Most Annoying Applications: Fall 2013 Edition

[TeaGirl]

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

 

I just went in an checked for the zillionth time and it says "This supplemental application has been submitted." Even my app status says complete.

I don't know why it keeps sending me reminders. Sigh.

That and another bizarre auto generated email I get from them monthly with a link telling me I can view my tuition fees online. The link leads to a sign-in page that you can't access without having a student ID, which as an applicant, you don't.

Yeah, Maryland has definitely been the strangest application I completed. I feel like I mistakenly ended up on the wrong email list.

[mrmolecularbiology]

 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.

All of the schools I applied to allowed me to notify my referees before I finished the application. I was not finished with most of the apps until hours before the deadlines. (  I spent months writing and rewriting my SOP and Personal statement)

[Biohopeful]

Two come to mind for me:

UW-Madison: I have a very common name, and because of this, my application did not get sent directly to the department I'm applying to due to the possibility of duplicates. So I had to call around and make sure they found my application to send to the department. This got figured out. Then it appears that a bunch of GRE scores were lost, so I had to find the copies sent to me in the mail, scan them, and send them to the department so they can finally review my application. I soon received notification that all materials were sent on time, so that was quite the relief.

UIC: I submitted my application, uploaded everything I thought I needed to, and received an email indicating that all of the required documentation has not been sent to the program. In the email, which is automatically generated, it listed the document I needed. I graduated a year ago, and I needed to upload a document listing my in progress/planned courses of which I have none. So I wrote up the document and uploaded it to my application. I emailed the department, which has been MIA regarding the issue, but hoped it was resolved when I uploaded the document I needed. Two weeks or so pass, and I get ANOTHER automated email regarding required documents I have yet to uploaded. And in their list, it says I have none. I emailed and called the department, with no luck of contacting a person regarding the issue, and I'm really hoping this won't delay consideration of my application for the program. /rant

[Lulubelle]

Va. Tech's was really confusing. I had to print out a copy of each page of the online application (like eight pages) to send to the department, but there was no feature that turned it into a PDF or something equally printable. Also couldn't do a screen grab because each page was so long. It took forever to figure out how to do it. They also told me that there had been space to list online recommenders on one page of the application, but I hadn't seen it (and had the printed copies to double-check and see that it wasn't on there), so I had to mail them all in.

 

The rest was just confusion about the process in general. Telling us that we had to mail two copies of everything to the grad school and the department, but then the grad school telling me they didn't want a copies of any of it. I'm still not sure my stuff went to the right places, but I guess I'll find out eventually... 

[VBD]

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.

 

I was actually going to apply to UMD and stopped before finishing my first part of the application (both POIs indicated that there was not a good fit) I got one email from UMD as a reminder, and nothing else. I really think you ARE on the wrong list. *gives virtual cookies for consolation*

ALSO, for those who want to log into more than one applyweb, use incognito mode (ctrl+shirt+n) for Chrome users, private browsing  for Firefox users, or Inprivate for IE users. Then you can have two windows up at the same time. I might be late with this tip though >.<;;

 

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.

Well, at least you had the UCLA person on your side. I sincerely think the support people are there to make things difficult to us. When my support person essentially lied to me about their document uploading issue, I asked for her name and then tried to take a complaint to a supervisor (I usually ask for the supervisor to tell them their worker did a great job, it makes for better promotions for them, but not this time) and got put on hold for a long time until I just gave up and hung up. You go! Way to not give up!

Edited January 18, 2013 by VBD

[Queen of Kale]

ALSO, for those who want to log into more than one applyweb, use incognito mode (ctrl+shirt+n) for Chrome users, private browsing  for Firefox users, or Inprivate for IE users. Then you can have two windows up at the same time. I might be late with this tip though

This is such a helpful tip! I realized that some of my applyweb apps were adjusting my completion date when I logged in to check my status. So although my app had been completely finalized weeks and weeks, each time I double checked my application the completion date was altered to my last log in date. I don't know why I never thought of incognito mode, but you're my hero-of-the-day.

[lypiphera]

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).

 

I had the same problem with UCLA.  I was using Chrome, and it would not let me copy and paste into the text boxes, and I did NOT want to write everything out again and risk a typo.  So, I went into Internet Explore to see if it would work there.  Hooray, I was able to copy and paste into the boxes!  I went to the bottom of the page to hit "Save & Continue...." and there was no save button!!  I reloaded, re-logged in, etc., nothing worked - there was just no save button at the bottom of any page.

 

Finally, I downloaded and installed Firefox, which was the only browser of the three that would let me both paste into it AND save.  Very frustrating.

[Robin_Sparkles]

I agree with the frustration of online applications that won't let you skip sections, but instead have to patiently click through the next and previous buttons.  (Cough, cough...Brown...cough, cough).

 

Brown was, by far, the most frustrating application I dealt with.  Despite being assured there was a link for the program essay, along with a separate link to download the personal statement, this simply wasn't the case.  Instead, I had to speak with the admissions department to confirm that there was no specific place on the form to submit the program essay.  They also seemingly wouldn't accept any password that had a dictionary word in it.  I mean, I used numbers and symbols...but I hate using random gibberish for passwords because it's difficult to remember.  How terribly frustrating it all was!

