This study is based on a comparison of how 16 colleges attempt to estimate the number of applications that the college will receive, how many offers will be accepted by students, as well as how many transfers in and out of the college will occur. The study helps its readers to answer questions such as:  How do colleges predict the number of applications that they will receive? How do they estimate the impact on applications and acceptances of demographic trends, the state of the economy, level of financial aid offered, and the characteristics of colleges that are viewed as alternatives. How many colleges hire consultants to help predict these numbers? Which consultants do they hire and how much do they pay them?  How close are their predictions?  Have they gotten better or worse at such forecasts in recent years?  How do they predict the likely majors that their incoming students will choose? Are they able to accurately predict dropout rates?  How close do they come each year in forecasting the number of foreign student applications?