Every admissions Lead has a Lead Status that shows how far the person has come, from first contact to enrolling. Admissions teams call this path the Closed Loop. Salesforce moves most leads along it automatically. This page explains each status, what changes it, and what you set yourself.
The statuses
| Lead Status |
What it means |
| Prospect |
Known to Admissions, but hasn't shown interest yet (for example, added from a list). |
| Nurturing |
Interested. Lead Status Detail says how far: Inquiry, Pre-Assessment or App Start. |
| App Submit |
Has submitted an application that is under review. |
| Offer |
Has been offered admission. |
| Matriculated |
Accepted the offer and is enrolling. |
| Negative Outcome |
Stopped progressing. Lead Status Detail gives the reason, for example Unqualified, Denied, Declined or Inactive. |
Not every Lead Status Detail value applies to every program. Each admissions team uses the ones that fit its process.
Every status is date-stamped. When a lead enters a status, Salesforce records the date. That is what makes funnel (waterfall) reports by cohort possible. If a lead moves backwards, Salesforce clears the dates of the later statuses so the report stays accurate.
What changes the status automatically
Actions the person takes
| When this happens |
Lead Status becomes |
| They submit an inquiry form (and are still a Prospect) |
Nurturing / Inquiry |
| They attend an admissions event (and are still a Prospect) |
Nurturing / Inquiry |
| They complete an EMBA pre-assessment |
Nurturing / Pre-Assessment |
| An EMBA pre-assessment finds them unqualified |
Negative Outcome / Unqualified |
| They log in to the application site |
Nurturing / App Start |
Marketing activity in Pardot
When someone fills out a landing page or inquiry form, or is added through a list upload, Pardot adds them to one of two Salesforce campaigns: Closed Loop Prospects or Closed Loop Inquiries. Salesforce uses that to set the status to Prospect or Nurturing / Inquiry, but only if the lead isn't already further along. A lead at App Submit or Offer, for example, keeps its status. Salesforce then removes them from the campaign about an hour later.
The removal is on purpose. It lets the same person go through this again later. For example, a lead marked inactive who fills out a new landing page goes back to Nurturing / Inquiry. Seeing people briefly in these campaigns is normal.
Unsubscribing and resubscribing
- A lead at Prospect or Nurturing / Inquiry opts out of email. Salesforce sets them to Negative Outcome / Inactive, with Inactive Reason set to Unsubscribed.
- A lead further along opts out. Their status doesn't change, because they're past the point of needing marketing email.
- An unsubscribed lead opts back in. If they're still at Negative Outcome / Inactive / Unsubscribed, Salesforce returns them to Nurturing / Inquiry. If they've reached any other milestone since, their status stays as it is.
Changes to the application
When an application's Internal Status changes, the lead's status follows:
| Application Internal Status |
Lead Status |
Lead Status Detail |
| Submitted, Under Review, Send to Committee, Interviewing |
App Submit |
|
| Submitted - Incomplete, Incomplete |
Nurturing |
varies |
| WaitList |
App Submit |
Waitlisted |
| Offer, Contingent Offer, Offer from Waitlist, Deposit Required, Enrollment Form Required, Deferred |
Offer |
|
| Accepted |
Matriculated |
|
| Denied, Denied from Waitlist |
Negative Outcome |
Denied |
| Not Entering |
Negative Outcome |
Declined |
| Canceled, Withdraw, Inactive |
Negative Outcome |
Inactive |
Other things Salesforce does with admissions leads
- Thank-you and confirmation emails. A new Cornell MBA inquiry gets a thank-you email for their program of interest, and a completed EMBA pre-assessment gets a confirmation. See Admissions Email Management.
- Contact details refreshed nightly. Each night, for applicants who logged in to the application site since the day before, Salesforce copies their name, phone, company, title and address from their most recent application to their Lead.
What you set yourself
You can change Lead Status and Lead Status Detail by hand at any time, for example to record a reason that no automation knows about. The date stamps update the same way. Later automation can still change the status again when the person or their application moves on.