More than 300 colleges have adopted direct admissions programs that automatically offer enrollment to students who meet preset criteria, but institutions report mixed outcomes. Enrollment leaders warn direct admits behave and convert differently from traditional applicants and require tailored engagement and tracking to improve yield. Enrollment consultants and admissions officers cited Hampshire College as an example where blending direct admits with traditional applicants contributed to a major enrollment shortfall. Enrollment experts including Laura Rudolph and Geoff Baird say institutions must redesign outreach and analytics to capture distinct behaviors among direct admits; for some colleges the approach boosts access, but for others it risks diluting recruitment resources and obscuring signals of student interest.