Sending Emails

Getting Started with Emails

If you're just getting started with emails in WebAdMIT, we recommend you complete the following steps in the order listed:

  1. Add the email addresses you want to use with emails. These addresses can be used for carbon copy (CC), blind carbon (BCC), and replies.
  2. Create email templates that you can use for quick correspondence with applicants.
  3. Determine how you want to send emails directly to applicants from WebAdMIT (there are several methods you can use).
  4. Use WebAdMIT's Search Correspondence function to keep track of emails that you've sent.

Video Overview

Overview

You can correspond with applicants through WebAdMIT. Emails sent from WebAdMIT come from donotreply@webadmit.org, and the name of your organization appears as the Sender Name (e.g., Liaison University <donotreply@webadmit.com>). If the applicant replies to the email, their response is routed to your selected reply-to address.

When applicants receive emails from WebAdMIT, their email address is listed in the To field and anyone you chose to copy into the email is listed in the Cc field. However, if you send an email preview to yourself or you are cc'ed in an email, your email address is listed in the To field. The email body still contains all applicant-specific content, including from merge fields.

Gaining Access to This Feature

The Emails feature is available on the Applicant Details page and in bulk actions through List Manager, Search, and Clipboard. Access to this tool is controlled through Work Groups. You must have the Email Applicants permission to send emails.

Sending Emails from the Applicant Details Page

  1. From the Applicant Details page, click the email button under the Contact Information panel or New Email under the Emails panel.
  2. Select the CC, BCC, and reply-to options. When an applicant responds to an email you sent in WebAdMIT, their reply is not sent back to WebAdMIT; instead, it is sent to the email address you designate under Reply-To. By default, the email address you use to log in to WebAdMIT with is provided. You can create alternate CC, BCC, and reply-to options in Email Addresses.
  3. Select a template, if applicable. If you use a template and make changes to it, the changes only apply to that instance. To make permanent changes to a template, edit it in Email Templates.
  4. Enter a subject. Using certain buzzwords in the subject line or image-only emails can trigger spam filters. As a best practice, keep your subject lines as clear and concise as possible and avoid excessive use of capitalization and punctuation. For example, the subject line “Congratulations” may be marked as spam while “Congratulations on your acceptance to Demo University!” will clear spam filters.
  5. Add email attachments, if applicable. Click Add Attachment and then click to browse or drag and drop your attachments. To remove an attachment, click the delete icon. Note that:
    • You can add the following file types (.jpeg, .jpg, .png, .txt, .rtf, .doc, .docx, and .pdf), up to 15 MB per file.
    • There is no limit to the number of attachments for emails.
    • When applicants receive the email, all attachments are located at the bottom of the email and either open in a new browser tab or download, depending on the applicant's browser configuration.
  6. Compose your email and format it, if applicable. Review the Email Formatting Options section below.
  7. When you are finished composing your email, you can click:
    • Send to send the email.
    • Save Draft to save the email as a draft, but not send it. Drafts are stored in the applicant's Emails panel.
    • Send preview… to send a preview of the email. The available email addresses here include your own and any other email address that has been added in the Email Addresses section. When you send a preview of an email, a draft is saved in the applicant's Emails panel with a delivery status of Unknown. The Send Preview option only sends an email to the email address you indicate, not to applicants.
    • Return to Applicant to cancel the email.

Format an application received email template to one applicant

Email Formatting Options

Email Formatting Option

Additional Notes
Add general formatting options
  • Add heading and block quote styles
  • Bold, Italicize, and Underline text
  • Clear formatting
  • Change font type and size
  • Change font color and background color
  • Create a bulleted or numbered list
  • Align text left, center, or right, or justify text
  • Increase or decrease the indentation
  • Single space by using Shift+Enter
Use mail merge fields with the lightbulb icon

To personalize the message using mail merge fields, click the lightbulb icon, then select the information you want to merge into the message.

If available in your CAS, you can use the applicant's preferred first name instead of their legal first name in your emails. If the applicant did not provide a preferred first name in the CAS application, then their legal name will automatically be filled in. This allows you to communicate with applicants who may go by a different first name (for example, their legal name is a deadname).

If you use date merge fields (e.g., Interview dates, Custom Fields built as date fields, etc.), the date merge field format is MMMM d, yyyy (e.g., July 9, 2026).

If you use a merge field with more than one possible value (e.g., an applicant with more than one interview of the same type), WebAdMIT will include all possible values and add commas and "and" between the multiple values. For example, if an applicant has two interviews of the same type, the Interviewer merge field will populate as Last Name, First Name and Last Name, First Name (e.g., Stark, Tony and Rogers, Steve). If an applicant has three interviews of the same type, each at different times, the Time merge field will populate as Time, Time, and Time (e.g., 1:00 PM, 3:00 PM, and 4:00 PM). Finally, the merge field values will populate as they were created in WebAdMIT in chronological order. For example, if you assigned an interview to Tony Stark first, then Steve Rogers, then the Interviewer merge field will list Tony Stark first, then Steve Rogers.

