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What are We Talking About When We Talk About Holistic Review? Selective College Admissions and its Effects on Low-SES Students

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  • Michael N. Bastedo
  • Nicholas A. Bowman
  • Kristen M. Glasener
  • Jandi L. Kelly

Abstract

This mixed-methods study used open-response survey data, focus groups, and an experimental simulation to explore how 311 admissions officers defined and used concepts of holistic review in selective college admissions. We found that 3 distinct definitions of holistic review predominate in the field: whole file, whole person, and whole context. We explored these concepts qualitatively and used the coded data to predict decision making in an experimental simulation. We found that admissions officers with a “whole context” view of holistic review were disproportionately likely to admit a low socioeconomic-status applicant in our simulation. Inconsistent definitions of a core admissions concept make it more difficult for the public to comprehend the “black box” of college admissions, and a more consistently contextualized view of holistic review may also have real-world implications for the representation of low-income students at selective colleges.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael N. Bastedo & Nicholas A. Bowman & Kristen M. Glasener & Jandi L. Kelly, 2018. "What are We Talking About When We Talk About Holistic Review? Selective College Admissions and its Effects on Low-SES Students," The Journal of Higher Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 89(5), pages 782-805, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:uhejxx:v:89:y:2018:i:5:p:782-805
    DOI: 10.1080/00221546.2018.1442633
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Kamis, Rais & Pan, Jessica & Seah, Kelvin KC, 2023. "Do college admissions criteria matter? Evidence from discretionary vs. grade-based admission policies," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    2. Lee, Jinsook & Harvey, Emma & Zhou, Joyce & Garg, Nikhil & Joachims, Thorsten & Kizilcec, René F., 2024. "Algorithms for College Admissions Decision Support: Impacts of Policy Change and Inherent Variability," SocArXiv hds5g, Center for Open Science.
    3. Michelle Jackson, 2021. "Expansion, Enrollment, and Inequality of Educational Opportunity," Sociological Methods & Research, , vol. 50(3), pages 1215-1242, August.
    4. Heeyun Kim, 2024. "A Fad or the New Norm for Student Access Today? Evaluating Enrollment Outcomes of Holistic Admissions in South Korea," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 65(5), pages 1040-1064, August.
    5. Rothstein, Jesse, 2022. "Qualitative information in undergraduate admissions: A pilot study of letters of recommendation," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).

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