FAQ: Graduate Application Admit System

If you need assistance or training, please contact the Office of Graduate Studies at graduate@unl.edu or 402-472-2875.
Please do not use the Help link within Admit for questions, because the CollegeNET/ApplyWeb helpdesk will not have UNL-specific answers.

Accessing Applications

Q: How do I access the graduate application system (Admit)?
A: Go to https://go.unl.edu/grad-admit and sign in with your NUID and Duo. Save this Go URL (not the applyweb.com URL) to your Bookmarks/Favorites. After signing in, you should see a page with the university logo in the upper left, next to buttons labeled Dashboard and Admit. Click Admit to access applications, lists, and details.

Q: I can’t get in! Help!
A: If you have problems signing in, you may need assistance with your TrueYou account credentials.

If you successfully sign in and see “[name] not found”, or a Dashboard button with no Admit button, this means you lack permissions to access the information. Have your department’s Graduate Chair and/or primary graduate support staff person request the correct permissions for you by contacting the Office of Graduate Studies by email.

Q: I’m in. Now what?

A:
  • Primary Graduate Support Staff or Graduate Chair: Contact the Office of Graduate Studies if unsure how to use Admit. Graduate Studies provides hands-on training for users.
  • Other users: Contact your department’s Graduate Chair or primary graduate support staff for instructions. Each academic unit uses the system differently.

Student-Facing Pages

Q: How do students access their Applicant Portal?
A: The Applicant Portal (or Activity Page) at https://go.unl.edu/gradappstatus enables applicants to manage their application: view a checklist, upload alternate documents, remind or replace recommenders, view their admission decision letter, and accept or decline the offer of admission.

Q: What links should departments use to direct students to the application form and related pages?
A: Link to the Graduate Application for admission as https://go.unl.edu/gradapp and to the Applicant Portal as https://go.unl.edu/gradappstatus.

Q: How many applications can a student submit?
A: A person can submit as many applications for admission as they wish. However, they can only have one (1) unsubmitted (in-progress) UNL application at a time.

Q: Can I view unsubmitted (in-progress) applications?
A: Periodic snapshots of unsubmitted applications are provided by Graduate Studies via the WebFocus dashboard, but remember that unsubmitted applications are not finalized and the student may still be making changes, like selecting a different program or term.

Q: Who should applicants contact if they need technical help with the application?
A: The Office of Graduate Studies.

Q: Who should applicants contact if they have questions about required application materials?
A: The academic unit associated with the program the applicant is applying to.

Q: How can we as faculty/staff see the application form as applicants see it?
A: Create your own "Just Testing" applicant account/identity:
- Go to https://go.unl.edu/gradapp, select Create Account, enter your email address, and choose a password. (Caution: If you yourself have really applied or may in the future, be sure to use different email addresses for your real account and your "Just Testing" account.) Enter First Name as "Just" and Last Name as "Testing". Set any birthdate. Complete any additional items, then click the Create Account button.
- Expect an email within a few minutes; follow its instructions to confirm your email address and proceed to the application.
- The application form will open with "Just Testing" in name fields--leave First Name and Last Name untouched and fill in your real first name as the Middle Name. Optionally also put your real name in Chosen or Former name fields.

Application Materials

Q: How can our department pay a student's application fee?
A: Contact Caroline Knuth to purchase single-use fee waiver codes. Your department is responsible for the distribution and management of the codes provided to you.

Q: How do I know which materials are still needed before the application can be released for departmental review?
A: Open an application, go to its ‘App’ tab and find the Application Status. The Initial Review Checklist will indicate any missing items. The checklist is also displayed to the applicant in the Applicant Portal.

Q: How do I request an English proficiency waiver for an applicant?
A: Exemption from the English proficiency policy is only permitted when an applicant meets the established guidelines. The English proficiency requirement is not waived.

Letters of Recommendation (LoRs)

Q: How do I know how many letters of recommendation have been received?
A: In the Applications list, look for the ‘# of LoRs Received’ column. Or, when viewing a single application, go to its ‘App’ tab and scroll down to the Recommenders section.

Q: A recommender sent me their letter to upload. Can I do this?
A: No. For authentication, accuracy, and completeness, the recommender must sign into the recommendation form as emailed to them. If a recommender is experiencing technical issues notify the Office of Graduate Studies.

Q: Are letters considered official even if they lack a ‘handwritten’ signature?
A: Yes. The recommendation form can only be submitted by the person at the associated email address and the recommendation form includes an electronic signature component.

Evaluating Applications

Q: How do I know which applications are assigned to me?
A: You may not have any applications assigned to you, as some departments do not use this feature. Open a Program Review folder, look at the Applications tab, and note the checkboxes down the left side of the application list. Coloring around the checkboxes indicates applications assigned to you: red: evaluation not started, gold: evaluation in progress, green: evaluation completed. You will need to check each Program Review folder you have access to.

Q: I have been assigned to evaluate an application, but the Evaluation pane is grayed out when I view the application. Why is it grayed out?
A: Make sure you are in the Program Review folder. If you are in the Program Review folder and the Evaluation pane is grayed out, it means you do not have access to evaluate that application.