 

And DePaul's just made me nervous.  For all the supplemental materials and LORs, you just emailed them in.  That's it.  Just...email them.  That just seems so worrisome.  Emails are lost, overlooked, or never received all the time.  Fortunately, all of my materials were received with no issue...but it was rather nerve-wracking.

[Willows]

Best: I can't remember all, but I know I liked UT-Austin (could upload SOP after submission) and NCSU.

Worst: Argh tough choice. Brown was annoying, but the departments where you had to mail certain things and submit certain things online were even worse. (UF/MSU).

[annieca]

I agree that Brown's was horrible! I hated that it told me I needed an essay but NOWHERE on the application or program website did it list a prompt.

Maryland's was infuriating. I think at one point I kicked something I was so annoyed with it. And then the scanning and uploading! Seriously, I have to send you a paper copy and then wait 2-3 weeks for you to upload it and even then your system won't update so I freak out because you apparently lost my transcripts?!

Favorite applications? St Andrews where it emailed me anytime something was changed. Or Aberystwyth where I could click a section was completed and it wouldn't bother me about it again.

[Katzenmusik]

A couple of schools had a required "personal statement" where you were supposed to talk about obstacles you had overcome to gain access to higher education or your life journey to studying what you were applying to study.  I struggled to write something that wasn't cheesy, extremely personal, or redundant alongside my SOP.  To be honest, it felt a little invasive -- like I was being forced to "out" myself and my whole life story to a bunch of professors I'd never met when I really just wanted the focus to be on my work.  Perhaps that sort of essay could be optional?

 

From a technical standpoint, my least favorite was a certain mid-Atlantic university that I'll leave unnamed.  Everything to do with the application was about 1,000 times more complicated than it had to be.  For example, they asked for official transcripts to be mailed.  If you thought your transcripts might not make it by the deadline, you were supposed to upload PDFs.  Your application status might not reflect whether or not the official transcripts had arrived until after the deadline.  Even so, you were not supposed to upload PDFs just to be on the safe side.  You had to hope your transcripts had arrived even if the application said they hadn't...unless, as originally stated, you really really thought they hadn't in which case you should upload a PDF.  (If PDFs are okay in a pinch, why not just accept PDFs and ask for official transcripts later like most of the other schools do?)

 

Another dislike: text-boxes that are hyper-sensitive about formatting and give you an error screen until you figure out what the system's problem with your text is.  The worst is when the error screen results in loss of all the data you entered in a huge field of tiny boxes!  Ahhhhh.

 

Looking back, none of these things are really a big deal.  But when you're in the moment, filling out these applications with deadlines looming and anxiety levels rising, a poorly designed web form can really make a stressful experience worse.

[Lulubelle]

And DePaul's just made me nervous.  For all the supplemental materials and LORs, you just emailed them in.  That's it.  Just...email them.  That just seems so worrisome.  Emails are lost, overlooked, or never received all the time.  Fortunately, all of my materials were received with no issue...but it was rather nerve-wracking.

 

I had one like that. They specifically said that they'd let you know if they were missing anything and not to contact them, but for some reason, I decided to ask about a week before deadline. Turned out they were missing one of my LORs. Of course, I found out on Christmas Eve, and my professor wasn't getting back to his office until a day before deadline, so I freaked out. He had sent it months earlier, but they just hadn't matched it up with my application.

[Soleil ت]

I must be fortunate.  The most frustrating thing about this application season was... the money.   

UT Austin was a tad confusing for me at first (SOP after submission? What?) I kept fearing that I was submitting my final submission without recommenders or essays.  Once you got past the payment and panic part, I thought the list of things needing to be done was really handy, and it updated really quickly.  

 

Cornell was pretty frustrating, as mentioned above.  I wasn't ready to submit my SOP, but that meant I couldn't move forward and see what else there was to the application.  Applications where you can click on the section you want to work on are definitely the way to go.

 

Most of my schools were very quick to match my materials to my profile and to notify me.  I feel fortunate after reading this thread...

 

Best of luck to all!

[ion_exchanger]

For those with Maryland College Park applications, which program did you apply to? I was BISI, and I submitted the general app just do I could have the supplemental open to look at, and every week that I did not submit it, I received an email every Sunday morning that I needed to submit it.

[t1racyjacks]

I must be fortunate.  The most frustrating thing about this application season was... the money.   

UT Austin was a tad confusing for me at first (SOP after submission? What?) I kept fearing that I was submitting my final submission without recommenders or essays.  Once you got past the payment and panic part, I thought the list of things needing to be done was really handy, and it updated really quickly.  

 

Cornell was pretty frustrating, as mentioned above.  I wasn't ready to submit my SOP, but that meant I couldn't move forward and see what else there was to the application.  Applications where you can click on the section you want to work on are definitely the way to go.

