Most Annoying Applications: Fall 2013 Edition

[ridofme]

Now that all my apps are in and I have nothing better to do, I've been browsing the gradcafe archives for more posts to obsess over. I came across these two gems...

 

 

 

...and thought it was high time for us to blow off a little steam and complain about the technical/logistical aspects of this year's applications, rather than agonize over that one C from freshman year, a minor typo in our SOPs, and the uncertainty of our own futures.

 

I'll start:

 

By far the most annoying application was UT-Austin. It all began with the Texas Common App. Every other school's application allowed me to send requests to my referees before the application was submitted, but with UT-Austin, I first had to submit the TCA, which required uploading my transcripts and paying the application fee. (SOP and CV could be uploaded later into the UT-Austin-specific app). Because I wanted to give my referees time to write the letters, this meant submitting the TCA a month before the actual UT-Austin app was due. After the TCA was in, I was not able to update any of the information I had initially submitted, even before the UT-Austin part was due, including uploading transcripts that included my fall grades. Also, once you uploaded something into the UT-Austin application, you COULD NOT DELETE IT. As in, if you uploaded your SOP, but noticed a typo before submission, you still could not delete and replace that SOP.

 

Then, there was Michigan, where I could not skip between the sections of the application. I had to go through each page sequentially, clicking "next" or "previous". If some information was incomplete or in the wrong format on any page, the online application would not allow me to move to another page until I acknowledged that I would fix that information later.

 

Next, the U. of Chicago, which asked me for salary information about all of my previous jobs, quantified in 'yearly base salary'. I understand that they are trying to differentiate between paid and unpaid work, but it seemed a little intrusive, and it's not like I applied for an MBA. Also, it would not allow me to enter hourly amounts, which, as a recent-ish graduate, is how many of my jobs have been compensated.

 

A few general comments. The limitations of various drop-down menus were anxiety-producing. For example, in the education history sections, you almost always had to declare what kind of degree you had received or were expecting from each institution you attended. What about study abroad? Or schools you transferred from? Or courses you took as a non-degree student post-bachelor's degree? I would think that this issue would be common enough that schools could add a "no degree expected" option. Finally, most of the applications allowed me to download a PDF of my entire application to review before submission. This was much appreciated. I don't know why every school doesn't do this.

 

 

 

[hippo74]

I was equally frustrated by the UT Austin application.  The common app was annoying enough but there were also extremely vague questions.  And there was a separate neuroscience application that also had to be downloaded, filled in, and uploaded to the status page after the application was submitted.  For every other school, pressing "submit" was the last step in the application process.

 

I was also a bit surprised by MIT's Brain and cognitive sciences application.  It required a list of all classes that could be relevant (which could not be changed or even viewed once entered) and what textbook you used in that class.  And unlike every other program, entering your reference writers into the application did not send a request.  It generated an text for you to copy and paste into an email that you have to send the reference writer.

 

I'm glad to be done and I realize now that it all wasn't that bad but when I was so anxious about getting applications in it was just something else to get annoyed about

[selecttext]

 

By far the most annoying application was UT-Austin. It all began with the Texas Common App. Every other school's application allowed me to send requests to my referees before the application was submitted, but with UT-Austin, I first had to submit the TCA, which required uploading my transcripts and paying the application fee. (SOP and CV could be uploaded later into the UT-Austin-specific app). Because I wanted to give my referees time to write the letters, this meant submitting the TCA a month before the actual UT-Austin app was due. After the TCA was in, I was not able to update any of the information I had initially submitted, even before the UT-Austin part was due, including uploading transcripts that included my fall grades. Also, once you uploaded something into the UT-Austin application, you COULD NOT DELETE IT. As in, if you uploaded your SOP, but noticed a typo before submission, you still could not delete and replace that SOP.

 It's pretty standard to first submit the application and then to notify the referees - why would they bother a professor for a recommendation to a program to which you haven't applied. I haven't encountered a system that permitted a modification to the referees post-submission.

Edited January 17, 2013 by selecttext

[Vincenzo]

... And unlike every other program, entering your reference writers into the application did not send a request.  It generated an text for you to copy and paste into an email that you have to send the reference writer.

 

I'm glad to be done and I realize now that it all wasn't that bad but when I was so anxious about getting applications in it was just something else to get annoyed about

 

I second the MIT BCS app annoyance. The fact that it doesn't email your references directly is ridiculous - along with the fact that it doesn't display the text you're supposed to send until you go back into the module later. It's MIT! They can't handle the extra couple hours of development it would take to add in the kind of email feature that every.other.application has? Psh. I want my app fee back.

[runaway]

This is more general, but I absolutely can't stand that you can't be logged into more than one Applyyourself application at a time. It would have been so much easier to fill in the more rote sections (ie, educational history) all at once, assembly-line style, than to do each one individually. But maybe that's just me!

