Who is on the admissions committee for masters?

[Duh_Divinity]

Hello, just wondering if anyone can speak to who is on admissions committees. 

 

Any insight into the process? Do admissions reps read apps prior to committee members? 

Are committee members different for MDiv, MTS, or other programs? 

The schools I am most interested in are HDS, YDS, VDS, ND, Duke, Candler, and Union. 

 

Thanks for any input! 

[xypathos]

Faculty, Admissions staff, and depending on the school upper level students are sometimes used as a "reader."

Admissions reviews every application before it goes up to a vote. Mainly to certify that it's actually complete and also for content. Content screenings are generally merely a formality but every now and then you hear of someone applying to a progressive program and they let it "slip" that they're deeply homophobic, racist, antisemitic, etc. I obviously don't mean "My views are still evolving on this..." but more like "I'm in a white nationalist heavy metal band back home in Idaho, and hope to engage in some street preaching while at your fine institution." These never make it to the vote process.

Generally every application is reviewed by two people. Sometimes bare minimum thresholds are set and if these aren't meant then the application is read by one person and sometimes no one (they get screened out via an analytics program). This latter bit is rare but it happens. I've seen some real doozies! Usually screened out applications get assigned a student to verify that the boot is appropriate but these are rarely overturned.

Student readers vary from school to school. Some don't use them at all. Some use them as a basic: Could you see this person as a contributing member of the school? But, they don't get an actual Admissions vote. Some schools let students vote. Student readers are important in the process, after all they're going to be your peer, but their opinion isn't given much weight with good reason.