Most Annoying Application?

[lechatgris]

Let's vent. What's the worst application you've dealt with so far? Oregon's unsavable "department form page" was the front runner for me . . . then I got to Rutgers' multiple sub-applications--every time I thought I was finished, I got an email saying, "Oh, hey, don't forget to do this other inane thing . . ." . And LSU, for which I must submit BOTH an online application to the grad school AND a paper application to my department. I have to send all my supporting materials to both. And then there's Colorado, who asks me to upload forms I do not have, for which they do not provide a link, and that are apparently unsearchable on their graduate website. Grrr!

Man, I feel better already.

[eklavya]

I did not like how Michigan State's application was set up (for my program at least). It seriously looked like the most basic webpage created by a noob. There were no 'next', 'save' buttons! Thank god the page saved the typed data automatically! The recommendations had to be sent via snail mail. Not professional!

Another annoying application was Iowa State's. It was a single page form and did not have an option to upload my resume. I had to snail mail the resume to the dept.

[katerific]

Oh goodness, I've come across many things that annoy me, but here's what I remember specifically right off the bat:

- You can't skip around to different modules on the Stanford app. You can't click on the individual parts; you have to keep clicking next... next... next to skip from 1 to 7 or whevs. (Unless I'm just dumb and missed something here.)

- Any school that requires two official transcripts to be mailed to them. Understandable, but annoying. Extra "auuughs!" are awarded to the schools (including Stanford!) that require that in addition to scanning and uploading an official transcript. (Most of the schools I'm applying to require either 1 or 0(!) mailed transcripts.)

[BlueRose]

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?

[dval]

Georgia Tech is also very annoying. It is the only application I'm still *trying* to pay, because the site needs the billing addres to be typed EXACTLY as registered.

[katerific]

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?

Oh dude, I forgot about the Stanford application fee. By far the most expensive one (my next most expensive one is $100, and the rest are <$80).

Oh yeah, MIT and the course list... Similarly, Caltech wants a list of all relevant upper-div courses... with textbooks... and instructors.... and topics covered. Okay, so I don't need to list ALL my classes ever, but dang! I'm also not a fan of the MIT app's look. Very... stark.

[natsteel]

Oh dude, I forgot about the Stanford application fee. By far the most expensive one (my next most expensive one is $100, and the rest are <$80).

Oh yeah, MIT and the course list... Similarly, Caltech wants a list of all relevant upper-div courses... with textbooks... and instructors.... and topics covered. Okay, so I don't need to list ALL my classes ever, but dang! I'm also not a fan of the MIT app's look. Very... stark.

Talk about expensive application fees... the CUNY Graduate Center's fee is $125 with no possibility for a fee waiver. That's more expensive than any other school I'm applying to and is my last resort. If I didn't already know I'll get in, I would've skipped it.

[Alyanumbers]

SOAS (U of London) for the unskippable thing! You have to enter two recommenders' names before you can access the next section of the app. But I haven't asked recommenders yet! Can't I just fill in the rest of the application, this way I'll have everything ready, and only have to worry about asking more professors to write me more LoRs?

Also, LoRs must be emailed from a .edu address. Now, my uni does not automatically give out .edu addresses, so my professors use Yahoo/Gmail/Hotmail(!). So now I have to send snail mail LoRs.... from overseas!

And Cornell's application doesn't let you upload a CV. And they give you minimal space to list your languages... I'm applying to Comp Lit; languages are an essential component of my application!

[Nimesis]

I don't know if anyone else has applied to Texas schools, but the ApplyTexas system seems to me to be completely backwards, especially in terms of the way it handles the LoR process. It will not allow you to submit letter notifications to your recommenders until you've submitted your application. This means you have to complete everything well in advance before your recommenders will be given a notification and it forces people to send in separate paper/snail mail recommendations instead of using the online system. I'm not sure how that benefits the school or how it makes sense for them to have their system work the way it does... It seems like promoting the use of snail mail would just increase the probability that things get lost in the system or misplaced.

[warpspeed]

McGill's is just dumb, illogical and I had to do it twice because they don't message you your log in information and its not retrievable until you submit your application.

ASU doesn't send Letter of Rec until you've submitted your Statement, which absolutely sucked.

