Admissions Committees Best Practices

Effective admissions practices are central to recruiting strong cohorts of students, which is fundamental to running successful graduate programs to train the next generation. Admissions committees should follow the goals, guiding principles, and criteria that are important to the program to guide their admission decisions.

Members of admissions committees may be faculty, staff, and current graduate students. It is important to assemble members early in the application cycle, involve people from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences, assign a chair and vice chair, and allow time for members to undergo training before reviewing applications.

Once an admissions committee is assembled, the group should create an Admissions Review Guide to highlight the goals and processes of admissions. It is important that the committee reviews commonly used terms and the layout of the application to ensure an equitable evaluation across all applicants and by all reviewers. Committees should decide on the goals of admission for the program as a whole and create an admissions rubric for all reviewers to use.

A timeline of activities that should be part of effective admissions practices across the admissions cycle is described below.

Five to Eight Months Before Admissions Deadline

Creating the Admissions Committee

Assemble the members early, involve people from a wide-range of backgrounds and experience, create a chair and vice chair of admissions, and allow time for members to undergo training before reviewing applications.

Number of Committee Members – The admissions committee needs enough members for each application to be read by at least two members of the committee. Ensure that at least one review of each application is completed by a committee member who has authority to make admission decisions (both admit and deny).
Selection of Committee Members – Admissions committees may be composed of faculty, staff, and current graduate students. Admissions committees that include individuals with diverse backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences are more effective at selecting applicants with diverse backgrounds and experiences (Bowman, 2018). Advanced graduate students can be asked to participate as reviewers for professional development.
Assembling the Admissions Committee – The admissions committee chair, vice chair, and committee members should be identified as early as possible for the upcoming admissions cycle. This will allow members of the committee time to review past admissions practices and structure their upcoming admissions review. Determine length of service for each committee member. Having members serve multiple years and staggered start and end times will help maintain knowledge of processes and allow for smooth transitions from year to year.
- Chair of Admissions – This position will lead and guide the committee through the review process. The chair collaborates with the Graduate Program Manager/Coordinator and the program chair as needed.
- Vice Chair of Admissions – In order to allow for continuity of holistic admissions practices, create a vice chair position to learn from the current admissions chair during their final year of graduate admissions service. This will facilitate a smooth transition and ensure the work that went into setting up admissions review is continued.

Three to Five Months Before Admissions Deadline

Admissions Committee Charge

The admissions committee should follow the goals, guiding principles, and criteria important to the program with respect to admitting students. The admissions committee should review program data for previous years to understand trends and set goals for where the program wants to head with future students. The committee should also review the current program’s admissions website to ensure it clearly states the application process and expectations. Admissions committee members should participate in Implicit Bias and/or Holistic Admissions Training.

Admissions Chair & Vice Chair

The admissions chair position will lead and guide the committee through the review process. The vice chair position allows for continuity of holistic admissions practice by learning from the current admissions chair during their final year of graduate admissions service. This will facilitate a smooth transition and ensure the work that went into setting up admissions review is continued.

Develop and/or Update an Admissions Review Guide - Briefly outline the overall admission process and goals to accurately capture the review process to share with current and future admissions committee members. The document should be reviewed annually for areas of improvement.

One to Three Months Before Admissions Deadline

The admissions committee will need to collectively identify guiding principles, admissions goals, and undergo a holistic review of the application review process.

Tasks

Identify Guiding Principles – Assess the guiding principles of your program and how admissions decisions will support your students’ impact in their profession and the world.
Determine Admissions Goals – In coordination with program leadership, outline overall admission goals, number of applicants to be accepted, and the criteria to be prioritized. Consider how the students you admit contribute to your program’s goals and culture.
Create a Timeline of the Application Review Process – The timeline should include admission committee meetings and the timeline for the review process.
- Set up group meetings needed to review the process and criteria before application reviews begin.
- Set dates applications are available to review and the date when reviewers need to finish reviewing applications.
- Set a meeting to discuss application recommendations and finalize decisions.
- Set the deadline to submit recommendations and denials to graduate program manager/coordinator to communicate with the applicants.
Review the Application – The admissions committee will need to be familiar with the layout of information in applications before reviewing applications. They will also need to form a consensus on criteria used to review applicants.
- Application Layout – Understanding where information is located on the applications will reduce review time and enable reviewers to identify key skills and background experiences. Holistic admissions requires review of the entire application, therefore reviewers familiar with the layout of the application will be able to find information more quickly and understand experience in the context of life circumstances.
- Commonly Used Terms – In order to establish a common understanding of application strengths and weaknesses, discuss the terms that are commonly used (e.g. diversity, first generation college), since reviewers may start with different experiences. Review commonly used terms and review the application to ensure an even evaluation across all applicants and by all reviewers.
- Criteria/Skills – Identify skills or attributes desired by admissions and the overall program faculty. Incorporate these skills/attributes into a rubric and set guidelines for its use.
Develop and/or Update Admissions Review Rubric – Develop a template for the review process to evaluate the prioritized criteria defined by the program leadership/admissions committee.

Within one month after applications are reviewed

The admissions chair and vice chair should meet to review the outcome of the admissions cycle with respect to offers accepted and the extent to which the program’s admissions goals were achieved. Discuss changes that will improve the admissions process and update relevant documents as necessary (e.g., websites with admissions guidance for prospective students), including any updates to admissions rubrics and goals anticipated for the following year. Share information with program faculty and staff about admissions outcomes. Invite feedback about the processes, outcomes, and future goals.