<p>With months of preparation and editing, I think all applicants are pretty clear on how the application process and what the admissions committee are looking for by now, but my question is, what goes on inside? What happens during the months of agony, while we await for our future to be delivered to us?
Does anybody know how the admissions committee works? Does one person decide your fate? If they see a low GPA or SAT score do they automatically throw your application into the denied pile? (i know it's holistic but still). I guess my biggest fear is that my application will be reviewed by someone who's in a terrible mood that day and just decides to hate me. How many people review a single application? and what is the final, deciding factor? WHO makes that final decision and how? is it an entire board? is it a majority vote? do admissions counselors present each case to a committee that is then voted on? HOW DOES IT WORK???!!!!</p>
<p>This has always interested me too </p>
<p>I can only speak for Notre Dame, but they said that your region’s representative will read your application, as well as one or two others, and a total of 9 or 10 will read at least a part of it. Some to read essays, some to look at your transcript, etc… I also recall that the Dean of Admissions reads all the legacy applications.</p>
<p>This is a question that needs to be answered!</p>
<p>It depends on the school. Some are strictly numbers based. The others, mostly elite schools narrow down applications by regional reps…the best are brought before a committee who then votes on it. my D was active in admissions in UG and also at her med school. They basically work the same. Go on u tube, Amherst admissions and you will see a committee meeting. That is after they narrowed down the pool extensively.</p>
<p>There is no single or standard answer to your question, @nehc97, because each institution has its own policies and procedures. For example, some universities have quantitive thresholds that must be met, or the application is essentially “automatically” denied. Other universities (this is a foundation of "rolling admissions’) have criteria which, if met, result is a near “automatic” acceptance. Still others, review every application in depth, or (at a minimum) all applications that surpass the aforementioned initial quantitative screening. In addition, at some institutions every application that is preliminarily evaluated as “admitable” is then thoroughly appraised by an admissions “reader” (or sometimes readers) and finally is reviewed by the committee, whereas at others only applications that fall between automatic acceptance and automatic denial are committee assessed. In addition, there are hybrid approaches that combine several of the foregoing methods. I’m sorry there is no distinct, straightforward answer to your excellent query. </p>
<p>@TopTier Thank you for being extremely helpful and unhelpful at the same time! 
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<p>The whole process, from start to finish, can be found by reading The Gatekeepers.
<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Gatekeepers-Admissions-Process-Premier-College/dp/0142003085”>http://www.amazon.com/Gatekeepers-Admissions-Process-Premier-College/dp/0142003085</a></p>