Most Annoying Application?

[Zouzax]

in terms of best, I'd like to nominate Yale ... it was easy, had a user-friendly menu on the left-hand side, asked the right amount of questions, only requested scanned transcripts, and because of how easy it was, was one of the first apps I finished.

[Alyanumbers]

in terms of best, I'd like to nominate Yale ... it was easy, had a user-friendly menu on the left-hand side, asked the right amount of questions, only requested scanned transcripts, and because of how easy it was, was one of the first apps I finished.

Agreed! Columbia is the same way! IME, the ApplyYourself system is better than Embark.

[Zouzax]

Alyanumbers, I see you're applying to Univ of Edinburgh .. for what semester are you applying?? I'm going to apply for Fall 2011!!

[katerific]

Agreed! Columbia is the same way! IME, the ApplyYourself system is better than Embark.

I have to agree that Columbia's is my favorite. Although I wish I could have chosen my own username instead of using the PIN they give us...

[A. sesquipedale]

I found Harvard's scholarship stuff pretty annoying to read for some reason. Maybe because it made me feel like such an outcast. No, I am not blood related to Sir Phillip the Second or Bartholomew the Great. No, I am in no way directly related to the Harvard class of 1899, but, six degrees of Kevin Bacon tells me I'm pretty dang close. No, I can't do the secret bird-flap-piano-fingers handshake. OK, in reality it wasn't that bad but I just thought it was kind of funny as I encountered no questions such as these on any of my other apps.

I can second the frustration of uploading PDFs online, especially when the (school) program has a small file size cap. It took me forever to find an app that worked. I ended up going with PDF Creator and putting the quality to 72x72 (you have to do this the first time you change the JPEG or w/e to a PDF, doing so in subsequent prints of the PDF did not work, at least for me.

Edited December 9, 2010 by A. sesquipedale

[Zouzax]

ha yes Harvards extensive financial aid application WAS over the top ... of course I didn't qualify for anything. Do you know if the admissions committee looks at that before accepting you? Or is it processed by a completely different department??

[A. sesquipedale]

ha yes Harvards extensive financial aid application WAS over the top ... of course I didn't qualify for anything. Do you know if the admissions committee looks at that before accepting you? Or is it processed by a completely different department??

I have no clue, sorry.

[history_PhD]

I had quite the time with the UVA application. The U-Colorado one is a pain, in general, but that is because they want most of the stuff sent to them (including 2 copies of GRE scores!?!)

[gradstudent84]

Has anyone mentioned CSDCAS applications? What the heck is up with typing in EVERY SINGLE CLASS you've ever taken in your postsecondary career? It is their way of calculating GPA but it is definitely NOT my cup of tea....I am watching a movie as I do it just make it somewhat bearable.

Edited December 10, 2010 by gradstudent84

[Alyanumbers]

Alyanumbers, I see you're applying to Univ of Edinburgh .. for what semester are you applying?? I'm going to apply for Fall 2011!!

Me too! Well, I'm only going to the UK if I can find funding, and I'm not accepted anywhere in the US (because US programs are funded, and I absolutely can't afford the UK). But I would absolutely love to go to Edinburgh!

[Zouzax]

Me too! Well, I'm only going to the UK if I can find funding, and I'm not accepted anywhere in the US (because US programs are funded, and I absolutely can't afford the UK). But I would absolutely love to go to Edinburgh!

I agree! I was an exchange student there when I was high school & I absolutely fell in love with it, I always swore I'd go back one day ... I'm applying to a Ph.D program, thankfully they offer funding or Id never be able to apply ... but then again, its barely enough money to live on...

[MegMill]

Vanderbilt has a really bizarre interface. It was difficult to get through. Also, they want you to send two official transcripts from each school. And damn if my schools don't charge ridic amts for each. But I guess I cannot complain too much as there was no app fee if you submitted it online.

[Bukharan]

Cambridge - for asking to send LORs in mail.

Absolute favourite - U Chicago. Their application system is simple, pretty and it is easy to check the supplementary materials status after the application is in.

And, yes, Harvard's financial form is amusing. A minefield of non-ticked boxes.

[waddle]

Gripes with USC's: (1) Best cumulative score & percentile on the GRE?! Ok, fine, I can add up my section scores. But AFAIK, ETS doesn't keep tabs on people's cumulative scores! (2) Where/when I got my high school diploma?! REALLY. This is a graduate application, and I ain't no high school student, thank you very much.

Edited December 12, 2010 by waddle

[milou]

I second the nomination of Stanford, for its 15-step form with no option to skip between steps, and its desire for multiple transcripts. You asked me for a scan too (which I don't mind), so if you want N extra copies, why is it so hard to print N instead of N-1? You can put my $125 (!!!) app fee towards buying another piece of paper.

I also nominate Berkeley (from last year), which refused to send LOR emails until the rest of the app was submitted. I had already asked my references and submitted other schools' requests before realizing this, and then had to explain "where's Berkeley?" as I scrambled to finish my app.

