How does graduate admissions work? Who does the system work for, and who falls through its cracks? More people than ever seek graduate degrees, but little has been written about who gets in and why. Drawing on firsthand observations of admission committees and interviews with faculty in 10 top-ranked doctoral programs in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, education professor Julie Posselt pulls back the curtain on a process usually conducted in secret. -- back cover.

Introduction : Gatekeeping reconsidered --- One. Decision making as deliberative bureaucracy -- Two. Meanings of merit and diversity -- Three. Disciplinary logics -- Four. Mirror, mirror -- Five. The search for intelligent life -- Six. International students and ambiguities of holistic review -- Conclusion : merit beyond the mirror -- Methodological appendix.