What do college admissions committees look for when you are applying to college?

What do college admissions committees look for when you are applying to college?

Admission Committees want to learn about you as a student and person — your goals, your dreams, even your struggles, and not who your parents, friends or teachers think you are or should be. To describe this, take advantage of every bit of an application.

What characteristics of applicants do graduate admission committees want to read about in letters of recommendation?

Admissions officers want to learn about your personal qualities and strengths from your recommenders. These personal qualities could include integrity, caring for others, thoughtfulness, humor, and passion. Two traits they especially value are demonstrated leadership and strength of character.

Do grad schools contact previous employers?

Chances are that yes, your previous employers will be contacted, if only for a perfunctory check. There have been several high profile cases of fraud in business school applications so many of the top schools have contracted with security firms to do background checks.

What is the role of the admissions committee?

A general aim of most admissions committees is to provide a rating of each of the current applicants and to ultimately make the decision of who is acceptable for the program.

Can a school make a decision without sending the application to Committee?

Some schools can make a decision after the initial reading process without sending the application to committee. In The Gatekeepers, which takes an in-depth, behind the scenes view of Wesleyan’s admissions process, New York Times journalist Jacques Steinberg shares his observations and research about the reading process at different schools.

How does the School of graduate studies select applicants?

Often the Faculty or School of Graduate Studies plays only a minor role in the selection process beyond establishing minimum grade requirements or some other standards that apply to all of the graduate programs. The actual selection of applicants is likely to be done by faculty members in the specific department to which you are applying.

How do faculty and graduate students evaluate applicants?

Both faculty and graduate students evaluate applicants. Faculty meet, gather evaluations, and make admissions decisions. The specific process varies depending on the size of the program and number of applicants.