Making it to the Admissions Table: a Peek into the World of Holistic Admissions

Image Source: Spark Admissions

A common analogy used in the world of politics is the idea of having a seat at the decision-making table - creating space for groups that are not always heard. Former President Barack Obama encourages us to “fight for your [our] seat at the table. Better yet, fight for a seat at the head of the table.” Congresswoman Ayanna Presley tells us that “if they don’t give you a seat at the table, don’t just pull up a chair, build a new table.” And Senator Elizabeth Warren warns us that “if you don’t have a seat at the table, you’re probably on the menu.”

In this regard, the admissions board of any given College or University is a table within itself. As college admissions scandals litter the airwaves and acceptance rates dwindle drastically, admissions cycles are now more competitive than they have ever been, and we must ask ourselves: how do we ensure that students from disproportionately disenfranchised communities have a shot at their applications making it to the admissions table, let alone making it off the table and into the University?

The holistic admissions structure may be the solution. 

Growing up, when I envisioned the admissions process, I thought back to the movie Legally Blonde, where about six admissions officers watched Elle Woods’ video essay, and collectively decided the status of her application. As an intern for the Wesleyan Admissions Office, that narrative does not necessarily hold.

Wesleyan’s admissions process, like many other institutions, has a holistic model. But what does that even mean?

It is pretty much exactly what it sounds like - a holistic view of the applicant that takes into account academic factors, non-academic commitments, and overall character when deciding whether or not a student would be the best fit at a school.

So what implications does this model have, and how can it benefit individuals who have historically been overlooked in the admissions process?

1. Bye Bye College Board 

While the holistic model is not exactly synonymous with the abolition of the College Board, standardized exams, such as the SAT and ACT, are no longer a primary determinant of admissions. Standardized exams have a history of being systematically inequitable. Upper-class students – with either private educations or substantially funded public schools – can afford tutors, preparation books, and an array of other resources that students in lower-income communities simply cannot. Whether students from less affluent communities do not have time to allocate towards studying because of external responsibilities or the mere factor of cost, standardized tests’ apparent ‘pay-to-win’ structure disenfranchises historically undermined groups. The holistic admissions process puts less emphasis on them. 

2. The Class President of Everything 

Consider the hypothetical: you come from a poor rural school district with limited extracurricular opportunities. Rather than being penalized for only participating in a handful of activities, the holistic approach looks at the bigger picture. You were not just in two clubs. You were in two of the three clubs offered at your school and you even took on a leadership role in one, all while maintaining a part-time job. You no longer have to do everything under the sun (be the president of everything) to get into a school!

3. Finding your besties!

There are roughly 27,000 high schools in the United States (NCES, 2021). That is around 27,o00 class presidents and 27,000 valedictorians. Not to mention, there are countless athletes, club participants, legacy students, etc. If colleges were to decide admissions on a standard set of factors - GPA, SATs, extracurriculars, etc - student bodies would look surprisingly similar. Looking at students holistically allows for a natural diversity of character. It allows the student that was valedictorian and class president to meet the international student who moved around all their life or the student who has been working part-time all of high school, and so forth. And who knows, maybe they will all end up becoming best friends.

In conclusion, the holistic admissions process merely cracks the surface of solving the issues of institutional exclusion of  PoC and lower-income students from higher education. We are still a long way from having equal seats at the table but we are in the room. 

References

“The NCES Fast Facts Tool Provides Quick Answers to Many Education Questions (National Center for Education Statistics).” National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) Home Page, a part of the U.S. Department of Education. Accessed November 19, 2022. https://nces.ed.gov/fastfacts/.