[dworkable]

It cracked me up when I had to create passwords/usernames that didn't include any personal information whatsoever...I usually use my initials/name and some numbers, but some apps wouldn't let you do that and I ended up with these very odd jungle-animal themed logins that I no doubt will forget immediately.

 

Also any application where you are required to type something into a field and the field is FAR TOO SMALL to convey whatever you are typing. I studied abroad at the "LONGforeignWORD Institute of Language, Art and Culture"....that fit into no application box whatsoever, and I wasn't sure how to abbreviate it. (WORD-IoLAC?)

 

Also how some schools want a scan of your transcript in black-and-white, some want it in color but it has to be smaller than 1MB, some suggest so many DPI, some allow you to upload a huge PDF---I have like seven versions of the same scan in my files. Man, fun times.

[hippo74]

Also any application where you are required to type something into a field and the field is FAR TOO SMALL to convey whatever you are typing. I studied abroad at the "LONGforeignWORD Institute of Language, Art and Culture"....that fit into no application box whatsoever, and I wasn't sure how to abbreviate it. (WORD-IoLAC?)

That also happened far to often to me.  40 characters is not enough to answer "Describe your responsibilities were in this position"

 

One application asked me for my current employment but refused to let me move on until I listed an end date for the job they knew I am still working at

[NeuroTU]

UTAustin's sucked. 

[Allouette]

Then, there was Michigan, where I could not skip between the sections of the application. I had to go through each page sequentially, clicking "next" or "previous". If some information was incomplete or in the wrong format on any page, the online application would not allow me to move to another page until I acknowledged that I would fix that information later.

 

SECONDED. 

 

Also, CUNY was pretty annoying, because their system was so bare bones (no room to attach a CV, what is this, the middle ages?), and because they wanted you to send in a cheque (again, what is this, the middle ages?) and supplemental material by mail, and keeping track of it all was annoying as all get up.

[Bearcat1]

 It's pretty standard to first submit the application and then to notify the referees - why would they bother a professor for a recommendation to a program to which you haven't applied. I haven't encountered a system that permitted a modification to the referees post-submission.

UT Austin was my only app that send the notification to referees after the fact. All the others were immediate. You could change them later, even after submission, but they were notified before I submitted the app.

And I was so excited to come on this thread and bitch about Michigan, but it's already here. At least they let you comment on it when it was done! I let them know how annoying it was.

[emg28]

How about Stanford's app? I found it even more annoying than Michigan's. As if signing in wasn't hard enough, having to click through each page to move through the application was painful. It was soooo slow, most the time I thought I was going to be timed out because it took so long to load. Plus the"character count" was excruciatingly painful. I hate their app.  

 

I  also applied to University of Vermont and I found that the webpage had some bugs. I wasn't allowed to upload anything. When I called the Admissions office they told me I had to contact the site administrators and gave me the run around. Instead I opted for mailing the supporting materials because it was too much of a hassle dealing with them.  

[lypiphera]

I don't want to name specific schools, but the one application that drove me crazy was one where you had the main application and then the second department application.  That wouldn't be so bad, except that for the department one, you couldn't save your progress.  That's right - you have to do the entire thing in one go.  Now, it was somewhat simple, but it's still frustrating to not be able to save and review your answers.

[ridofme]

 

UT Austin was my only app that send the notification to referees after the fact. All the others were immediate. You could change them later, even after submission, but they were notified before I submitted the app.

And I was so excited to come on this thread and bitch about Michigan, but it's already here. At least they let you comment on it when it was done! I let them know how annoying it was.

 

 

Yes, the eight or nine other schools I applied to all provided some kind of "send recommendation request" button that I could click before submitting my application. 

 

And I agree that it was nice to be able to give some feedback to Michigan!

Edited January 18, 2013 by ridofme

[kabelo]

How about Stanford's app? I found it even more annoying than Michigan's. As if signing in wasn't hard enough, having to click through each page to move through the application was painful. It was soooo slow, most the time I thought I was going to be timed out because it took so long to load. Plus the"character count" was excruciatingly painful. I hate their app.  

 

That. Stanford's (and Princeton's) no-skip policy drove me crazy.

 

Harvard and UCLA had apps where you can't copy-paste text for most browsers on a Mac (Safari and Chrome did not work, I had to download Firefox to make it work).

 

And UMass also only sent out LOR requests after submitting my full application. How annoying.

Edited January 18, 2013 by kabelo

[ShortLong]

I currently go to UT Austin as an undergrad and did not apply as a grad student. But, applying as an undergrad the Texas Common App was awesome because I could just copy my application to UT Austin and submit it to Texas A&M. So many people in Texas can't understand leaving Texas, so it kinda makes sense that they don't realize people outside of Texas don't care about applying to multiple schools here. 

