How Long Do Admissions Officers Read Applications?
College admissions officers review thousands of applications every year. As application numbers have soared, some elite colleges have streamlined their reading processes to reduce the time they spend considering each student.
In the initial reading process, admissions officers use their “pink sheet” (application summary form) and read off key details from the application. They include grades, test scores, extracurricular activities, essay comments, recommendation letter summaries and family information.
First Read
For admissions officers, reading applications is a time-consuming job. They must read through an applicant’s transcript, grades, standardized test scores, recommendations, essays, and extracurricular activities to make an informed decision about whether that student is a good fit for their institution.
They must also be able to digest a lot of information in a short amount of time. As a result, some colleges and universities hire seasonal readers to help during “reading season,” which is a time when admissions officers are busy reviewing applications.
Many colleges and universities will have two people review an application (known as the first and second readers). These readers spend from three to 20 minutes each reading and reviewing each piece of an application.
The first reader looks at the grades and extracurricular accomplishments, the quality of your essays, and what your teachers and counselors have to say about you. She will then make her opinion about you and recommend you for a full decision (admit, deny, waitlist).
Colleges are looking for students who are going to be successful and productive members of the college community. That means they want students who will thrive in classes, do research, lead volunteer trips to Honduras, and take advantage of the opportunities available at their university.
In the past, admissions officers reviewed applications individually and wrote a short report on each one. Now, some colleges have moved to what’s known as “committee-based evaluation.”
Currently, most admissions offices use a single officer to review your academic records and then a committee takes a look at your essays, extracurricular activities, and recommendation letters. Once the first officer’s report is submitted, a second officer will review it and either affirm or disagree with her.
These reviews are not always a fair and objective assessment of the applicant. They can be biased or overly influenced by the admissions officer’s preferences and beliefs about what they are looking for in an incoming class.
In order to make sure that every student gets the best chance of being admitted to their institution, the reading process must be carefully and systematically implemented. That means that the first reader must be able to quickly make an impression on the applicant while giving them accurate and fair feedback about their application.
Second Read
When you apply to college, you’re submitting a lot of personal information. And that data, along with your grades and test scores, can help admissions officers make a quick decision whether or not you’re a good fit for the institution.
For that reason, it’s no surprise that college admissions offices have different methods for reading applications. Some have a team of two people reading your application front-to-back, while others rely on a single reader to do the job. The average time it takes to read an entire application is about 15 minutes, but some schools spend more than that on each file (like Harvard College).
To give your application the best chance of being admitted, admissions officers look for evidence that you’re a good fit for their school in ways beyond your GPA and test scores. They do this through your transcript, extracurricular activities and recommendation letters.
Your essays are also a big part of the picture, as they provide admissions officers with an opportunity to see how you think and write about yourself. They want to see how you’ll integrate into their community, and they may be interested in a particular theme that you address in your essay.
In fact, MIT’s official website says that a strong essay “represents your ability to take a stance on a subject you care about. It shows you have a high level of critical thinking, analytical skills, and an awareness of the issues at hand.”
The amount of time an admissions officer spends reading your application can vary widely depending on the institution. However, the industry average is about 15-20 minutes.
A second review of your application is also a common practice, usually done by a different person. This is called a “second read.” Many colleges use multiple readers to read your application, ensuring that they have a comprehensive picture of you.
The most important thing is that you’ve made it to the second read. If you have, your application will be sent on its way to committee, where a group of admissions officers will debate your merits and decide if you’re a good candidate for the institution.
Third Read
The length of time an admissions officer spends reading your application varies greatly from school to school. It is dependent on the type of application, the number of applications, the time of year, etc.
Typically, an admissions officer or two reviews your essay (sometimes they have a second person) and then you get a report that is reviewed by a committee before the decision is made. A committee might consist of an academic representative and a few senior admissions officers from the college.
Many colleges have now streamlined the way they read and select applications in order to make them more sustainable for them. This is especially true for colleges like the University of Pennsylvania and Swarthmore that are getting tons of applications.
In the past, a single admissions officer would read a student’s application and then write a short recommendation that was reviewed by their colleagues before making a decision on whether to admit, deny, or waitlist.
But now, at many top universities, there is a new trend called “committee-based evaluations”. These involve multiple admissions officers reviewing your file side by side.
They do this because it is more efficient than a one-off review. This can also lead to a more holistic review.
For example, a team of admissions officers at Penn might be able to read your entire file in under 10 minutes. That is because they’ve trained to speed through your file by reading a section at a time, instead of the whole thing at once.
While this can lead to superficial reviews, it also may help students stand out from the crowd. This is particularly important when applying to an elite school, where there is a small pool of admitted students and a lot of competition for those spots.
This means that it’s vital to have your best self on display in the essays you write. If you do, the admissions reader will know that you’re a good fit for their program and can recommend you to admit or deny based on your grades, test scores, extracurricular activities and other factors.
Final Read
When you apply to a school, it’s important to know how long admissions officers read applications. Unlike other aspects of the application process, which are often subjective and based on individual opinions, admissions officers are tasked with evaluating applications based on a set of standards.
Depending on the school and its reading procedure, it can take anywhere from ten minutes to several hours for an admissions officer to review a student’s entire application. This can include the applicant’s transcript, test scores, extracurricular activities, essays, and letters of recommendation.
Every college has a different process, but there are a few common elements. First, many schools assign a team of people to read each application. Some will read the whole batch, while others will break it up and send it to different readers for further discussion.
Second, some schools use numerical scores – ranging from 1 to 6 – for each application. These are meant to give admissions officers a general idea of how qualified applicants are. The scores can be based on the applicants’ high school GPA and standardized test scores, or they may be created by a staff member or regional coordinator.
Third, if an application passes the “First Impressions” stage, it will go to the “Committee.” At some universities, the committee will consist of a senior admissions officer or two, an academic representative and other “committee readers.” These committee members will discuss the application and make a decision based on a rubric or notes in the CRM system that the admissions officers used during the reading process.
Fourth, if an applicant’s score is low or they do not have the required amount of recommendations, the application will go to the “Second Read.” At some schools, this second read is a group of readers who will discuss your essay and any additional recommendations with one another. The second reader will then affirm or disagree with the first reader’s impression of you and may recommend an acceptance or a rejection to the college.
For many selective colleges, the “Second Read” is the most important part of the admissions process. During this stage, the officer will make a final decision about your application. The essay is the key piece of this process, so it’s crucial that you write a powerful and compelling essay.