Q: Can users receive an email notification when applications are assigned to them for review?
A: Not at this time.

Q: Is it possible to edit an evaluation after it has been marked complete?
A: Yes, but only while the application is still in the Program Review folder.

Q: I completed my evaluation, but it does not appear on the Shared Evaluation tab.
A: First, make sure you are in the Program Review folder. Be sure you have checked the Evaluation Complete checkbox at the bottom of the application. Then go to the Shared Evaluations tab and refresh.

Q: What is the Shared Evaluations tab and why can’t I see it?
A: The Shared Evaluations tab summarizes completed evaluations. Users who have View or Evaluate access will not see this tab. Graduate Support Staff, Graduate Chair and Graduate Committee users will have access to the Shared Evaluations tab.

Q: How do I know who has been assigned to evaluate an application?
A: Request Graduate Studies run an Evaluations report for the set of applications. The Office of Graduate Studies is working to further enhance this feature.

Q: How do I generate a summary of all evaluations?
A: Request Graduate Studies run an Evaluations report for the set of applications.

Q: Our department would like to evaluate our applications on a different ratings scale. Is that possible?
A: Currently the Office of Graduate Studies is offering 3 evaluation options: no evaluation, minimal evaluation, or full evaluation. The Office of Graduate Studies may be able to expand this feature as academic units refine their evaluation needs.

Changing Application Term

Q: How can an applicant’s admission term be changed?
A: The applicant must email a term change request to graduate@unl.edu. A written request from the student is required to make any term changes.

Withdrawing an Application

Q: How can an application be withdrawn?
A: The applicant must contact the Office of Graduate studies to request that their application be withdrawn from consideration. If the applicant emailed the request to you, forward it to graduate@unl.edu.

Recommending Admission

Q: I have an applicant I’d like to review/admit, but the application is not yet in our Program Review folder.
A: This application is not ready for departmental review yet. Check the Application Status and Initial Review Checklist. The Office of Graduate Studies may be waiting on items listed in the checklist. Alternatively, those items may have been submitted very recently and they are in a queue for processing and updates. Contact the Office of Graduate Studies if you have questions.

Q: Where do departmental admission provisions (e.g. course deficiencies, minimum GPA) get recorded?
A: These are not recorded in Admit. Management of all departmental admission provisions lies within the academic unit, not the Office of Graduate Studies.

Q: How do I know when an applicant has been admitted or denied?
A: Refer to the Application Status field in the Applications list or on an individual applications header (by the Name and NUID). You can also view the decision letter on the ‘App’ tab. 

Q: I’ve recommended an applicant for admission. Now what?
A: The Office of Graduate Studies will complete a Final Review and request additional information/materials if needed. When the Final Review requirements are satisfied, Graduate Studies will process the recommendation, generate the official letter of admission, and notify the student via email prompting them to access their Applicant Portal and accept or decline the offer of admission.

Q: How do I know when an applicant has accepted or declined their offer of admission?
A: Refer to the Application Status field in the Applications list or on an individual applications header (by the Name and NUID). You can also view the application status on the ‘App’ tab. “Admitted-Accepted” means the student has accepted the offer of admission.

Enrolling

Q: When is an admitted student eligible to enroll?
A: When the applicant returns a ‘Yes/Accept” response to the offer of admission, the application is ready to be matriculated/activated. The Office of Graduate Studies matriculates daily for open terms: Summer and Fall starting in March, Spring starting in October.

Data

Q: How do I create a PDF of the application and its materials?
A: PDFs are not available. A static document generated at one point in time would be missing any later updates, especially term changes, test scores, and recommendations.

Q: How do I get a list of applications in a spreadsheet?
A: Departmental faculty and staff can request access to the "For Grad Depts" reporting panel in the Graduate Studies WebFocus dashboard, where they can run lists of applications and students. Note that these reports read data from MyRED, not Admit, so data elements stored only in Admit are not available in dashboard reports at this time.

Q: Why am I unable to view an applicant’s birthdate/gender/citizenship/ethnicity?
A: These data fields are not displayed in Admit as part of the application review and admission process. Refer to the University of Nebraska nondiscrimination statement. Some biographical data is available post-decision via the WebFocus For Grad Depts reports.

Q: When will ‘Just Testing’ applications disappear?
A: By request or when Graduate Studies does a post-testing cleanup.

Q: Will applications automatically roll over to the next term?
A: No. Applicants are able to change their term by request.

Q: What happens to applications in Program Review status if the department doesn't submit an admit/deny recommendation?
A: Applicants are invited to keep the application in consideration by changing it to a later term; applications not changed to a viable term will expire and be withdrawn.

Q: What happens to applications in Admitted-Pending Response status if the student doesn't submit an Accept/Decline decision?
A: The admission offer expires by the end of the admit term. Currently the application status is left as-is. Graduate Studies is assessing ways to better indicate expiration while retaining related status detail.

Q: What happens to applications in Admitted-Accepted status if the student doesn't actually enroll?
A: In MyRED the student's program is closed for nonenrollment ("no show") if the student has not enrolled by roughly the midpoint of the admit term, and application data is left as-is.