BU Faculty of Computing and Data Sciences Program User Guide

This guide provides you with documentation, reference guides, and direct links that answer common admissions questions about the BU Faculty of Computing and Data Sciences Applicant Portal, Configuration Portal, and WebAdMIT. It also contains resources that may help you work more efficiently throughout your admissions process. If you have additional questions or need further assistance, please contact a member of your account team.

Important Contact Information

Contact or refer applicants to the BU Faculty of Computing and Data Sciences Application Support team at:

Contact the Client Support Specialist team for assistance with WebAdMIT at:

Cycle Timeframes

Applicant Portal

The Applicant Portal opens in mid-August and closes in early August.

Configuration Portal

Between mid-April and early July, configurations are entered into the prelaunch environment.

WebAdMIT

You can view new applicants after the new cycle opens in mid-August.

Program Participation Requirements

BU requires all programs to designate two contacts at your institution who will receive all communication from BU and BU Faculty of Computing and Data Sciences, including the configuration, application, and WebAdMIT launch notifications.

Applicant Portal

The first three sections of the BU Faculty of Computing and Data Sciences application (i.e., Personal Information, Academic History, and Supporting Information) compose the core application. They contain questions that are commonly asked of applicants across all participating programs, such as an applicant's biographic information, standardized test scores, and experiences. The fourth section of the application is Program Materials, which is customized by you through the Configuration Portal (discussed in the next section).

You can access the BU Faculty of Computing and Data Sciences application and BU Faculty of Computing and Data Sciences Applicant Help Center to review the applicant experience. You can also create a test application in the Applicant Portal; we recommend creating a new account and adding "test" to your name (e.g., TestJohn TestDoe).

For a general overview of the applicant experience, review the following documents:

You can direct any applicant inquiries related to the application to BU Faculty of Computing and Data Sciences Application Support.

Configuration Portal

Use the Configuration Portal Quick Start Guide to make sure you configure your program(s) efficiently and completely in the prelaunch environment. Be sure to check out your CAS's configuration options and review the best practices found throughout. If any optional sections of the application are required for your program (e.g., experiences, test scores, etc.), you'll want to note this on your program home page.

WebAdMIT

Review the WebAdMIT Manual for any questions related to working in WebAdMIT. The Reference Guides and WebAdMIT Training and Support sections are additional resources as you configure WebAdMIT for your needs. Documents commonly requested include:

The Release Notes feature new enhancements in the Applicant Portal, Applicant Gateway, Configuration Portal, Liaison Letters, and WebAdMIT, in addition to upcoming training opportunities.

For any questions, contact the Client Support Specialist Team.

Cycle Enhancements

2024-2025

The table below contains enhancements for BU Faculty of Computing and Data Sciences for the cycle timeframes noted at the top of this page. Note that some sections have multiple enhancements. If an action is required by participating programs to use the enhancement, click the links under Enhancement Details to learn more. Additional enhancements may have been automatically released; review the Release Notes to learn more.

Portal

Section

Enhancement Details

Implementation

Availability

Applicant Portal

Fees

BU Faculty of Computing and Data Sciences now collects program-level fees instead of CAS-level fees. 

No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.

Available at cycle launch

Applicant Portal

Personal Information – Biographic Information

A new Phonetic Name question was added. 

No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.

Available at cycle launch

Applicant Portal

Add Program Page

Program Materials

A Campus program attribute was added. 

No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.

Available at cycle launch

WebAdMIT

Export Manager

List Manager

The TOEFL Official PBT fields were removed. If you have exports and lists that include this field, you will want to review and update them as necessary.

No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.

Available at cycle launch

WebAdMIT

Work Groups

In WebAdMIT, you can configure Work Groups to allow users to see specific panels on the Applicant Details Page. With this enhancement (from Release 11, 2023) if you remove access to a panel for a Work Group, the fields in that panel are also not available for the Work Group to see when creating exports, lists, or PDF manager templates. For example, if the Race and Ethnicity subpanel is not enabled for a Work Group, its members will not see the information from that panel when creating an export, and will not be able to create filters in List Manager using any of the fields from that panel.

As a result of this enhancement, reports that are not shared with Work Groups from the Report Settings page will be inaccessible to anyone who is not a WebAdMIT Administrator. Review the How Work Groups Impact Access to Features and Fields documentation to learn more about the impacts of this enhancement.

No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.

Available at cycle launch

2023-2024

The table below contains enhancements for BU Faculty of Computing and Data Sciences for the cycle timeframes noted at the top of this page. Note that some sections have multiple enhancements. If an action is required by participating programs to use the enhancement, click the links under Enhancement Details to learn more. Additional enhancements may have been automatically released; review the Release Notes to learn more.

Portal

Section

Enhancement Details

Implementation

Availability

Applicant Portal

Login Page

The Login page text was updated for clarity.

No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.

Available at cycle launch

Applicant Portal

Account Information

The European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a legal framework that sets guidelines for the collection and processing of personal information of individuals within the European Union.

The GDPR question explains the information we collect and how we use their information. Users located in a European Union country, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, or Switzerland must opt into our policies when creating an account.

No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.

Available at cycle launch

Applicant Portal

Add Program Page

Submit Application Page

Applicants can select and apply to only one program per term.

No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.

Available at cycle launch

Applicant Portal

Dashboard

A new notification banner is available for the application dashboard. CASs can share best tips and tricks with applicants as they complete their applications.

No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.

Available at cycle launch

Applicant Portal

Personal Information – Biographic Information

The Sex question was updated to What is your legal sex?

Additionally, the Sex question now includes a third custom gender value: X or another legal sex. This allows CASs to meet their guidelines and new reporting options from state and federal governments.

No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.

Available at cycle launch

Applicant Portal

Personal Information – Biographic Information

The Preferred Name question was removed.

A new required Display Name question was added.

Additionally, the Preferred Pronouns question was renamed Pronouns.

No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.

Available at cycle launch

Applicant Portal

Supporting Information – University Affiliation

The University Affiliation section was removed. Instead, a BU ID creation/association integration is built into BU's SIS.

No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.

Available at cycle launch

Applicant Portal

Supporting Information – Release Statement

The Certification and Authorization Statement was updated for clarity.

No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.

Available at cycle launch

Applicant Portal

Official IELTS Tests

Applicants can submit their official IELTS test scores to the CAS, and you can review those test scores in WebAdMIT.

No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.

Available in 2022-2023 cycle

Configuration Portal

Documents

The Statement of Purpose document type was renamed Research Statement.

No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.

Available now

WebAdMIT

Applicant Gateway

When an Applicant Gateway activity is activated, the automated emails no longer go out. Instead, programs can send a link in an email at their discretion.

No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.

Available at cycle launch

WebAdMIT

Decision Codes

The following Decision Codes were added:

  • Accepted from Deferral
  • Accepted from Referral

And the following Decision Codes were removed:

  • Administrative Deferral - Current Cycle
  • Academic Admit

No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement.

Available at cycle launch