BU Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Program User Guide
This guide provides you with documentation, reference guides, and direct links that answer common admissions questions about the BU Graduate School of Arts and 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 Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Application Support team at:
- Email: support@bu-grs.myliaison.com
- Phone: 857-304-2002
Contact the Client Support Specialist team for assistance with WebAdMIT at:
- Webform
- Email: webadmitsupport@liaisonedu.com
- Phone: 857-304-2020
Cycle Timeframes
Applicant Portal
The Applicant Portal opens in late August and closes in late August.
Configuration Portal
Between mid-May and mid-July, configurations are entered into the prelaunch environment.
WebAdMIT
You can view new applicants and initiate a transfer settings shortly after the new cycle opens in late August.
Program Participation Requirements
BU requires all programs to designate two contacts at your institution who will receive all communication from BU and BU Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, including the configuration, application, and WebAdMIT launch notifications.
Applicant Portal
The first three sections of the BU Graduate School of Arts and 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 Graduate School of Arts and Sciences application and BU Graduate School of Arts and 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:
- Applicant Processing Reference Guide: learn how applicants move through the application and Liaison processes applicant materials, such as transcripts and official test scores.
- Application Statuses Reference Guide: review what each application status means and how you can interact with applicants at different stages.
- Review the requirements for the BU Graduate School of Arts and Sciences Complete application status.
You can direct any applicant inquiries related to the application to BU Graduate School of Arts and 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:
- Application Coupons Reference Guide: learn how to request coupons to offset application fees and disperse them to applicants.
- Application Coupon Codes FAQs: view answers to frequently asked questions about coupon codes.
- Data Dictionaries and Master Code Lists: a comprehensive list of all fields available in the Export Manager and Report Manager, including associated lookup tables.
- Deferring Applicants via the Liaison-assisted Deferral Process: learn how to transfer deferred applicants from one cycle to the next.
- Integration Help Center and WebAdMIT API: learn how to set up an API and schedule automatic data exports from WebAdMIT into your SIS/ERP.
- Invitation Codes Reference Guide: learn how to offer individual deadline extensions directly to applicants.
- Manual Designations: learn how to add additional programs (i.e., designations) to an application in WebAdMIT.
- Transfer Settings Guide: a review of how programs and templates built in WebAdMIT are carried forward each cycle.
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 Graduate School of Arts and 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 Graduate School of Arts and Sciences now charges 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 Phonetic Name question was added. |
No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement. |
Available at cycle launch |
|
Applicant Portal |
Academic History – Colleges Attended |
The instructional text was updated to better assist applicants. |
No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement. |
Available at cycle launch |
|
Applicant Portal |
Academic History – Standardized Tests |
GMAT was removed from the list of tests. The instructional text was updated to better assist applicants. |
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 Graduate School of Arts and 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 |
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 |
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 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 |
Program Codes |
The Program Codes are updated to the new Campus Solution program codes. |
No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement. |
Available now |
|
Configuration Portal |
Program Details |
The duplicate MD/PhD answer value was removed from the Degree drop-down. |
Action required by participating programs choosing to use this enhancement. |
Available now |
|
WebAdMIT |
Decision Codes |
The following Decision Codes were added:
And the following Decision Codes were removed:
|
No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement. |
Available at cycle launch |