Admissions Offers for Funded Students
Navigating the dynamic funding situation amid the federal transition
As the current federal transition continues to unfold in a dynamic fashion, and the availability of graduate student funding resources remains under consideration, the Graduate School recommends a tiered approach to offers of admissions for traditionally funded graduate students.
As graduate admissions and staff hiring has been paused or delayed at peer and top institutions, this poses an opportunity for the University of Utah to leverage admission of top applicants who, in more regular admissions cycles, would be recruited to other programs.
Because resources are in question, traditionally funded graduate programs are encouraged to tier their admits into three categories – top admits, preferred admits, and waitlist. This will help ensure that every effort is executed to admit the most competitive applicants while also proceeding with caution as resources are confirmed.
Admissions Categories:
- Top Admits – these are top high-performance, high-potential applicants who are considered to be most competitive among peer and top programs. While your confirmed resources – teaching assistantships, research support from grants/startup funds, etc. – may be highly limited at the moment, these are the applicants you choose to use these confirmed resources to support. Graduate School recommendation – extend offer of admission with funding package as soon as able.
- Preferred Admits – these are high-performance, high-potential applicants who would normally be extended a first-round offer of admission. However, this group of applicants aren’t necessarily the most competitive in your admissions pool that you’d reserve your limited resources for. Graduate School recommendation – extend offer of admission with a note that funding is dynamic and funding packages will be extended at a later date.
- Waitlist – these are talented applicants meeting the admissions requirements for the program who, if a space in the program becomes available after applicants in Group A and Group B have declined their offer, you would like to admit. Graduate School recommendation – notify applicant that they have been waitlisted and that offers of funding will be separate from offers of admission.
Thank you for your patience and commitment as we navigate these changes together. If you need more information or have questions, please contact Dean Butt.