The last major change that is being made to the application process for the 2010 cycle is that the Admissions Committee will allow for the submission of unofficial test scores for application review.  Similar to the policy of accepting unofficial copies of transcripts for admission review, if an applicant is offered admission official copies of test reports will then need to be submitted to confirm enrollment.  Specific dates by which official test scores need to be submitted will be communicated after admission offers are made.

This requirement includes the submission of the following tests:  GRE, GMAT, TOEFL, or IELTS.  SIPA will not accept LSAT scores in lieu of the GRE or GMAT.

In the past we required that a waiver form be filled out to submit the GMAT in lieu of the GRE.  Starting this year the waiver form is no longer required – we will accept either the GRE or the GMAT.

Applicants will have the ability to update scores achieved on the application Web site up to the deadline date.  Applicants should not wait until a test has been taken to submit the application.  The priority should be to submit the admission application as soon as possible.  It is not important that all admission documents be submitted at the same time.

For example, let’s say an applicant has all of the required documents ready, including a test score, on December 2nd and the official submission deadline is January 5th.  The applicant has another test scheduled for December 10th.  It is fine for the applicant to submit the application package via our application Web site and then later return to add additional test scores.  We will allow for test scores to be updated until the deadline, we will not allow for other documents once they have been submitted to be updated.

Once again we are hopeful that by allowing applicants to submit scores via the application Web site that we will be able to expedite the admission review process.  In previous years one of the great complications has been the receipt of official test scores by the deadline and we are pleased to offer a solution that should better serve both applicants and the Admissions Committee.