No formula for graduate admissions

The world is a scary place.

Even scarier with a 10.2 percent unemployment rate and only subtle hints at the end of a national recession. As a result , recent reports show an increasing number of college seniors are pursuing graduate school in hopes of avoiding the weak job market.

In 2009, the number of graduate school applications received by colleges and universities increased 8 percent from the year before, according to a report released in August by the Council of Graduate Schools.

Getting Admitted

Larger applicant pools raise the competition between graduate school applicants and makes gaining acceptance even harder to achieve.

In most cases, graduate programs set minimum numbers, such as grade point averages and test scores, to determine an applicant’s worthiness of acceptance, said Anna Alkin, admission coordinator in the Center for Academic Progress at St. Edward’s University.

GPAs, in particular, are used as an indication of how well students have done in comparison to their peers, said Lisa May Palacios, director of recruitment and retention at the University of Texas at San Antonio Graduate School.

“It also shows committees that the student can do the academic work,” she said.

A 4.0 GPA reflects the highest grade a student can achieve and a diligent focus on their studies. Therefore, many students believe it can almost guarantee admittance.

No Guarantees

But a growing trend of holistic review challenges the significance of GPAs in the application process, leaving many top students wondering if having a 4.0 will be enough to get them into graduate school.

Christoph Guttentag said not every student with perfect grades gets into graduate school. As Dean of Undergraduate Admissions at Duke University, Guttentag said although the odds are always better with good grades, a 4.0 GPA is not sufficient evidence of a student’s capabilities or how well he or she navigated opportunities while in school.

Admissions committees will always ask further questions about an excellent student’s life outside of school. All applicants, therefore, need to prove they have done more than study in college, and can adjust to and perform in their graduate program.

Audrey Fisher, a senior at St. Edward’s, plans to graduate in May 2010 with a 4.0 GPA and thinks she is capable of much more than just studying. Throughout her undergraduate career, she has been a member of various student organizations and has worked as a research assistant.

“I don’t think a 4.0 GPA, in and of itself, is detrimental in applications, so long as the applicant retains some semblance of well-roundedness,” she said.

The Value of Being Well-Rounded

Well-rounded students tend to do better in gradate school because they are used to multi-tasking and juggling priorities, said Ramon Gomez, director of community affairs at the School of Social Work at the University of Texas at Austin.

“Some 4.0 students don’t do as well because they don’t know how to rely on others,” Gomez said. “They sometimes lack that social aspect…the ability to collaborate, share responsibility and be flexible.”

Lisa Davis, the external relations chair of the National Association of Graduate Admissions Professionals, agreed.

“Business school applicants, for instance, may have very good grades but will not be the right fit because they lack interviewing and personal skills that are developed through involvement in other activities,” she said.

At St. Edward’s, Alkin has witnessed the pressure this additional need creates. She said students with high GPAs often come to her with an overwhelming fear of “Am I doing enough? Do I need another five activities to add to my application?”

The Application and its Parts

Graduate programs require applicants to complete extensive applications and submit supplement materials so committees can look at every little piece, said Nathan Neely, director of admissions at William S. Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Neely said most programs require six different components: an application, letters of recommendation, a personal statement, a resume, an official transcript and test scores.

“GPA, then, is just one sixth of all those different things,” he said.

Applications are specifically set up to find out what students do outside of class, since student aren’t only doing coursework but are involved in internships, jobs, clubs and other activities.

Eun Lee, a senior at Emory University in Atlanta, GA, is relying on the value of a balance between academic and experiential pursuits. As she applies to graduate school, Lee is hoping her involvement will make up for the fact that she doesn’t have a perfect GPA. Lee has been a residential assistant, a Bonner Leader, a member of the Diversity Council and has also maintained a part-time job.

“I know there are plenty of students out there who will have 4.0 but I bet they are not as well-rounded or involved as I am,” she said. “My application will probably contain more of my personal life experiences. It's crucial to get across to the committee that you are who you are and there is no one else quite like you.”

Different School, Different Program, Different Standards

The specific institution as well as the degree program also changes the way an applicant is evaluated.

Graduate programs in business, computer science, math, engineering and law are known for their focus on GPAs and test scores like the GRE, the GMAT and the LSAT.

Gomez said these programs may put more emphasis on numbers because they are more relevant to the students’ abilities than other parts of the application. But he said other programs, like social work, are more concerned with the student’s involvement.

“All test grades and GPAs tell us is if the student studied hard or not, or if they are good test-takers or not,” he said. “For our applicants, it’s not just about academics. It’s about what their passion is, what brought them to social work and the things they’re doing, so it’s the personal narrative, the resume and the letters of recommendations that really give us insight into the student.”

He said students with 4.0 GPAs and near perfect GRE scores have been rejected because their commitment and passion to social work was lacking in their application.

But Alkin also said for most top-tiered universities, it almost always comes down to the numbers. Although admissions committees will always claim they review their applicants holistically, she said this goal is an aspiration but not actual.

“Harvard, as an example, prides itself on the high scores of its admitted students, and they need to keep those numbers high to maintain that status,” she said. “They’re still going to tout those GPAs and GRE scores.”

The practices and policies of admissions committees are also hard to change, she said.

“It takes a real crisis of not admitting enough students, or too many, or admitting the wrong kind of students, to make committees go back and review their procedures,” she said.

So if prominent universities as well as reputable programs have always relied on numbers, they may continue to, she said.

The Future of Holistic Review

But as more college seniors find increased value in a master’s degree in the down economy, graduate schools may have to reconsider their admissions process in light of more applicants. Supplemental pieces of applications may become important ways to distinguish students from one another beyond numbers.

Neely said there is no determined formula for the process though.

“There really is no rhyme or reason as to what makes a successful student in graduate school,” he said. “Most programs are looking for good students, not to fill vacant seats with just anyone.”