<p>I see that word thrown around all the time. What does it mean if a college has “holistic” admissions?</p>
<p>It means that they regard all parts of an applicants application, including the less tangible essays, recs, and extracurriculars. Schools that use this type of admissions are subjective, meaning they look beyond SAT/SAT II/ACT scores and GPA and try to attach a personality (ie “the politician,” “the sculptor”) to each applicant. Generally, you’ll find this sort of admissions at the most competitive schools (HYPS and their ilk) and at smaller schools, especially LACs.</p>
<p>Holistic admissions take into account all aspects of a student’s record - grades, scores, ECs, interview, etc. Stanford is a good example of this.</p>
<p>It is a euphemism created by colleges in response to accusations that they were admitting some based mainly on their being a racial or ethnic minority which amounted to lawsuits claiming such was unconstitutional. The US Supreme Court held that minority status can be a factor considered to maintain diversity but decisons cannot be based solely on minority status. Thus, we get “holistic” approach which is supposed to mean that the college considers everything in the file to determine admission including GPA, test scores, essays, ECs etc. and thus nothing is admitted to being the sole factor in considering admission, therefore avoiding more lawsuits.</p>