We're going to compile the list of applicants to email by using a Homepage query.

1. Navigate to the Slate homepage. 
   
   
2. Select the term for the "All Unsubmitted Applications" homepage query, as shown in the screenshot below. (You could substitute any other query for this step if you wish to email a different list of students.)
   
   
   
3. When you get to the query page, select the "Run Query" button. If you wish to specify the term for the All Unsubmitted Applications query, you can add the term code as shown in the screenshot below, where the Term Code field has been set to 1272 (Fall 2026).
   
   
   
4. After the query results populated, this is a good time to review to make sure this list is looking correct. Please note that you will not be able to delete  any individual row from this list; the mailing will go to everyone on this list. Once you are sure you have the correct applicants in your query, select the Output dropdown at the top of the page and select "Deliver Mailing."
   
   
   
5. With "Deliver Mailing" selected as the Output, select the "Export" button, as shown in the screenshot below.
   
   
   
6. In the Deliver Mailing window that pops up, make sure to do the following:
   
   • Rename the mailing: The name of this mailing will default to “Email Batch Applications.” We strongly recommend you give it a more unique name so you may more easily find it later if needed. For organizational purposes, we would suggest the following naming conventions: [Entry Term(s)] - [Program(s) if specifying] - Mailing Purpose.
     As shown in our example, we've renamed the mailing: Fall 2026 - Deadline Reminder
   • Change the action to "Copy results into mailing as static recipient list": This is crucial! If you do not select this option, it is possible that your mailing list may change from what you've already created. By changing this setting, no applicant will be added or removed from the list you've created.
     
     
     
7. With your mailing renamed and "Copy results into mailing as static recipient list" selected, you can select the "Submit" button to move onto the next step.
   

After completing Step 1 above, complete the following steps to compose your email message:

1. Select the "Edit Message" button located in right hand side of the screen, as highlighted in the screenshot below.
   
   
   
2. In the Edit Message window that appears, make sure to edit the "Sender" field. THIS IS IMPORTANT. The sender defaults to admissions@grad.wisc.edu unless you change it. Change it to your preferred email @gradmail.wisc.edu account or service account (you may need to set this up). Optionally, in the "Reply To" field, you can add a different email address to have responses sent to.
   
   
   
3. In the "Recipient" field, make sure to click and drag the "Email" export from the list of merge fields on the right, as shown in the screenshot below. The list of merge fields on the right side of the Edit Message window correspond to the columns/exports from the query you chose and are listed in alphabetical order.
   
   
   
4. In the "Subject" field, create an informative subject for your email. Pro-tip: try to avoid urgent language such as "act now" or "must reach deadline" as these types of phrases can trigger email clients to treat your message like junk or spam mail. Optionally, in the "Preheader" field you can add text that will show up as preview text in an email client.
   
   
   
5. Compose your message. If you wish to add merge fields, you can click and drag the merge field into the email editor or use the double brackets button in the tools bar above the email editor which looks like this: { } Please note that you may want to cautious about using the {{Plan-Subplan}} field -- sometimes it is better to just use the program name if you know exactly which program your list of students is applying to. You can also use the paperclip icon in the bottom right hand corner to add an attachment to the email.
   
   
   
6. When your email looks ready, select the "Save" button in the bottom left hand corner of the window.
   

To make sure your email is working as expected, follow the steps below to preview your email.

1. Scroll down to the Message section of the mailing editor. There you will see a random example email displayed with the merge fields bringing in the recipients information. By selecting the "Preview Message" button, another random example recipient's information will be brought into the preview email so you can see what information changes.
   
   
   
2. You can send an example message to yourself or a colleague following the directions below:
   • Select the "Send Message" button located on the right side of the screen underneath the "Preview Message" button, as shown in the screenshot below
     
     
     
   • In the window that pops up, you can fill in a custom recipient email (for example, your own @wisc.edu email). If you wish, you can also replace the subject by selecting the "Prepend Subject" checkbox and providing a new subject, as shown in the screenshot below.
     
   • Select the send button in the bottom left screen. It will then send a test message to the email address provided that you can check.
     
     
3. If your merge fields are not bringing in the desired information or not working as expected, or if your message just isn't quite right, you can go back and edit your message by selecting the same "Edit Message" button from Step 2 above.
   
   
4. Repeat these steps as necessary until you are satisfied with the message. (Perhaps, for example, you noticed your message stated it was for "December 1, 2026" when it should have just said "December 1.")

Once you've set up and previewed your mailing, now it is time to send!

1. Select the "Send Mailing" button, which is located underneath the "Edit Message" button on the right side of the screen, as shown in the screenshot below.
   
   
   
2. Review the information presented in the Send Mailing pop up window that appears:
   • Pre-Flight Checks: are there any errors spotted in the mailing? If there are unfamiliar errors here that you cannot fix yourself, please reach out to admissionstaff@grad.wisc.edu and provide the name of the mailing and a screenshot of the error you are receiving. In the example in the screenshot below, there is no warning message.
   • Estimated Recipients: Does the number of recipients appear accurate? If not, you may have made an error in compiling your list. 
   • Recipient Lists: Does the listed recipient list look accurate? Does the timestamp provided match up with when you built this email list?
   • Review: Make sure this box is unchecked unless you wish for someone from the Graduate School Admissions office to review the message before sending out.
   • Outbox: Make sure this box is unchecked unless you wish to not deliver this message at the moment.
   • Frequency: Select Send mailing once always. Due to the number of messages and users likely using the Deliver platform, we do not want anyone using automatically sending messages. If you try to send multiple emails, you will lose your permissions to send emails out of Deliver.
   • Timing: You can choose to send at a specific time, but typically just select Send Now, which is the default.
   • Deduping: Keep this at "send only one message/recipient" to ensure that if you accidentally added a person to your list twice they won't receive two emails. However, if you expect that one of your applicants should be sent the message twice (perhaps they applied to two of your different programs) you can change this setting to "Do not dedupe messages."
     
     
     
     
3. If ready to send, select the "Send Mailing" button.
   
   
4. If there were warnings in your Pre-Flight checks, the system will require you to type in "SEND AND IGNORE WARNINGS" in order to send the mailing. If you are unsure of this decision, please reach out to Graduate School Admissions to help you review your mailing at admissionstaff@grad.wisc.edu

Your email is sent! Great job! Now it is time to review to make sure it worked out.

There are two ways you can review the mailing: (1) reviewing an individual recipient's Timeline, and/or (2) review the mailing in Deliver to see overall results.

1. Review an individual recipient's Timeline:
   • Search for an applicant who should have received the mailing in Slate
   • Go to the applicant's Timeline tab, where you will be see a list of all of the mailings sent to this applicant.
   • Find the email sent in the list, which should be near the top if sent recently, as shown in the screenshot below. (Alternatively you could use the search bar and type in the mailing's subject.)
     
     
     
   • If you select the mailing, you'll be able to see the email as it was sent to the applicant.
     
     
     
     
2. Review the mailing in Deliver to see overall results:
   • From the homepage in Slate, select the Deliver icon in the top menu, which looks like a megaphone, as shown in the screenshot below.
     
     
     
   • Once in the Deliver section of Slate, in the right hand menu select the "Completed" link, which will list all of your sent mailings.
     
     
     
   • From the list, select the mailing you wish to review.
     
     
     
   • You will land on the mailing review page, where you can see how your message worked, such as how many messages were successfully delivered, which ones bounced, and if there were any clicks (if you had provided links in your message).