Graduate Admission Decision System (GRADS)

The Graduate Admissions Decision System (GRADS) is an enterprise-wide online system created and supported by the J. Jeffrey and Ann Marie Fox Graduate School that allows graduate programs to

select the customizable features and settings of the Fox Graduate School Application for Admission and/or the Postbaccalaureate/Graduate Credit Certificate Program application for their graduate program;
review, preferentially sort and filter, and otherwise manage application material to graduate programs;
create program-specific rating tools and collect, aggregate, and report application evaluations; and
enter admission decisions.

: Please review the GRADS Access information. For access, you must have first completed the Penn State FERPA tutorialon the University Registrar website and be enrolled in Multifactor Authentication.

: Please reference the Interview Scheduler documentation below for information about using the interview scheduling system.

Admissions Interviews: Faculty How-to Guide

Interview Documentation Summer 2024

GRADS Interview Scheduling Demo

The GRADS Advisory Committee is a group of graduate plan faculty and staff who review, discuss, and vote on GRADS “wishlist” items. A wishlist item is an enhancement request. The advisory committee meets at least twice a year. Faculty and staff with wishlist items are asked to submit their thoughts to gradschoolhelp@psu.edu or contact their GRADS Advisory Committee representative.

Recordings of GRADS Advisory Committee Meetings

The GRADS Testing/Acceptance environment allows staff to try out changes before making them on the live application. For example, if you are thinking about updating your hard deadlines for semesters of admission, but are not sure what will be displayed/how it will respond, you can play in the acceptance environment until you are comfortable enough to make changes/updates in GRADS. GRADS Acceptance is easily distinguished from GRADS by a bright yellow band at the top of the screen.

Visit GRADS

Visit GRADS Testing Site

Legal Statements