If you’re a high school senior, chances are you recently hit the submit button on at least a few of your college applications – congratulations! Now you’re probably wondering what’s going to happen to that application over the next 2-3 months while you await the college’s decision. Let’s dive into it!
The first step in selective application evaluation is reading. Currently there are two main methods: traditional reading and committee-based evaluation (or CBE). Read on to learn more about each.
Traditional Application Reading
Traditional application reading is used by the majority of selective colleges and universities in the US. It involves a first reader and a second reader, both of whom read the application on their own.
First Reader
Applications are initially reviewed by the first reader, who is often the territory manager (see below). The first reader is responsible for summarizing the application and providing an initial impression of the student’s academic and personal fit for the college. Readers generally anchor each evaluation with quantitative ratings and complete the read with a brief qualitative summary. Depending on the time of year and volume of applications, the first reader usually has about 5-10 minutes to evaluate each application.
Back when I worked in admissions, I frequently participated in college fairs like this in my territory.
A territory manager is an admissions officer responsible for visiting and communicating with a particular territory – domestically this could be a state, county, or even just a single school, while internationally it is usually an entire country or continent. For example, when I was an admissions officer at Regis University, my territory included Kansas, Missouri, Washington, and Oregon, so I traveled to those states 2-3 times per year to visit high schools and represent Regis at college fairs.
Second Reader
Sometimes the evaluation process ends here if the applicant’s ratings aren’t strong enough. Most of the time, however, the application is sent to a second reader. The second reader reviews the application, summary, and ratings provided by the first reader. Their job is largely to check for any errors and confirm the first reader’s impression and ratings. If the second reader disagrees with the first, they can make a note of that and ensure the application receives further review. The second reader usually has about 3-6 minutes to evaluate each application.
After applications have been read twice, they are funneled into various “bins”, which we will discuss further below.
Committee-Based Evaluation
Committee-Based Evaluation (or CBE) is contrary to its name in that it does NOT refer to the process of conducting an admissions committee. Admissions committees are used by the vast majority of selective colleges in the US to discuss applications and make admissions decisions (we’ll discuss committees further in our next Inside Admissions blog post!).
CBE, also known as paired reading or team-based evaluation, actually refers to a newer application evaluation method that pairs two admissions officers together to review applications simultaneously. CBE was pioneered by the University of Pennsylvania in 2013 and has since expanded to over 40 institutions. This method has become more popular in recent years due to the immense surge in application volume at highly selective colleges (CBE streamlines the reading process, allowing readers to get through more applications more quickly than in traditional reading).
In CBE, the first and second readers read the application together at the same time, discussing aloud as they go. Typically, one reader focuses on the academic elements of the application, while the other focuses on the personal elements. This allows the readers to often come to a decision within just a few minutes. For applicants that are either clearly outstanding or clearly not the right fit, decisions can be made in less than a minute.
As an applicant, this can sound terrifying – less than a minute to decide on the application I spent months or even years preparing for? Don’t worry, it’s not that simple! The reading process is only the first step in application evaluation; no decisions are final yet.
Post-reading “Bins”
Regardless of whether a college uses traditional or CBE evaluation, the next step is to sort the applications into bins. This step varies a lot from college to college, but generally applications will be funneled into one of three bins:
The Selection Committee Bin – the strongest applicants that are most likely to be admitted
The Pre-Committee (or Sub-Committee) Bin – applicants who are deemed qualified but are not immediately outstanding
The Deny Bin – applicants deemed not qualified for admission
All applicants are reviewed at least one more time, even those that start in the Deny Bin.
In our next Inside Admissions post, we’ll look at how applications move through the committee process and ultimately wind up in the Admit, Defer/Waitlist, or Deny Bin.
This post is Part 2 in our NACAC 2022 series. Read Part 1, How Test-Optional Has Changed Application Review, and stay tuned for Part 3, where Olivia will discuss how applications move through the admissions committee during review.