RFUCAS Program User Guide
This guide provides you with documentation, reference guides, and direct links that answer common admissions questions about the RFUCAS 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.
Cycle Timeframes
CAS Applicant Portal
The Applicant Portal opens in early July and closes in late July. You can view the specific cycle dates, including final processing dates (e.g., last date to submit transcripts, last date to request letters of recommendation, etc.), on the RFUCAS Application Cycle Dates page.
CAS Configuration Portal
Between late April and mid-June, configurations are entered into the prelaunch environment. The account team and RFU review submitted configurations in June.
WebAdMIT
You can view new applicants and initiate a transfer settings shortly after the new cycle opens in early July.
Program Participation Requirements
RFU requires all programs to designate two contacts at your institution who will receive all communication from RFUCAS, including the configuration, application, and WebAdMIT launch notifications.
Applicant Portal
The first three sections of the RFUCAS 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 RFUCAS application and RFUCAS 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 RFUCAS Complete application status.
- RFUCAS Quick Start Guide and FAQs: a suggested timeline for completing and submitting the application, links to important pages including cycle dates and fees, and a FAQs section.
You can direct any applicant inquiries related to the application to RFUCAS Customer Service.
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.
Once you've configured your program, you'll need to have it approved by the account team and RFU before it is available to applicants. If your program is reviewed after the cycle launches, RFU will approve it.
Review the Program Transcript and Coursework Requirements and Application Statuses table below to learn how your transcript and coursework requirements affect the applicant's Application Status and the GPAs provided to you.
Program Transcript and Coursework Requirements and Application Statuses
This table is from the RFUCAS Applicant Help Center. All links below will redirect you to that help center.
WebAdMIT
Review the WebAdMIT Help Center 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 FAQ: view answers to frequently asked questions about offering 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 Transfer Settings: learn how to transfer deferred applicants from one cycle to the next.
- Direct Applicants: enter directly into WebAdMIT applicants who did not apply through RFUCAS.
- Integration Help Center and WebAdMIT API: learn how to set up an API and schedule automatic data exports from WebAdMIT into your SIS/ERP.
- 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
2025-2026
The table below contains enhancements for RFUCAS 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
CAS Applicant Portal |
Extended Profile |
The European Union Data Protection/GDPR question is configured to be internal only, meaning that it and its answers will not be sent to other portals such as the CAS API and WebAdMIT. |
No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement. |
Available at cycle launch |
|
CAS Applicant Portal |
Academic History – Colleges Attended |
Applicants are required to upload their unofficial domestic transcripts and/or foreign evaluations before they submit their application to your program. |
No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement. |
Available at cycle launch |
|
CAS Applicant Portal |
Supporting Information – Optional Statement |
The Diversity Statement section and document upload were renamed Optional Statement, and instructions were updated accordingly. |
No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement. |
Available at cycle launch |
|
CAS Applicant Portal |
Program Materials – Documents |
The Required Documents and Optional Documents headers have been removed. |
No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement. |
Available at cycle launch |
|
CAS Configuration Portal |
Branding |
Pixel tracking can be enabled on the Add Programs and Program Materials sections to gain more insight into your program or organization's applicants. You can insert your tracking ID into the CAS Configuration Portal to establish standard tracking pixels from the major ad providers including Google, Meta, and LinkedIn. |
Action required by all participating programs. |
Available now |
|
WebAdMIT |
Applicant Details Page |
The CAS Custom Questions panel has subpanels by question block, so you can more easily find applicant data and restrict your users' access to it via Work Groups. |
Action required by participating programs choosing to use this enhancement. |
Available at cycle launch |
|
WebAdMIT |
Applicant Details Page Email Templates Export Manager List Manager |
The Title field is no longer collected in the application and will be removed from WebAdMIT. You will need to update any lists, exports, emails, and other integrations to account for this field removal. |
Action required by all participating programs. |
Available at cycle launch |
|
WebAdMIT |
Applicant Details Page Export Manager List Manager |
The Refugee answer option was removed from the Visa Information question in the application; the correct option, I-94 Refugee, remains available. You should update any lists, exports, and other integrations to account for this answer option removal. The Program Plans field was removed from the Applicants field grouping. |
Action required by all participating programs. |
Available at cycle launch |
2024-2025
The table below contains enhancements for RFUCAS 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 |
Extended Profile Personal Information Academic History Supporting Information |
If a CAS has a custom question in the first three quadrants (i.e., Personal Information, Academic History, and Supporting Information) or Extended Profile section, then the question can be configured to be internal only, meaning that that question and answers will not be sent to other portals such as the CAS API and WebAdMIT. |
No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement. |
Available at cycle launch |
|
Applicant Portal |
Academic History – Transcript Entry |
Applicants can view instructions when entering their coursework details. |
No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement. |
Available at cycle launch |
|
Applicant Portal |
Program Materials – Recommendations |
Applicants can create a custom recommender pool, where they enter a recommender’s information once and then select the recommender for any programs that they apply to. This enhancement alleviates the applicant burden of entering recommender information for every program and speeds up the application process. |
No action required by participating programs to use this enhancement. |
Available at cycle launch |
|
Configuration Portal |
Program Details Question Rules |
Select users with the Config. Portal Live Editing Access role can edit active and closed programs through the Configuration Portal, such as:
|
Action required by participating programs choosing to use this enhancement. |
Available now |
|
WebAdMIT |
Export Manager List Manager |
When applicants report their colleges attended, they can identify if they are still attending the institution. A corresponding Still Attending field has been added under the Colleges Attended field grouping in the List Manager and Export Manager. |
Action required by participating programs choosing 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 |