[fuzzylogician]

The two most annoying applications that I still remember two years after my application cycle:

- UMass, for having such a retarded application that it was impossible to save anything in it. I had to fill it out in one long session (one time my internet connection died and I had to start over. argh). Then hard copies of everything, including LORs, had to be mailed in to them.

- Rutgers, for not sending LOR prompts until after I submitted my part of the application.

And, though, this is not an app software issue, my hands-down annoying-school winner is UC Santa Cruz, for moving up their deadline from Jan 15 to Dec 15 without notifying people who had already started their applications based on the links+info that they had on their website in October; apparently it contained some outdated information which they corrected some time in November. Good grief! For once it's a thing that I'm obsessive enough to double-check every so often.

[tetragenome]

haha...great thread

Here's my share

1. Michigan State University

The dumbest application page, if you a type of applicant who just wants to keep clicking next, then you'd miss their applicant ID in the first page which is required for next visit to the page. And they won't send you that applicant ID to your email. You can't check if your documents safely arrive.

2. Vanderbilt University

Never update, I have sent my LoR and GRE several months ago and enquired. no reply, no update (It's the feature of free application?)

3. Stanford University

Diversity statement 700 characters? I first thought 700 words, so I composed long list of my life and then bump!... so what are we supposed to write 700 characters for diversity? I am an ordinary student coming from bread winning family. With incessant aspiration, I managed to finish my undergrad. Despite 4 years struggle in different cultural environment, I'm still keen on going further, which is the main reason why I would contribute to Stanford diversity. yikes...

4. Cornell University

Even after you submitted the application, you can't check whether your mailed transcripts arrive.

that's for now

[Strangefox]

And, though, this is not an app software issue, my hands-down annoying-school winner is UC Santa Cruz, for moving up their deadline from Jan 15 to Dec 15 without notifying people who had already started their applications based on the links+info that they had on their website in October; apparently it contained some outdated information which they corrected some time in November.

That is mean! One of my schools also changed their deadline in November from 10th December to 1st December. Luckily I was going to turn my app in earlier anyways. What are they thinking about when they do such things??

[katerific]

- Rutgers, for not sending LOR prompts until after I submitted my part of the application.

How could I forget about that? One of my LOR writers ran off to the South Pole in November before I could submit my application.... and now I have to figure out how to get a letter from him while he's on an internet-less boat. (eh, I'll figure it out.)

That is mean! One of my schools also changed their deadline in November from 10th December to 1st December. Luckily I was going to turn my app in earlier anyways. What are they thinking about when they do such things??

Oh, and all this talk about changing of deadlines makes me super paranoid. I better go check right now....

[starmaker]

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?

This, or a variation of it, is not so uncommon. When I applied for MS programs, Northeastern had me do this for all computer science classes that I'd ever taken.

I always assumed that programs do it because they want to see if your preparation was actually adequate for the program to which you're applying, and they don't trust course names alone.

[waddle]

How could I forget about that? One of my LOR writers ran off to the South Pole in November before I could submit my application.... and now I have to figure out how to get a letter from him while he's on an internet-less boat. (eh, I'll figure it out.)

HAHAHAHA--sorry, katerific, just had to laugh at that--only in the geosciences would this happen (hope it works out though!)

Oh, and all this talk about changing of deadlines makes me super paranoid. I better go check right now....

Ugh, but it's finals week ... if they move up their deadlines, I figure I just won't apply there.

[katerific]

HAHAHAHA--sorry, katerific, just had to laugh at that--only in the geosciences would this happen (hope it works out though!)

Oh, thanks. I'm actually laughing too--I had been scrambling to get everything else in order and emailed him incessantly to--get this--avoid this exact situation. Fortunately, he completed all the other recommendations the morning before(!!) he left. If this were the case for all of the schools as opposed to just one, I would definitely be crying. and drowning in my tears!

[warpspeed]

haha...great thread

Here's my share

1. Michigan State University

The dumbest application page, if you a type of applicant who just wants to keep clicking next, then you'd miss their applicant ID in the first page which is required for next visit to the page. And they won't send you that applicant ID to your email. You can't check if your documents safely arrive.

2. Vanderbilt University

Never update, I have sent my LoR and GRE several months ago and enquired. no reply, no update (It's the feature of free application?)