But I think the winner was MIT (also from last year), which not only wanted an itemized list of courses I had taken in each discipline, but also wanted the textbooks used in each. Dude, that was a while ago - you think I remember what book I used in freshman calc?

Yup, Stanford's is my worst, too. (Ironic, considering the location, no?) Is anyone else having problems uploading supplemental materials to Stanford's app? I keep getting an error message each time I try, which means I can't complete the application. I'm curious if it's just me...

[tso123d]

Yup, Stanford's is my worst, too. (Ironic, considering the location, no?) Is anyone else having problems uploading supplemental materials to Stanford's app? I keep getting an error message each time I try, which means I can't complete the application. I'm curious if it's just me...

Nope it's not just you. And my deadline is tomorrow, it should be interesting

[lechatgris]

I'm adding UVA to the list because I am still working on the second writing sample. That's right, they can't take the 25 page article I'm sending to nearly every other school; instead they want 2 short papers that add up to 25 pages. What a ten page paper could tell them about a potential English Ph.D. candidate is beyond me (except perhaps that I have the mental fortitude to hack at my longer work unceremoniously until it fits--like Cinderella's step-sisters cutting their toes off to wear the glass slipper).

And I second the snarkiness toward the ApplyTexas system. A&M would somehow like me to print off their transcript form and attach it to the signed-across-the-seal, sent directly from the Registrar transcripts I've ordered from multiple states. It's like a really crap logic puzzle. I was on the phone with the Registrar's office at one of my past schools for 20 minutes, trying to talk the receptionist through the Texas website to get to the form herself (ok, see that grad menu? Hover your mouse on it, then click on the third item on the list. Click the second tab. You don't see it? Ok, go back one page. Then scroll to the bottom and click the link that says "click here." All right, you're almost there . . . ).

The second school listened to my request, said, "We don't do that," and hung up on me. Thanks, Texas, you've made this experience delightful.

[milou]

Nope it's not just you. And my deadline is tomorrow, it should be interesting

Hmm...I sent them an e-mail earlier, and it appears to have been fixed. Good luck getting everything in on time!

Also, am I crazy, or is the "Additional Information" part the only place to upload a writing sample on Stanford's application? (Yes, I did read the instructions and this is what they seem to indicate, but it seems very unclear when every other school's application contains a clearly marked "writing sample" upload). Also, because there appears to be room for only one document, I ended up submitting BOTH writing samples for my program, plus my CV, in one big ole document.

[megumi85]

For about half the schools I applied to, the department's application instructions on their website didn't match their instructions on either the application itself or in their emails. It wasn't usually a problem, except for one department that didn't email their new instructions until after you submitted your online application... Also, I missed that one school had a note requesting applicants to hold off on sending their transcripts and GRE scores until after the online app was submitted...unfortunately, this note wasn't on the application instruction page, just another page on the grad school website, so I send my materials beforehand. Here's to hoping they still put them in the correct file?

[cogscipixie]

Worst applications I've had to endure grad-wise:

1) Michigan State (The 2 separate cognitive science dept + graduate school applications + 2 separate essays + the school can't get it's act together with saying that they had received all my supplementary materials weeks in advance).

2) Ohio State - If there was one reason most U of M fans can't stand OSU, I think I found another thing to dislike about the school even before potential admission: their clusterf**k of an application.

3) Vandy - UGH

4) American University

Best applications (in terms of streamlined, minimal other additional dept. applications to do, etc)

1) Indiana - one application, all online, only official transcripts + GRE go directly via mail. Pretty minimal, with more accountability on both ends.

2) Penn State - also very similar to Indiana's

I think the ApplyYourself systems that some schools have makes all the difference between a really organized vs. confusing and frustrating application process.

[Zouzax]

I think the ApplyYourself systems that some schools have makes all the difference between a really organized vs. confusing and frustrating application process.

I agree. ApplyYourself is great. Used that for Yale & it was by far my "favorite" application to fill out.

[goomba25]

SOPHAS, the public health common app system.

1) Itemize every course you've ever taken at every college and school since freshman year.

2) List months of attendance for every school you've attended. Hmm, I took 2 courses at a local community college during the summer. Did they start in late June or early July? Did they end in late July or early August? Oh no, the course schedules are off line!

[verticalxlimit]

In my experience, it was St. John's University. The application was definitely aesthetically appealing, but it differed in a few significant ways from the paper application. I had pretty much catered my materials for the requirements of the paper application, so upon filling out the online app I felt I was submitting sub-par material. For example, the length requirements for the SOP were different for the paper vs. online application. It was a disaster. I left everything as is, and I hope it doesn't weigh negatively on my application!

[verticalxlimit]

I agree. ApplyYourself is great. Used that for Yale & it was by far my "favorite" application to fill out.

Amen to that.

[fangsout]

I haven't seen Harvard mentioned yet. Asking me to enter in all of my courses, and then enter in all of my mathematics courses, unless of course I already listed them in the first section. They didn't have enough text boxes for my undergrad courses, so I went back and had to replace all of the meaningless courses from 1st and second year with my junior/senior classes.