Time it takes to review an applicant

[euchreboyseeya]

Hi all I was thinking to myself how long does it really take to review an application. I am in the science field so I only had to pay for one application I wish I didn't even pay for that application because it was a bust and for now on I will only apply to free schools but really how long does it take. I am going to go out on a limb here and say it cant take more then 10-15 minutes to review an application. They look at GPA, GRE scores see the relevant classes you took, briefly read your letters of recommendation, and take a look at your CV/resume seeing what your able to do. I can't really see how the process could take more then that amount of time. I actually emailed the school back that I paid for my money and told them the same thing I am saying here, and honestly they didn't respond back, I feel their is some truth in this. It's just a numbers game and sometimes thats all that really matters and nothing else. I am sure most people here are more then qualified to have success in graduate school. I have had the graduate school experience getting my masters now, you do research, please your boss the best you can, you get your TA work done and then you present at conferences. Well I guess I will be calling up schools next week seeing if I am still on a waiting list or got rejected. Its disappointing but if it doesnt work out theres always next year, I figure if I apply to 50 schools next year one of them has got to take me. I guess thats another thing about graduate school you should really want to go where you get along with the professor not just where you have to go because thats the only place that took you, but I understand the view point of just going to a place, get the degree, and get out.

[Teelee]

It takes a lot of time to get the admission committee members together in one room to review all the applicants. The committee will get together few times (maybe once a month, 3-4 times total pending on number of applicants and dependent on application deadlines Dec, Jan, or June). Usually on the first round of application review they will choose x number of students. They will review those students again and rank them accordingly (based on merit) and determine fellowship, assistantships, scholarships or no funding. Then they will offer and wait to see who will accept. So even if it takes 10-15 min to review an application, the entire process takes much longer.

In large state schools, they have a general application dept who receives all the applications from potential graduate students. They then pass the applications to appropriate departments where the individual department graduate committee reviews your application. This is a lengthy process and can sometimes cause delay. It's frustrating but that's how large schools tend to operate.

I am sorry you are in such a stressful situation. Hope you get an answer soon.

[euchreboyseeya]

The departments I applied to my application goes directly to the department then if accepted it goes tot he graduate college, that just makes the process more sucking is the best word I have for it right now.

[UnlikelyGrad]

I am going to go out on a limb here and say it cant take more then 10-15 minutes to review an application.

You need to stop thinking of this as a process involving just your application and realize that it is a process involving potentially hundreds of applications that have to be compared.

You're right that it can't take more than 10-15 minutes to review an application...if there is only one. But if yours is at the bottom of a stack of 100, it will be a lot of minutes until they get to it. And keep in mind that profs may have 2-3 hours per week max to work on this because they also have to teach, manage their research crew, etc.

My department gets considerably less than 100 applications, of course (it's a relatively small department), and as a result we have a different admissions process than larger departments. All of the applications go direct to the professor in charge of the grad committee (usually my advisor, though she's on sabbatical this year). She gives every folder a once-over, then forwards the info to the prof the student is most interested in working for. If that prof gives the applicant the thumbs-down, my advisor then passes the folder on to the next prof the student might work for, and so on and so on. For interdisciplinary programs like mine, the folders may even float from one department to the other.

As you can see, for prospective students who are top-notch, the 'yes' may come quickly; for those who are so-so, it may take a while, as the application gets passed from one prof to another. And, of course, there is always the possibility that a prof may say, 'Yeah, I'd take applicant X if I had the money, but I've already said yes to applicants A, B & C, so I have to wait until they see whether they turn me down or not...'