With so many different possible entry points into the university, an applicant can get passed around from office to office, and may eventually be too discouraged to apply. One student may get an admissions decision in a few weeks, while others may wait for months. Graduate program assistants often have other duties, so an applicant may or may not have anyone's help when they have a question or problem. There is no central coordination, management or ownership of the graduate admissions process. While the dean is nominally responsible, she has no budgetary or policy authority over the departments making the decisions.
Departments make admissions decisions independent of any university-wide perspective.
UC-Boulder relies on departments to inform students of general university information. There are 44 repetitions in recruiting, processing, and handling of applications. There are many different application deadlines as determined by each department. Because many departments have a modest-sized graduate program, their graduate program assistants frequently have other duties, leaving no one truly dedicated to the graduate admissions process. Most departments report little or no recruiting of graduate students.