 

That said, the Maryland College Park application didn't let me submit my recommenders until I finished the initial application and paid the fee either. Then I was free to upload my SOP. 

 

Georgia Tech didn't let me skip pages either, which was a pain.

 

Why the hell does MIT care what books you used in every single class you have taken ever?

 

And Purdue, they really expect you to say everything that you need to say in your SOP in 500 words, REALLY? Come on. 

[warbrain]

Stanford, Princeton, Georgia Tech, and Cornell (and probably more schools too) all seemed to use the same application software, like applyweb, so none of them allowed skipping pages.  All were equally annoying in that respect.

 

I didn't understand Stanford's 700 character diversity "essay."  I wrote maybe 5 sentences.

 

For UC Berkeley, I accidentally started an application to the wrong program - Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, rather than Computer Science and Engineering.  They make it so that you have to call to change it.

 

And in general, it was very difficult to find the applications for various schools, though this might just be because I'm not very good at using technology.  Chicago was the worst in this respect, since I ended up on the old application website, and it didn't say anywhere that there was a new application to go to.

[echlori]

Agree with those who brought up Michigan and Stanford.

 

UCLA - well I had to do 2 apps, one in the UCLA portal and one on SOPHAS.

 

UBC's app also didn't allow me to email my referees until I had submitted and paid. Also, you have to email or mail your SOP separately as well as there is no upload function.

[VBD]

Berkeley also had an application in addition to the SOPHAS. And the application went into more detailed fin aid items than other applications D: I experienced time delay getting the exact numbers of my financials.

 

But don't let me get started on SOPHAS. They have so many transgressions, even lowering my GPA according to THEIR calculations. Which they won't explain. Right. Uploading of documents which cannot be taken back once you submit for one school (contrary to what their own support people claim on the phone), and their sad, sad processing time. 

I was most annoyed at Emory's video part. My computer microphone just would not work (it works for Skype, and Google Hangout.. so what is happening), and I couldn't advance past that page. I ended up recording my excited muted video with my script posted in their written section. So who ever looks at my application must think I'm an odd PhD- aspiring mime or something.. >.>

 

[queenleblanc]

I was annoyed by the data-bit limitations on uploaded transcript copies into online applications.  I kept having to reduce file sizes (which distorts the scanned document) in order to get the fool things to upload.  One of my applications I could not reduce a transcript's scanned file size enough through ANY method to get it to upload so I had to waste my last official transcript on hand to mail them one (they wanted unofficial ones online and officials in the mail and would not accept unofficial ones in the mail).  With the new age of technology ... you'd think they could establish a way for you to upload whatever file size you had, scan it for any virus attachments, and go on.  We're not talking gargantuan file sizes here.  I now know a lot more about reducing file sizes than I ever wanted to know. 

[echlori]

Let's just say, I had a huge delay for my GRE scores being reported to UCLA thanks to SOPHAS, and they had the cheek to tell me to check with UCLA when I called them. In the end it took a three-way call involving myself, the very patient UCLA admin and SOPHAS to sort it out.

 

But don't let me get started on SOPHAS. They have so many transgressions, even lowering my GPA according to THEIR calculations. Which they won't explain. Right. Uploading of documents which cannot be taken back once you submit for one school (contrary to what their own support people claim on the phone), and their sad, sad processing time. 

[Ohm]

Eth Zurich! I had to fill out details about ALL my undergraduate courses (51 of them, to be precise).

[TeaGirl]

Maryland's supplemental application. They still send an automatic email every couple of weeks to remind me to fill it out. Frequent freak-fests at first every time I looked at my inbox and saw the sender. Never mind that I filled it out almost 3 months ago.

 

I second the annoyance at being unable to login to more than one applyyourself app. Sometimes I'd forget to logout before closing and I'd have to close my browser and everything else so that I can sign back in.

[selecttext]

The most annoying systems generate a username for you that is usually 200 alphanumerical characters long.

 

For one university, I had to amass a collection of referee letters and official transcripts to mail as part of a single package. Online referee reports people! And let the school send you my transcript directly! Yeesh.

[PoliSwede]

I'd like to echo all of those who mentioned Michigan. Their only redeeming factor was that one could submit transcripts via email.

 

The most annoying systems generate a username for you that is usually 200 alphanumerical characters long.

Seconded. I don't understand why they just can't let you pick your own.

[ShortLong]

Maryland's supplemental application. They still send an automatic email every couple of weeks to remind me to fill it out. Frequent freak-fests at first every time I looked at my inbox and saw the sender. Never mind that I filled it out almost 3 months ago.

 

I applied to Maryland and never got those reminders after I submitted it.