Basics of Searching

Welcome to “Basics of Searching”. To start our how-to on searching, Please log in to the Hobson’s Webcenter located at: If you are missing your log-in information please contact or Once you are logged in, you’ll see a screen similar to the screenshot located to the left.

The first thing we will want to do is navigate to the “application for admission”. This is the main area where most of the work will be done You can access that by going to select a system -> application system -> application for admission This is illustrated on the left.

This is the main “Application for Admission Page” You can tell what section of the webcenter you are in by the word “Application” which shows in bold under the title of Main Menu. The Search for applicants is located as the second (or first depending on your security) option on the left hand navigation pane.

This is the main search page. We will go into the details in the next few slides.

The first thing I want to pull your attention to is the top most “record options”. When searching for any applicants you can search via “Submitted”, “Not Submitted”, or “Both”. You can see any “Not Submitted” application, however it will only contain small amounts of information. For most searches dealing with applicants searching just for the “Submitted” is usually best.

One of the more common ways to search is via submission date. This will show all submitted applicants in time period selected. “All” will give you all submitted applicants. It’s important to mention “RA accounts” at this point. Your account is set up to only view certain applicants, and is usually defined by your department. If you are not seeing all of your departments applicants, it could be an account problem. Please contact or with questions.

One of the most powerful ways to search is via “Queries”. These queries are built at the graduate school and allow departments to really drill down into their applicants. Many departments already have specific queries for many of their different needs.

Another useful searching tool is the “Search by Individual” In this section you can search via First Name, Last Name, and a variety of other fields.

Any questions on searching, or hobson’s in general, please contact or In Person Demo’s are available.