How the Admission Process Proceeds

[Digger]

Hello Everyone !

 

I am from outside U.S. and I do not really know how the admission process proceeds. All of these grad school things are really new for me, so I need a help here to explain me about the admission process. If each grad school has its own process, please explain me about the process conducted at Texas A&M University since it is my only preference. To narrow the topic down, I have several questions as follows :

 

1) Quick Application Submission = Quick Decision ?

 

Let's say that I submitted my application far far from the deadline, does it mean that I would hear about my decision quicker too? Or does the grad school wait until the deadline and review all of them at once?

 

2) Not Hearing Anything Until April 15 = Waitlisted ?

 

Well, actually I've just heard about this "waitlist" last night. Can you please explain me more about the waitlist? What is it actually? How can I know that I am waitlisted? Does the school contact me and say that I am waitlisted?

 

3) M.Eng Chances = M.S. Chances ?

 

Regardless of the funding, does applying for a M.Eng Degree would give higher chance to be accepted? Or in contrary, lower chance to be accepted?

 

I have submitted my applications anyway, but who knows that I need the information if I am willing to pursue a Ph.D in the future. Also, I can share the information from you to my juniors in my country, because honestly the system is new to the people of my country.

 

Thank you very much in advance !

[pears]

1: depends on the school and the department. some places have rolling admissions, where they admit/reject in waves of various sizes: at these programs, yes, you should hear back sooner. however, many schools simply have a set schedule they use to review all applications at once. if you're really curious, you can always ask a department admin or your POI whether they have rolling admissions.

 

2: in most cases, yes, but not always. it depends on the school's deadline, whether they admit on a rolling basis, etc. they'll typically alert you quickly if you're on an official waitlist, i.e., your admissions decision was to be waitlisted. however, some programs (like one i applied to) have a sort of unofficial, semi-waitlist situation: they admit a first round of applicants, give them a preferred deadline to commit (or not), and then admit from the second round of applicants based on the number of spots declined by the first round of admits- presumably, as spots are left open from the second round declining, that's when they admit waitlisted people. either way, they serve the same purpose: they give a list, sometimes numbered and sometimes just a pool, of strong applicants who weren't in the (often very small) first round of offers, but would still do very well there.

 

3: beats me. i'm guessing it depends on the school, but i'm in a totally different field.

[wanderingalbatross]

#1: Submitting my applications early made no difference (at my programs) on how quickly any decisions were made. However, I still recommend doing this because at the very least it allows you more time to correct discrepancies or problems that arise unexpectedly (such as a transcript getting lost in the mail or a LOR dropping off the face of the planet).

[JungWild&Free]

A waitlist is a list of prospective students, often in order of preference, that may be accepted if first-round students decline their spots.  In my field, the people on the waitlist are usually people who were interviewed by phone or in-person, or who have had significant contact with the POI, but didn't get a first-round offer.  This list is in place to help the school fill out the incoming class should offers be declined, and also, to give other qualified students a chance to be considered.  However, in my field, only 1 or 2 students are admitted per POI, so the waitlist is usually a list of students who were interviewed and not given first choice, or students with significant contact with the POI or department.  I would say that if you weren't told you are on a waitlist, you may or may not be.  If your field admits large cohorts, there's no reason to think that they wouldn't have a long waitlist with many opportunities to be admitted once people decline offers.  But if your field only admits a small number of students, then it would be odd to be on a waitlist with no contact with the POI or department.