When using Interview Locations in a mail merge, the Interview Type is included with the Interview Location. For example, if your Interview type is First Interview and your location is Conference Room 243, the resulting email will display First Interview: Conference Room 243 for the Interview Location merge field. See Managing Interviews for a video overview of using Interview merge fields.
Create a hyperlink with the link icon

To add a hyperlink, highlight the text you want to become the link, then click the hyperlink icon. Enter the link details, then click OK.

If you want to hyperlink email addresses and phone numbers, you must enter the HTML attributes:

  • Enter "mailto:" before an email address (e.g., mailto:gradadm@demo.edu).
  • Enter "tel:" before a phone number (e.g., tel:555-555-5555).

The default URL protocol is http://; if you want a different URL protocol, you must now manually enter it before the URL (e.g., https://demo.edu).

To edit or remove a hyperlink, click the link and then click the appropriate button.
Insert an image

Some common examples of images in email templates include an email header (e.g., your institution's logo) or a signature at the end of the email. If you want to add an image to the email header, review these suggested image sizes:

  • For applicants viewing emails on a desktop, use 600-700 px wide by 90-200 px tall.
  • For applicants viewing emails on a mobile device, use 320-385 px wide by up to 100 px tall.

To insert an image:

  1. Obtain a URL link for the image. You can do this by either searching online for your image or working with your IT or Marketing staff.
  2. Drag and drop the image from a website into the email template (be sure you are using the same browser). Alternatively, click the image icon, then enter the image's link. An error message displays when an incorrect image link or data URL is used. Additionally, ensure the image URL doesn't include spaces (which appear in the URL as %20), as this can prevent the email template from carrying forward during transfer settings.
  3. Click on the image to edit its properties, including size and alignment.
    • You can choose for an image to be the set size that you uploaded, or you can have the image dynamically change its size based on the applicant's screen size. For example, if you set the image to 50%, then the image will fill 50% of the applicant's device's screen width (i.e., phone, tablet, or computer screen width).
Insert the current date using the clock icon This field will enter the date the email template is sent to the applicant. It is formatted as MMMM d, yyyy (e.g., July 9, 2026).

Sending Emails in Batch

You can send batch emails through the:

You can exclude applicants from your email by unchecking them before initiating a batch update. Applicants cannot view who else you send an email to in batch.

Follow the steps below to send batch emails through the List Manager; you can follow similar steps for the Search and Clipboard features.

  1. Using the Menu Bar, open the Applicant Lists panel, then click List Manager.
  2. Click on a list name to run it.
  3. Click List Actions.
  4. Click Email Checked Applicants.
  5. Follow the steps under the Sending Emails from the Applicant Details Page section above.

Email Statuses

Once you send emails in WebAdMIT, you can track email statuses. See the table below for definitions. Some emails will remain indefinitely in a status of Sent or Delivered if the recipient's email server fails to process read receipts.

Email Status Definition
Bounced The message was rejected by the recipient's email server; you should verify the recipient's email address. Contact the Client Support Specialist team at webadmitsupport@liaisonedu.com for further assistance.
Clicked The recipient received the message, opened it, and clicked a link or image.
Deferred The message was not sent and is in the queue for redelivery.
Delivered The recipient's email server received the message; however, this does not indicate that the applicant opened or viewed the message. The recipient may have recently changed their email address, or they may have rules or junk mail settings enabled that prevent the email from reaching the inbox. Applicants are encouraged to keep their contact information up to date and disable junk mail filters.
Dropped

The email provider is preventing the delivery of the message. Messages are typically dropped when they contain an invalid or non-existent email address, or when the recipient marks a previous WebAdMIT message as spam. Contact the Client Support Specialist team at webadmitsupport@liaisonedu.com. Additionally, you may want to confirm with the recipient that you have the correct address and that they added donotreply@webadmit.org to their "safe senders" list.
Failed The message was not sent. Contact the Client Support Specialist team at webadmitsupport@liaisonedu.com for further assistance.
Opened The recipient received the message and opened it.
Sent The message is being processed for delivery to the recipient.
Spam Report The recipient reported the email as spam.
Unknown The status of the email can’t be determined. This status typically appears for recently sent emails and is replaced by another status within 24 hours.

Email Troubleshooting

In some cases, emails sent through WebAdMIT may not reach their intended recipient. This can occur even if the email status is listed as Delivered, as the Delivered status simply indicates these emails have been successfully delivered to the recipient's email server.

After being delivered, emails may still be restricted or quarantined by the recipient's email server. IT teams can help resolve this issue by completing the following actions:

Use these links to obtain your email provider's safe-listing instructions:

If issues persist, contact our Client Support Specialist Team for more assistance.