Who Reviews Your College Application?

So what happens once your application arrives on campus? It is sorted and forwarded to the appropriate office. In general, applications are reviewed by a combination of:

• Directors of Admissions (they usually get the final say)
• Associate Directors
• Administrative Assistants

These administrators are continually versed in the admissions policies of their respective schools. Depending on the admissions staff’s workload—as well the school’s level of selectiveness—your application could be reviewed by one person or an entire committee. Most commonly, applications are seen first at the lowest level and then flagged up for review by subsequent overseeing faculty members. Therefore, it is important to know if your grades and entrance test score lies within the minimum requirement range, and what your interests and potential major(s) are.

A checklist of required contents usually accompanies each admissions file. Each school admissions team knows what they are looking for in each acceptance class. At colleges where the admissions process is more open, students may still be considered even if portions of their application packet are missing or if they came close but didn’t quite meet established requirements. Schools that carry stricter selection guidelines are generally not inclined to make such exceptions.