We’ve always though that images were viewed by jurors based on the date and time you submit your application. But a show I applied to recently and attended the open jury for (Columbus) chose random as the order they projected the images for the jurors. I received notice that I was on the waiting list for my category of photography. I called and was told that I was 7th in photography but my jury score was second highest on the waiting list. Because of the breakdown of the scores, there were five other photographers with identical jury scores and ahead of me on the wait list. The identical scores were sorted by application submission date and time. I was last of those six with identical scores because I waited until the day of the deadline to apply.

This tells me that there are a few things to consider when applying. ZAPP only gives shows the option of one through three with or without two which would also be the equivalent of yes or no, one through five with or without three and one through seven with or without four. Because of the limited choices there might be a lot of similar or identical scores. One through nine with or without five, or maybe adding another juror or two would lead to a more granular and thus more accurate break down of data and not so many identical scores.

The morrow of the story is you don’t know how the show is using the application information so if you intend on applying, do it earlier than later.