What does "holistic" really mean for college applications?

If you’re applying to college this year, or thinking about applying to college, you’ve doubtlessly seen the word “holistic” come up. What does that really mean?

First off, as the student applying to college, don’t worry. What “holistic” evaluation of applicants means is that the school is looking beyond the raw data (such as test scores, if required) and trying to get a better sense of you as a person. Most schools have this mode of evaluation. The issue, however, is equating a holistic evaluation process to a well-rounded student profile. 

Here’s the down-low

In the last several decades (with the rise of the internet, and, more significantly, the Common App), the college admissions process has undergone a phenomenal shift. This article gives a nice example of why that might be: that, in 1999, Cornell had just under 20,000 applicants and UCLA had fewer than 36,000. In 2021, these schools had almost 68,000 (for Cornell) and over 135,000 applicants (for UCLA). What are schools going to do with these huge numbers of students applying?

You might think that they would go into a categorical process to quickly eliminate chunks of candidates: “Here’s the box with the ones with ACT scores under 32; throw this away.” In fact, it’s the opposite that has happened. Many schools have switched to a system where each applicant is read by multiple people and they are given recommendations based on how well the admissions officer thinks that the student will fit into the school.

All that “holistic” evaluation means is that the schools are trying to evaluate you as a whole person, not just based on a singular factor or numerical indicator. It means that they’re trying to gauge your “fit” into their school. Not just asking, “Would you be academically successful at our school?” but, rather, “Do your values, and your goals and next steps after college, align with ours?”

And how do they do this? That’s the only part of the holistic admissions process that you, as the applicant, need to understand.

What does this mean for my chances of getting into college?

Colleges with holistic admissions processes don’t just focus on one element of the application. For example, they don’t just focus on your ACT score, or your GPA, or how many extracurriculars you’ve done. These things are still important, though! They just aren’t the be-all and end-all.

“Holistic” admissions means that the colleges are trying to get to know you as a person. They want to see how you’ll fit into the campus and community. They want to get to know you as more than a 1400 SAT, 34 ACT, 3.8 unweighted GPA.

On which things should I focus?

So what things matter when applying to a top school that uses the holistic admissions process? Here are a few of the things that these schools consider:

• Your GPA. Far, far more than your test score, your GPA says loads about your academic performance. You might have taken the test after getting up on the wrong side of the bed – or maybe you just got lucky. Your GPA says more about you as a student because it captures a more thorough history of your academic performance, not just the results of one morning’s test.

• Course rigor. Colleges are looking for you to challenge yourself. Getting all As is great, but admissions officers will credit you if they see you take the higher level courses and work hard to do well, even if that means a few Bs.

• Teacher letters of recommendation. If your teachers can say stuff about you personally (rather than “Taylor isn’t late to class and has neat penmanship”) then you’ll be well on your way to helping the colleges know who you are as a person, and how you’d fit into their campuses. Get to know your teachers personally, and they’ll get to know you.

• Your demonstrated interest. Even if the school claims that it doesn’t track this, you should nonetheless demonstrate interest in the school, and show it through your application. Do the research, and show that you’ve considered how you’ll fit in as a student there.

• Your interview. Some schools may not have this option, but do an interview even if it’s not required, especially if you are invited to one. Let the admissions team get to know you as a human being, and not just as a set of numbers. After all, that’s what the holistics admissions style is all about.

• Your essay. Write about your distinct perspectives on the situations and activities that you’ve been able to do, rather than generic responses about tough courses you took in school.

Do I need to be multifaceted?

Here’s the short answer: no. And here’s why,

There’s a bit of a misunderstanding that “holistic” admissions means that you need to have a bit of everything in your application: you’ve dabbled in sports, tried being a cheerleader, ran for student government, done science bowl and robotics, and even headed one of your high school’s faith groups… but this is not what holistic means.

What it means is that these schools are looking at you as more than a number. So if you’ve done one of those things, great. That’s a wonderful personal touch that will make the admissions team remember your application. 

That said, it can be helpful to build your resume for a specific career path or major to make it very clear to the admission reader what you’re interested in and why you might be applying for their school. If you’re interested in becoming a major in chemistry, having extracurriculars that line up for that major, such as a science fair project, chemistry olympiad, and tutoring fellow students in the subject, tells a stronger story about your interests in chemistry when compared to a student that just took AP Chemistry. Find a passion. That will help you, as you undergo holistic admissions, to become someone with a clear profile that the admission officers will remember. 

And if I’m rejected?

And if you’re rejected by your dream school, even though you swore you were a “perfect” fit for them and didn’t apply anywhere else… (Don’t do that, please.) does this mean that the “holistic” admissions process was unfair to you, because your neighbor down the street got in with a GPA that was a full point less than yours? There’s enough out there (prominently on the web) that’s solidly against the holistic admissions process. Let’s have this section as a little coda to uncover just why that is.

First, check your sources

Let’s say that you pull up your search engine and search for a loaded, pre-made conclusion: “holistic admissions is flawed”. First off, just know that any search like that is going to fall prey to “confirmation bias”… or the internet’s tendency to just confirm whatever your leading theory may be. (You can do the same by typing “UC Berkeley is a terrible school”; what do you think will come up? Of course, our students disagree.)

It’s easy, on the internet, to find people who agree with your position, but you have to look at the articles, take them apart, and understand where they are coming from. In this section we’ll review several articles (from esteemed sources) that complain about “holistic” admissions, and see if there’s any truth in their claims.

You have to look at the sources. In this case, these are articles published in prominent journals (like The Atlantic). Here, the sources are making valid critiques about the system of evaluating applications in the admissions process. Let’s find out what’s wrong.

The problem, maybe, isn’t in the admissions process itself, but in how this process is being represented.

It’s not personal

An article in The Atlantic, “The False Promise of 'Holistic' College Admissions”, digs into people’s tendency to take it personally if a college rejects them or their student. This article points out that colleges are branding the holistic admissions process as an evaluation of “you as a person.” And, yes, many schools are. A staff writer at UC Berkeley’s newspaper, The Daily Californian, pointed out exactly the same thing way back in 2012:

Consider the Office of Undergraduate Admissions’ freshman selection criteria. They include a list of personal qualities, like “character,” “responsibility,” “insight,” “maturity” and “concern for others and for the community.”

So, if the school claims that it’s judging you for “character,” and then it rejects you… don’t you have the right to be a little pissed off?

Yes, you would, if holistic admissions were really a testament to your character as an individual—but they aren’t. Let’s say that again: holistic admissions are not judging you as a person. Instead, they’re judging how you’ll fit into their campus community.

That’s all that “holistic” admission really means: the schools are guessing to see if you’ll fit well into their student body. And maybe you will… but maybe you won’t. There are loads of reasons why the school might think that you won’t be the best fit for them. A student could even get rejected because the student didn’t represent themselves well enough in their application, leading a holistic admissions team to gain an inaccurate view of the student. (This is one way our ILUMIN educational consultants can help—we help ensure that you’re presenting yourself to the best of your ability.)

Regardless, a college’s decision to not accept you as a student is not a judgment of your character. Admissions officers in the schools that admit “holistically” are just trying to figure out who you are as a person to decide if you’ll fit well into their school’s campus. If they think that you’ll fit, they’ll accept you. If they think you won’t, they’ll have to say no. But know that there will also be many universities that will be a great fit for you as you seek out your next destination. The holistic admissions process isn’t meant to punish students or be a “rejection machine”, but to think about what you bring to the campus, and what the campus might be able to do for you as well.