"Personal Context" and its Role in Holistic Admission

FakeName1332
Tue, 18 Jun 2019 01:12:15 +0000

“Personal Context” appears to be an overlooked component of holistic applications. After doing some brief research, I’ve found that nearly all top schools mention personal context and the influence it has on holistic admissions, as demonstrated with these quotes from Stanford and Yale admission sites:

“…This means that as we review each application, we pay careful attention to unique circumstances. We take into account family background, educational differences, employment and life experiences…”

“…[we evaluate] Within the context of each applicant’s life and circumstances, we look for that desire and ability to stretch one’s limits.”

**So, I have to ask, what are your thoughts on personal context? **

Speaking of context… I should probably give some of my own, right? I am writing this because I am a fully online student; I took every step of this college admissions adventure by myself; I pushed myself to get the top-tier stats that I needed; I far, far exceeded my expectations; all these accomplishments were done while working in an incredible relaxed/lazy environment in which (most of the time) people wake up at 11, don’t have work, and just have fun all day. This is just a bit of my story (didn’t want to bore everyone), but the point I am trying to make is that some people’s stats, GPA, and ECs aren’t exactly impressive in the context of applications as a whole, but they start to stand out and become more impressive when their context is accounted for. So, how does this actually impact an application?

Does anyone have any experience with personal context in holistic admissions? Context is almost never given in ‘chance me’ threads, and it seems like most posters here are evaluated with a direct comparison to other applicants. I assume this is because the typical applicant here is pretty stereotypical, but I could be wrong.

Thank you.