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I came across the tag . Currently, it has fourteen questions (three of which are closed), and apparently, it doesn't make sense in any of them except this one (probably the tag originated from this question).

Do we really need this tag?

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  • Thanks for bringing this up. As you say, most of the questions are mistagged; that we should fix those goes without saying. I'll do it in stages over the next few days so we don't flood the home page. Removing the tag altogether seems like a good idea to me, but let us see what others say.
    – cag51 Mod
    Nov 10, 2021 at 0:37
  • @cag51 Always happy to contribute something. I, too, feel that the tag should be deleted.
    – Wrichik Basu
    Nov 10, 2021 at 4:23
  • I just removed the tag from three closed questions. All of them still contain graduate-admissions. I also orphaned a couple of other, just created, tags: camera-ready and update, both on the same closed question. Replaced them with a more general tag.
    – Buffy
    Nov 10, 2021 at 14:44
  • @cag51, I just did the last closed question. Now six remain and are all open questions.
    – Buffy
    Nov 10, 2021 at 14:59
  • Of the remains six, only one (the linked question) seems really focused on guaranteed admissions. The rest could safely lose the tag with graduate-admissions remaining. The last is a special case and is problematic for other reasons, having two distinct threads in the question.
    – Buffy
    Nov 10, 2021 at 15:07
  • @cag51 I've reduced the number to two questions. Both of them really do pertain to guaranteed or open admissions. I also added tag wiki to clarify the meaning. Perhaps this can be marked status-completed.
    – Buffy
    Nov 11, 2021 at 20:45
  • Sounds good...if you still want to nuke the tag (as you suggested below), I think that's fine; if you've decided instead to let it stay with those two questions, I think that's fine too. Marking this as status-completed either way.
    – cag51 Mod
    Nov 11, 2021 at 20:48
  • @cag51. No, I've changed my mind on that. Those two questions are valid for the tag. Maybe at some point "open-admissions" and this one could be synonyms, if such appears. Open admissions is somewhat common for undergrad, but less so for grad school, I think. Especially at research institutions.
    – Buffy
    Nov 11, 2021 at 20:56

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
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Currently, the fourteen questions tagged seem to roughly lie in one of the following categories:

  1. "What are my chances of getting admitted to program X?" - 6 questions
  2. "Does X matter for graduate admissions? Will focusing on X make my application stronger?" - 5 questions
  3. Completely off-topic / unclear - 2 questions
  4. A question about a Guaranteed Admissions Program, that likely created the tag, as you pointed out.

So I agree that the tag is inappropriate for the first three categories, since admissions are not guaranteed in those contexts. And questions like this asking "Am I guaranteed to be admitted because of X?" are (1) almost always off-topic due to depending on individual factors, (2) do not need a separate tag beyond .

Regarding the fourth category, I am not very familiar with such programs, but it seems having a tag could be useful if the scope of usage is restricted and made clear. One aspect I am not sure about is that such some universities seem to have such programs for undergraduate admissions, which would be off-topic here, and so should be left out of the scope.

My vote on this is:

  1. Remove the tag from all the questions currently tagged except the original one.
  2. Either:
    1. Rename the tag to with a clear and narrow scope.
    2. Delete the tag.
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  • Agree with you. At least #1 should be done, i.e. remove the tag from the other questions.
    – Wrichik Basu
    Nov 9, 2021 at 15:48
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    The long tag name you suggest is problematic, especially with the phone UI. This is really just about admissions or graduate-admissions.
    – Buffy
    Nov 9, 2021 at 17:08
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My preference would be to remove the tag all-together . Make it an orphan by removing it from some questions and retagging as necessary. It seems too specialized with only one really relevant question and not much chance of getting more. Out. Out, I say.

... retag some of the questions as necessary and keep this one for things that truly apply. This has just been accomplished, I think. Perhaps "open-admissions" and this one will wind up as synonyms. See the new wiki for the tag.

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