<p>By now I can see that my question was difficult to answer and possibly contained connotations that made certain posters feel confused and annoyed.</p>
<p>Maybe Columbia02 is right, I may not understand the process, but all of that matters very little (unless Columbia02 ends up as my alum interviewer which would be quite amusing), with respect, I will take everyone's views into account and try to post more concrete and worthwhile questions in the future.</p>