 

Most of my schools were very quick to match my materials to my profile and to notify me.  I feel fortunate after reading this thread...

 

Best of luck to all!

Yes, UT Austin was the most irritating out of my 4 apps for that reason. Then you had to apply through applytexas, AFTER WHICH they sent you a link to another Austin website... Alberta is annoying cuz it relied on snail mail, and one of my LORs got lost!!! They emailed me to ask for a copy -- the prof had sent it but it didn't get to them -- and in the end he had to send an electronic copy. I don't understand why they didn't make it electronic to begin with.

 

I thought BU and Berk had very good, easy to navigate applications

[booksnlooks]

One school lost one of my reference letters. How they did this with an electronic system, I will never know.

[child of 2]

georgia tech wants its applicants to write three 250 word essays respectively highlighting their strengths, weaknesses, and their career aspirations. I find this so weird. I'm still working on it, and will submit if I don't get any good news before February. 

[runaway]

I thought BU and Berk had very good, easy to navigate applications

 

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I've never heard anyone affiliated with Berkeley call it Berk. UCB, UC Berkeley, Cal, but not Berk. I thought I'd mention, just in case it makes a difference for you in an interview or something.

 

Oddly, every time I read 'Berk' I think 'Berks,' like Big Berks, the women's studies conference, and I get confused.

 

Apologies for the OT. Carry on!

[tiarabun]

UT Austin's application annoyed the crap out of me. They required scans of OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPTS, not even hardcopies but SCANS.

I did a lot of transfers during my undergrad years. I don't even have the transcripts from some schools. From Georgetown, I only have my grade report, but UT makes it so specific that they only accept official transcripts, not even grad reports. 

 

I only found out about that a couple days before the Dec 15 deadline, but as an international students living overseas right now, asking my American alma maters to mail the transcripts to me could take more than 10 days. I was so worried I'd miss the deadline, so I emailed the graduate school to see if i could ask my alma maters to mail the hardcopies to them to save time, but they said they wouldnt accept any hardcopies and told me to contact the department.

 

Fortunately the lady at the communication studies department (a nice texan lady who cut me off when I tried to explain to her my situation in panic) said they didnt really care about the Dec 15 deadline. As long as I paid my fee by Dec 15 and uploaded everything by the end of december they would be happy.

 

i was relieved and also figured out i could just ask the schools to mail the transcripts to my American friend who could scan(who decided to just take a photo of them instead) and email the transcripts to me instead of having them mailing them all the way to Hong Kong.

 

I just wish UT could be more lenient like other schools that I've applied to which only ask for official transcripts upon acceptance. 

[annieca]

@ion_exchanger-

I applied to their History and Library Science program (HiLS)

[PoliSwede]

One school lost one of my reference letters. How they did this with an electronic system, I will never know.

That takes some skill. And effort.

[ion_exchanger]

The scanned transcripts were by far my biggest annoyance this application season. I thought that I could just sit down, scan on my printer, and keep it moving. The limit would be 1000 KB, and I would be at 1019 KB. So frustrating! I kept having to change little settings on my printer, still keeping the resolution the same so that they were clear. After about 2 hours, I finally edited it down to a readable copy at 947 KB.

[Queen of Kale]

I applied so early that about 50% of the time I began an application, got a page or two into it, and somewhere in the fine print the application turned out to be for the previous school year. So I would close it down, wait for a new application to post, but I still sometimes get reminder e-mails from the earlier applications.

Also, one school made the new application available before it was complete. So after I completed and submitted the application I received panicky e-mails telling me that the application wasn't supposed to be made available yet and that I would have to e-mail my remaining credentials AND send hard copies AND of course most of these got lost because there was no way for the materials to be electronically tracked. Might have jumped the gun a wee bit.

[TeaGirl]

The scanned transcripts were by far my biggest annoyance this application season. I thought that I could just sit down, scan on my printer, and keep it moving. The limit would be 1000 KB, and I would be at 1019 KB. So frustrating! I kept having to change little settings on my printer, still keeping the resolution the same so that they were clear. After about 2 hours, I finally edited it down to a readable copy at 947 KB.

 

Ooh, this was so frustrating for me too. This year, most of the universities I was applying to asked for scans of my transcripts.

My undergraduate transcript is 5 pages and a regular scan put it at a few Mbs. I spent half a day fixing my scanner settings and trying to get a good readable black and white scan under the file size limit until I realized I need to play around with some threshold tool thingy.

Speaking of Maryland (AGAIN) I get letter from them in the post today (cue freakout), only to open it and see something about an application fee they need me to pay which I paid months ago. Even my application status says everything is paid for and complete.

I emailed them to clarify. False alarm...

[musichistorygeek]

Mailing my SOP, writing samples, transcripts, and application fee to CUNY was pretty annoying. Also, one of my apps wanted me to list conference presentations/publications but keep everything to "three lines," with a note that anything that went longer than that would be deleted. I only have a few presentations under my belt, but one of my conference titles alone was 2 lines. How were people in the sciences supposed to list their publications?