Questions to Ask Graduate Admissions
Questions for the admissions staff or graduate coordinator while you are still assembling an application: who reads it, what the requirements really are, how funding is decided, and what happens if you are waitlisted or turned down.
The questions
Open any question for the note
Who reads my application, and in what order?
Why ask it
Answers differ in ways that should change what you write. A staff completeness check followed by a faculty committee means the statement is written for specialists; a graduate school screen on grades first means a threshold has to be cleared before anyone reads your prose at all.
Is the deadline a hard cutoff, or does review begin before it?
Why ask it
Many programs read on a rolling basis while advertising a single date, which means late applications compete for fewer places. Ask when review actually starts, because that, not the posted deadline, is your real target.
Are standardised test scores required, optional, or considered if submitted?
Why ask it
These three policies are materially different and are often described in the same sentence on a website. Where scores are optional, ask whether admitted students typically submit them, since a formal option that almost everyone exercises is not really optional.
Is there an application fee waiver, and what do I need to send to request one?
Why ask it
Waivers exist far more widely than applicants assume, tied to income, service programs, conference attendance, or membership in specific organisations. The form is usually short and the request rarely affects how the application is read.
What do the transcripts of admitted students usually look like?
Why ask it
More productive than asking for a minimum, which is a floor almost nobody is admitted at. Listen for whether they weigh the last two years, the major, or specific coursework, since that tells you what to emphasise or explain.
How many letters do you require, and does it matter who writes them?
Why ask it
Programs vary on whether a supervisor from work counts, whether all letters must be academic, and how a fourth letter is treated. A letter from someone who supervised your research beats a more senior name who taught you once in a large class.
What should the statement of purpose contain that a personal statement should not?
Why ask it
Where both are requested, applicants routinely submit two versions of the same essay. Ask directly what each is used for: usually one is research trajectory and fit with named faculty, the other is background and motivation.
Should I be contacting faculty before I apply, and does it help?
Why ask it
The honest answers range from expected to actively unhelpful, depending on the field and whether admission is to a lab or a cohort. Asking the coordinator saves you from either the wrong etiquette or several weeks of unanswered emails.
Do I apply to the program, or to work with a particular person?
Why ask it
This determines how the whole application should be built. Where students are admitted to labs, an application without a named potential advisor and a matching research interest often does not get a serious reading.
How are international transcripts and degrees evaluated?
Why ask it
Some institutions require an outside credential evaluation service, some do their own conversion, and turnaround can take weeks. Getting this wrong is one of the most common reasons an otherwise strong application misses a deadline.
What English language scores do you require, and who is exempt?
Why ask it
Exemptions frequently exist for degrees taught in English or for time spent studying in certain countries, and they are often unstated on the main requirements page. Ask about minimum section scores too, since an overall pass can still fail on a subscore.
Is funding decided at the same time as admission, or through a separate application?
Why ask it
The most consequential procedural question here. Separate fellowship applications usually have earlier deadlines than admission, and applicants who discover this in January have already lost the chance at the best packages.
What is the deadline for full funding consideration, as opposed to admission?
Why ask it
These dates are often different and the funding one is earlier. Programs will state it plainly when asked, and the difference between the two dates is frequently the difference between a funded and an unfunded offer.
If part of my record needs explaining, where should that go?
Why ask it
A weak semester, a leave of absence, or a career change is better addressed briefly in the right place than left for a reader to guess about. Some programs have an addendum field for exactly this, which is preferable to spending a paragraph of the statement on it.
Am I compared against this year's applicant pool or a fixed standard?
Why ask it
Cohort based review means your odds depend on who else applied, which explains why a strong applicant can be rejected in one cycle and admitted in the next. It also makes reapplying a more reasonable strategy than it appears.
How many people applied last year, and how many were admitted?
Why ask it
Ask for the numbers at the program level, not the university's overall rate, which is usually much less selective. Staff generally have these figures to hand, and they let you size your list realistically.
Do you admit applicants who are missing prerequisite coursework, and what happens then?
Why ask it
Career changers need this answer specifically. Programs may admit conditionally, require a summer course, or add a semester, and knowing which applies tells you whether to apply now or spend a year taking two classes first.
When are decisions released, and how does the waitlist work?
Why ask it
Ask how many were admitted off the waitlist last year and by what date. That figure decides whether a waitlist is a real prospect worth holding for or a courtesy you should plan around.
Can an admission be deferred, and for how long?
Why ask it
Policies range from a routine year to no deferral at all, and funding sometimes does not travel with a deferred place. Worth asking before you apply if a visa, a job, or a family situation might delay your start.
If I am not admitted, can I learn why, and would reapplying be worth it?
Why ask it
Some programs will give brief feedback to a polite request, and it is frequently something fixable: a missing prerequisite, an unclear research fit, letters that were too general. Asking now means you know whether that door exists before you need it.
Working With a Graduate Admissions Office
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Ask the Right Person
Coordinators Know Process, Faculty Know Fit
Deadlines, waivers, credential evaluation, funding mechanics, and waitlist history belong to the graduate coordinator, who answers these all day and answers them accurately. Research direction and whether anyone is taking students belongs to faculty.
Send One Email With Numbered Questions
Three or four specific questions in a single message get answered; a series of separate emails over two weeks does not. Read the program page first and say what you have already checked, which makes the reply faster and more precise.
Ask Early Enough to Act On the Answer
Credential evaluations, language tests, and separate fellowship applications all have lead times measured in weeks. Questions asked in December about a January deadline usually arrive too late to change anything.
Write the Answers Down by Program
Keep one row per program: deadline, funding deadline, test policy, letters required, whether to contact faculty. Applying to six places from memory is how people miss the earlier of two deadlines.
What to Sort Out Before the Deadline
- Official transcripts from every institution attended, including any single course taken elsewhere. Requests can take weeks.
- Credential evaluation for degrees earned outside the country, if the program requires an outside service.
- Test scores sent from the testing service, which is separate from uploading a copy yourself.
- Letter writers asked at least a month ahead, given your statement, your transcript, and the deadline in writing.
- The funding or fellowship application, if it is separate and earlier than the admission deadline.
- Fee waiver request submitted before you start the application, since some systems will not refund a paid fee.
Where Applications Go Wrong
Missing the Funding Deadline While Meeting the Admission One
This is the single most expensive avoidable mistake in graduate applications. Confirm both dates in writing for every program, because the earlier one is often buried on a different page belonging to the graduate school rather than the department.
Sending the Same Statement Everywhere
Readers can tell within a paragraph, particularly when no faculty member or research area is named. A generic statement reads as an application to graduate school in general rather than to their program.
Asking Questions the Website Answers
Coordinators are the people who will later advocate for a delayed transcript or a technical problem with your file. Spending that goodwill on published deadlines is a poor trade.
Contacting Faculty With No Specific Question
A short note referring to one recent paper and asking whether they are taking students works. A general expression of interest in their field, sent to twelve people, does not, and in some departments it is forwarded to the coordinator.