Applications

[goingwiththeflow]

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When applications are reviewed by the admissions board, whether for interviews or full acceptance, are the applicants’ identities kept anonymous? I’ve just been curious about that, knowing that some classmates have special ties with admission board members.

 

[ajs513]

When applications are reviewed by the admissions board, whether for interviews or full acceptance, are the applicants’ identities kept anonymous? I’ve just been curious about that, knowing that some classmates have special ties with admission board members.

At some point in the process you’re definitely not anonymous. Whichever point you’re anonymous depends on the school though. That “anonymity,” to my knowledge, only goes as far as blind interviews though. That means that one or more of the interviewers (depending on the school) does not know anything about you. When you go in and introduce yourself, that’s the first time the blind interviewer is finding out anything about you. However I don’t think anywhere makes admissions decisions entirely anonymously. Maybe I’m wrong and there’s a school that does, but I don’t see how that would work.

 

[PrincessButterCup]

My old boss filed charges against two people who worked for her. One was in the process of applying, the second was getting ready to apply the next year. Boss called our IS admissions board (which she used to be on) and they refused to let her tell them their names.

I don't know how much anonymity is involved in the review process, but I thought this anecdote was a little relevant. There's at least some effort to not let outside forces affect decisions.

(The one kid got was accepted to our IS school and is currently a vet student)

 

[EngrSC]

I worked for a vet that is on the admissions committee of a vet school. They send her some 50 applications each cycle to review and provide feedback on. If any of those were or are employees or shadows of hers, she’s not allowed to review them. She has to send those applications back to the admissions committee to be reassigned to someone that’s unbiased.

 

[battie]

As far as Illinois, there's an effort made to make things anonymous as well as prevent outside forces from influencing admissions. The associate dean tells a story of how a congressman tried to put in a good word for an applicant after the applicant had submitted their application. Since the congressman wasn't an official letter of recommendation, they wouldn't consider anything they said. Two of the dean's kids have been/are students, and had to go through the entire application process same as everyone else. Same for a professor's son. He told me that he didn't get any preferential treatment as far as our admissions process.

Also keep in mind that it's in the school's best interest to keep things on the up-and-up. They don't want to spend the time and money being sued by someone for nepotism within the application process.