A student applying to PhD programs writes:
As a prospective graduate student, I'm forced to send multiple transcripts from every college I've attended, as well as GRE scores at $20 each, to every school to which I'm applying. Altogether these add around $50 per school to the cost of applying, as well as a great deal of additional paperwork, for me, ETS, and the schools to which I am applying. Like many prospective students, I'm applying to several programs. Without considering application fees (which also add up to quite a bit), these transcript and score-reporting fees add close to a thousand dollars to my total application costs. This amount isn't insignificant, especially given the poor job prospects of graduate students in many disciplines and the low salaries accompanying most of the jobs we can look forward to.
Would it not be vastly simpler and cheaper to have a repository for transcripts and test scores like LSAC [the Law School Admissions Council]? While we're at it, why not couple it with a common application form? Most applications, in any given discipline, ask for mostly identical information. For the programs that ask for some additional information, or don't require some commonly requested information, it could be modifiable. As a result of this, the great majority of repetitious filling-in of forms could be eliminated, and the application and supporting documents (transcripts and scores) could all be integrated into one document, easily printed for review by admitting institutions. In fact, the simplicity of this system could lower the cost of reviewing applications--less filing; easier digital collaboration with digitized documents; algorithm-driven culling of students whose applications are incomplete, or whose GPAs or GRE scores fall below some minimum, or who have low GPAs and GRE scores and lack a positive recommendation from a well-known professor; etc--producing savings for cash-strapped schools and possibly permitting them to slightly lower application fees, which would be helpful for students.
Everyone I've spoken to (students and admissions officers) agrees that these reforms are obviously overdue. So why isn't this happening? I imagine score-reporting earns ETS millions (tens of millions?) of dollars every year. If they need the revenue, can't they earn it some way that doesn't add unnecessary make-work for them, students, and admitting institutions?
It does seem like it would be far better for applicants if there were a centralized service, and, frankly, ETS seems like the obvious candidate, though they have some financial incentives, of course, not to reduce the costs too much. Is there any service out there that tries to do this? Could the APA undertake coordinating such a process? Other ideas?