3. Stanford University

Diversity statement 700 characters? I first thought 700 words, so I composed long list of my life and then bump!... so what are we supposed to write 700 characters for diversity? I am an ordinary student coming from bread winning family. With incessant aspiration, I managed to finish my undergrad. Despite 4 years struggle in different cultural environment, I'm still keen on going further, which is the main reason why I would contribute to Stanford diversity. yikes...

4. Cornell University

Even after you submitted the application, you can't check whether your mailed transcripts arrive.

that's for now

all my vandy information has been updated super fast :/

[direshark]

Oh Lord. Between pages not loading and deleting all my data, one (Duke) which kept logging me off whenever I tried to upload anything, one (UC Irvine) that requires an extra personal history essay outside the SOP, and one (UCSB) which required me to physically send nearly everything (personal achievements, SOP, writing sample, resume, transcript, GREs)...I just can't choose.

I was not expecting the application process to be nearly this gruesome and frustrating. I admit - I was unprepared.

[TMP]

Maryland! I submitted the main app back in late October and for the next month or so until I finally submitted the supplement application, they sent me a reminder e-mail EVERY OTHER DAY.

Account creating on OSU was quite a surprise. I tried every combination related to my name (first and middle)/initials and familiar numbers and OSU's system would not accept any of those. So I ended up using my younger cousin's name and her birthdate for my usher name. Let's hope that, if I get into OSU and go there, the IT Gods will let me pick out a different user name for the e-mail.

Out of 8 schools, 4 of them would allow me to e-mail my LOR writers immediately. 3 of them had to be done AFTER I submitted the app. And 1... had to be submitted... hard copy while the rest of the application was online.

[Zouzax]

i second the vote for Stanford & its inability to click on the page you want. Of course, I uploaded my statement of purpose, transcripts, and writing sample last .. AND at different times ... and quite unfortunately, these three things just happened to be on page 15 (or was it 13?) doesn't matter, all I know is that every time I wanted to edit one of those I was incessantly clicking, trying to get to the right page.

I also agree with the vote for MIT's stark application. It made me feel ... lonely.

[was1984]

Stanford definitely takes the cake on this one. From the repeated emails from the department about not emailing them to ask whether materials had been received, to the horrible navigation on the application, to the 2 official and 1 scanned (thus THREE) transcripts required, I find myself wondering what they are spending that $125 fee on.

On a brighter note, my favorite application has been the University of Washington's application. The fee is reasonable, the website is intuitive and friendly, and they -only- require scanned transcripts unless you are admitted. I thought that was very humane of them, and I wonder why more schools aren't that way.

[BlueRose]

On a brighter note, my favorite application has been the University of Washington's application. The fee is reasonable, the website is intuitive and friendly, and they -only- require scanned transcripts unless you are admitted. I thought that was very humane of them, and I wonder why more schools aren't that way.

Princeton was the same way, only requiring a scanned transcript. They were also the only school that allowed me to upload a real CV (as a PDF). No attempting to reproduce a CV in plaintext, or worse, having to copy-paste each entry into some stupid web form. More schools should do this.

[anonacademic]

On 12/8/2010 at 3:02 PM, was1984 said:

On a brighter note, my favorite application has been the University of Washington's application. The fee is reasonable, the website is intuitive and friendly, and they -only- require scanned transcripts unless you are admitted. I thought that was very humane of them, and I wonder why more schools aren't that way.

Not all departments are created equal University of Washington English wants two official transcripts, sealed with the registrar's seal, collected and sent by the applicant to the department.

My vote for most annoying application would be any that requires everything to be sent online, particularly scanned transcripts. This vote is cast after wrestling with one of these for about four hours today, after an hour commute just to get the damn things scanned in the first place. (I'm in a very rural area - my library doesn't even have WIFI, much less an OCR!) Blurg.

[MoJingly]

I think international applications, in general, take the cake for me. I tried to fill out the general application for music schools in the UK, and after finally figuring out the weird navigation and terminology differences... I could not figure out how to input that I received a bachelor's degree. Literally... the option was NOWHERE. I went to the study-abroad department at my current university, and they couldn't figure it out either. I found out how to input an ASSOCIATES degree... so out of frustration I asked the web development people.

"Oh, you're right. We don't have an option for that. Just input 'other.'"

No option for a bachelor's degree, eh? I would think that is something they might want to fix? I mean, they had an option for an Albanian certificate of maturity...