Multiple screens?

[katalytik]

It seems there are two minimum screens a student must overcome: the grad school and the department. anyone know details?

for example, can the dept vouch for you if grad school says student does not fit minimum screen?

or, are screens very different between the two? would think that grad school screen is more lenient, but some more competitive departments would have it the opposite way.....

[JustChill]

From what I've heard from my own university, the buck stops with the grad school. The department can "recommend" someone for admission, but the grad school reserves the right to veto that choice and tell the department to pick someone else. But I think this happens extremely rarely and usually only if the grad school really thinks that the students recommended by the department does not meet the minimum requirements.

[fuzzylogician]

It seems there are two minimum screens a student must overcome: the grad school and the department. anyone know details?

for example, can the dept vouch for you if grad school says student does not fit minimum screen?

or, are screens very different between the two? would think that grad school screen is more lenient, but some more competitive departments would have it the opposite way.....

AFAIK you're first accepted by your department, then the graduate school has to approve it. I've never heard of a grad school recommending a student to a department, only the other way around. There were some worried threads last year about "can the grad school reject me if the department decided to admit me?" -- I don't remember any thread by anyone who actually had this happen to them. I think the grad school is more lenient and checks that you meet the minimum criteria to qualify as a student at the school (e.g., that you have a BA, or will have one by the time you start the program), and in some cases it decides on funding.

Edited January 15, 2010 by fuzzylogician

[meowmeow]

My GPA is not quite what some graduate schools want (thanks to poor, decade-old grades), so I have been in contact with various schools to see if there is ever any leniency in the graduate school guidelines. In my case, every department replied that they can ask the graduate school to consider accepting a student who does not meet the graduate school's minimum requirements if they feel that circumstances warrant it. I got the impression that the graduate school could still say no, but that it was unlikely if the department was on your side.