What does it mean for a school application to be holistic?
As you research the admissions process for different independent and private schools, you may notice that many schools’ admissions offices mention a holistic review process. What does this mean exactly, and how does it affect your application specifically?
Holistic applications place emphasis on the evaluation of the applicant as an individual, evaluated in a broader sense beyond empirical data like GPA and standardized test scores.
It’s the reason why students are asked to submit a plethora of materials as part of their applications to schools: personal essays, teacher recommendations, transcripts, and other supplementary materials. Many school also require on-site interviews or visits. Each of these pieces of the application, viewed together with the metrics of standardized test scores and grade point averages, all help to paint a picture of an applicant which can then be evaluated against other students’ portraits to help the school decide on its future class of students.
Why standardized tests?
If schools already look at candidates holistically, why are tests scores even a part of the process, especially for students who already have impressive grades or recommendations? One reason is that having a normative test as a baseline to compare students gives highly competitive schools an impartial metric to judge students’ applications.
There can be high variability in grade point averages between schools depending on curriculum rigor, grade inflation, and other considerations, meaning that a 3.8 GPA at one school is not always equivalent to a 3.8 at another. Conversely, the ISEE or the SSAT each have a consistent grading scale for all students taking the exam, which makes it an objective metric.
When a school receives hundreds or thousands of applications every year for only a few spots, it is highly unlikely that the admissions staff will have time to fully consider every application. More often than not, the only applications that actually get evaluated have standardized test scores above a certain threshold.
The second reason, especially for smaller or less well-known schools, is that low scores on standardized tests can help to identify students who may have fallen behind the expected curriculum. In this case, a lower test score indicates that a student may require additional resources and assistance from the school in order to succeed.
Self-reflection
Throughout the application and selection process, it’s important for students and families to be self-reflective. Regardless of your (or your student’s) specific combination of talents and achievements, academic or otherwise, you must remember that many other excellent students are also applying to the same schools. It’s better to apply to at least one or two achievable target schools and end up with too many acceptances than to only apply to the most competitive schools and find yourself sitting with no backup options and no plan for your upcoming year.
You can also consider the fact that the most competitive and/or most well-known school may not be the school that a student will be the happiest at, even if they are admitted.
And the tests?
Though standardized tests are only one aspect of the holistic application, it is important to make sure that test scores are high enough that they are aligned with the rest of the application and that they represent you (or your child) as a student.
The best way to ensure test success is to take a diagnostic practice test as early as possible in the process. This diagnostic can help you figure out how you would score were you to take the test today, additionally helping you figure out exactly what you may need to work on before test day.
It can be helpful to have a tutor to reach out to during the process as well. You can schedule a consultation with a test prep expert at this link.
