Slate Admissions Software

Introduction - How Slate connects to MIT systems

Graduate programs that are using Slate as their application system should be making all application, decision and reply edits as needed in Slate. Grade 20 is used to only display application data. As a reminder, biographic, application, decision and reply data from Slate is sent to Grade 20 daily.

If you have questions or need data edited in Grade 20, please email gradslatehelp@mit.edu.

Slate access and URLs

Slate is accessed using MIT Touchstone two-factor authentication using your MIT Kerberos account. Please access Slate using the Chrome browser with current certificates.
For staff/faculty: apply.mit.edu/manage
For applicants/prospective students: apply.mit.edu/apply

Slate Guides for Grad Admins

Debugging Slate access for MIT Faculty and Staff

There is no need to use VPN authentication, although if you attempt to access Slate while outside the USA, you will receive an email to your MIT email asking you to confirm your login.

If you attempt to access Slate using a non-MIT-supported VPN, you will be denied access. Please only use MIT-supported VPNs while logging into MIT systems.

If you are having trouble logging in, check your certificates at the Certificate Test Page: https://web-cert.mit.edu/certificates/test/index.html. If you would like help debugging, send a screenshot of the Certificate Test Page to gradslatehelp@mit.edu

Adding Users to Slate

For admins looking to update the list of users who need access to slate, please input the user info into this spreadsheet and send it to gradslatehelp@mit.edu.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1srEQUG9BX8a6mrMSx-cLuxQYV7z7lJUo/edit?usp=share_link&ouid=106743527930035403846&rtpof=true&sd=true

Emailing groups of applicants

This functionality is only set up upon request. With this functionality built out, you can email groups of applicants who have submitted applications but who still have missing materials, or you can email everyone who has submitted an application. More detailed instructions are here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ud4DCvn-CLBfSCwDDzFdrZbBFmRnwKB_/edit

Answering Applicant questions

Access the applicant's record by searching for them in the top right-hand search box and clicking on the correct applicant. You can edit most parts of the applicant's information using the small blue pencil icon on the top right of various fields.

Recommendation Information

Applicants are in charge of editing all information related to their recommenders. Applicants are instructed to inform their recommenders that the emails will come from gradadmissions@mit.edu and that email address should be added to their recommenders "safe sender email" list. Applicants can send reminders and exclude/add recommenders, all from the Application (before Submission) or the Status Page (after Submission). MIT does not accept recommendations via Interfolio.

To Exclude a recommender (so they can submit a different recommender's information):

If the applicant has NOT submitted:
Go to the Recommender page of the application.
Click on the Recommender Name.
Click the "Exclude" button at the bottom of the pop-up.
(If there is no "Exclude" button visible, that means the recommender has already begun a recommendation.)
Then they can add a new recommender.

If the applicant HAS submitted:
Go to their Application Status page. 
At the bottom of the page, click the link to the "Recommendation Page".
Click on the Recommender Name.
Click the "Exclude" button at the bottom of the pop-up.
(If there is no "Exclude" button visible, that means the recommender has already begun a recommendation.)
Then they can add a new recommender.

Application Pages Not Populating questions

Applicants are required to answer all Citizenship and language questions on the Personal Background Page before the rest of the application pages will populate. This information is give on both the Instructions page of the Application and the top of the Personal Background page (in bold red text).

How to extend the deadline for an individual applicant

Instructions for extending the deadline for an individual applicant are found here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QGigtumZ7Ji3Xcjr1DlvExts3SDQKDc9/view?usp=sharing

Reader Documentation

Assigning Readers to Individual Applicants, moving individual folders

Please see this guide here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JscdvMYixZ67v1dB4yNW_10cse2UaqnA/view?usp=share_link

Assigning Bulk Readers/Movements

Please see this guide here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bf8X9ZFDHMEUUR2LkB5UCVz1QskP4ss6/view?usp=share_link

Individual Department/Programs Reader Documentation

Reader documentation for individual graduate programs can be found here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/178IRwp9ZBsGslkEUhMfXReeH9sVDZuWa?usp=sharing

Enter a Decision

Bulk Decisions:

Generally decisions are made and released in groups. For instructions about adding decisions and releasing them in bulk via the Slate Reader, please see this document: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pcSFjmPnz4mOXDfoLHhfzFYvlFBO9osd/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=106743527930035403846&rtpof=true&sd=true .

One-off Decisions:

To edit a single applicant's decision, look up the applicant in Slate and select the tab of the application that you would like to assign a decision to. Scroll down to the Decision section. Click on the link "New Decision" and select the Code and the Reason fields. Generally you should choose the default letter. Click the checkboxes "Confirm" and "Release" if you would like to notify the applicant immediately. If an existing decision exists (such as a Waitlist decision), do not remove the old decision. Decisions in Slate sync to Grade20 in approximately 24 hours.

Enter a Reply

Generally the Reply Code should be populated automatically by the applicant completing the Reply Form in Slate. If the applicant has issues with the Reply Form (such as the MIT ID not automatically populating), please reach out to gradslatehelp@mit.edu for assistance. This often means that there is an upstream data-sync error that needs to be corrected. Inputting a Reply without resolving the data-sync issue will prevent the applicant from being able to access other downstream MIT systems such as kerberos.

Enter a Deferral

To enter a deferral in Slate, you add a new decision code for the applicant in Slate. For more detailed instructions, please see this guide: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fzbRKgIhq42a6f0LnCrEK1q3EBv8Ziph/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=106743527930035403846&rtpof=true&sd=true .

Admitting a Deferral in a subsequent year

To admit a deferred student in a subsequent application year, you will first need to clone the deferred application, and then admit that applicant. For more details, please see this video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FOOZmBhwCLjlptimlXoOcSCLDS_-FhI5/view?usp=share_link . Instructions for admitting a deferral who had originally applied via GradApply will be added shortly.

Detailed MIT-wide training

In-depth trainings in Slate were provided in 2022. These are general trainings that move at a quick pace, but also highlight several of the capabilities of the Slate software. The trainings can be accessed here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1gGYjsg7xfhK18E-NlG6PLqm-grLyfJmg?usp=share_link

Slate Guides for Faculty and Readers

How to review an application in Slate

Here are brief instructions of how to access your Reader Queue on Slate:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zLM2xBaUahJey8eJwyc-f7fY97943tEU/view?usp=share_link