (optional)
Click Configure policies on a track. The Applicant Journey tab opens with that track selected in Applicant journey for. A track can require different forms, charge different fees, or use its own workflow stages. Track settings cover both Required forms and Optional forms, so you can show a track-specific optional form (e.g. “Volunteer Interest Survey”) without making it a hard requirement. Click Save Changes.
How cycle-based applications work for applicants
In cycle-based mode, applicants see a dashboard that lists all their applications. They can start a new application by selecting a cycle and optionally a track. Each application has its own set of requirements (based on the track’s overrides or the school defaults) and progresses independently through the review pipeline.Parent and child applications
When the Add children step is in the applicant journey, the admissions flow supports a two-layer application structure:- Parent application — The parent completes their own profile, forms, and fees.
- Child applications — The parent creates one or more child applications within their own application. Each child has their own name, date of birth, medical information, and dedicated set of forms (configured as Child required forms in the Onboarding Policy Manager).
If Require at least one child is on in the Add children step, the parent must register and submit at least one child application before they can submit their own application.
Northstar demo — Admissions Queue — Child Applications
The Accepted Parent role
At schools where the Add children step is on and Allow the parent to enroll too is off — that is, only children actually enroll — an adult approved through admissions receives the Accepted Parent role (together with Parent and Member) instead of the Student role. Accepted Parents keep the same access they had before: they can reach everything a student-gated area allowed. The difference is that they are no longer labeled as students and don’t receive student resources. The Accepted Parent role appears everywhere roles are selectable, including:- Role editing in User Management
- Email recipient role lists
- The Approve Applicant dialog (as a checkbox)
- Bulk user creation
- Page visibility settings
Parents adding more children later
Parents are not limited to the children they register during their initial application. They can add additional children at any time from two places in their portal:- Profile → Family tab — the Add Child button creates a new child application directly from the family view.
- Profile → Program Enrollment — parents can pick a family member (themselves or a child) and run them through program selection + checkout in a single flow.
Cycle-based application review
In addition to the standard review tools described in the Admissions Queue section above, cycle-based admissions have a few extras:Filter by track
The queue and the Email Applicants dialog can be filtered by cycle and track, not just by stage. Choose All Tracks to see stage counts across every track in the cycle, or pick one track to see where that cohort is in the pipeline.Private review notes
On any application, reviewers can leave a private review (up to 4,000 characters) and optionally include a recommendation — Recommend reject or a move to the immediate next stage. Reviews are visible to staff on the application but never to the applicant.1
Open an application
From the Admissions Queue, open the application you’re reviewing.
2
Add a review
On the Private Notes tab, type your assessment under Your Private Review. Optionally pick a recommendation from the dropdown.
3
Save
Click Save Private Review. Your review is added to Staff Review History with your name and timestamp.
Northstar demo — Applicant detail — Private Notes
Admissions queue tabs
The queue separates Adult Applicants, Child Applications, and Fee Waiver Requests. Adult and child applications have separate review contexts; open the person or child application before changing status. Fee Waiver Requests is the review queue for requested fee waivers, including any refund generated by an approved request. Use the corresponding procedures above for application review and fee waivers.Applicant detail tabs
Open an applicant from the queue to review three tabs:
Private Notes are never shown to applicants. Staff can write reviews only where their assigned-stage permissions allow it. Saving a recommendation records advice for reviewers; use the actual decision controls to move or reject an application. The detail header and action menu provide the actions available for that application, including approval/rejection, communication, and child account creation when applicable.