When admissions officers review an application in a holistic review (which every top college does some version of), they need to offer some kind of unified grade to students, in order to be able to compare each to some unified metric. The students who perform best relative to that metric are then seen as being the best suited for that particular university, and are generally offered acceptance.
That is generally true of course, but how each particular college goes about doing this can differ quite a lot. In this article, then, we’re going to look at how some specific colleges grade applicants, the rubrics they use, and any other factors they might consider. We’re going to do this to look inside the black box of admissions decisions, and share with you what admissions officers actually care about when reviewing applications. We’ll also briefly cover what all of this information means for you. Let’s jump right in!
A Note on Sources
Colleges are generally loath to discuss how they make their admissions decisions, and most do not release any information at all. The lawsuit against Harvard which revealed in great detail how their process worked was an exception to this; most schools never willingly release this information.
In other cases, we know how schools evaluate applicants due to former admissions officers spilling the beans. In general, this is somewhat dated information because of this. It is quite possible the exact mechanics of how these universities evaluate applicants have changed, but institutional priorities likely remain the same. As always, we are trying to provide you with the most complete picture we can.
This also means that we will not be able to discuss every top college, only those for which this information has come out, in one way or another.
How Harvard Evaluates Applicants
Thanks to the revelations from the affirmative action lawsuit, the public received an extensive look into how Harvard evaluates its applicants, and on what factors specifically it judges them. Here is what we learned, based on documents made public through that case. If you want to see one of those documents yourself, you may view one, with admissions notes, here.
First, Harvard looks for three key areas when evaluating students: academic excellence, extracurricular distinction, and personal qualities. You need to excel in all three areas to gain acceptance (generally). In order to evaluate performances, Harvard scores applicants on a scale of 1 to 6 (with 1 being the highest). These scores may also have a + or minus attached, like letter grades in school. All applicants are scored on each of the following categories:
- Academic
- Extracurricular
- Athletic
- Recommendation Letters
- Personal
- Overall Rating
Your overall rating is of course the most important; students scoring a 1 are almost always accepted, while those with a 3- or below generally never are.
Within the rating scale, the two most important categories are academic and personal; receiving a 1 on both does a lot for your chances. While all ratings are still subjective, they do give an idea of what the school is looking for. Students earning a perfect 1 for academics will not only have perfect grades and test scores, but show a strong potential for future academic growth, and evidence of learning and conducting research outside the classroom. Test scores and grades which are merely excellent will earn a rating of 3.
A 1 in extracurriculars goes to students who have shown distinction in their activities at a national or international level, with potential for future growth. A 3 is for students who participate deeply, but don’t have any particular distinction to differentiate them. 2s go to students with statewide or regional distinction and a high level of involvement.
The athletic rating is the most straightforward. 1 is for recruited varsity athletes, 2 is for strong athletes who are recruited, and 3 is for students who did a lot of sports, but not at a high level. Scores of 4 or below represent students who didn’t or couldn’t participate in sports.
The personal rating, which was the main subject of the recent lawsuit, is also the most subjective. The rubric denotes students scoring a 1 are “outstanding” while those scoring a 6 display “Worrisome personal qualities.” Being “generally positive” will earn a 3, being “bland” a 4. The main takeaways are don’t be a terrible person, and don’t be boring, especially in the interview.
The letter of recommendation ratings are more subjective, but follow that the more highly praised a student is by teachers, the better the score. Thus the best student ever/in ten years, will likely receive a 1, while a generally positive letter will earn a 3.
This is the most information we have about any school; from here situations become murkier, but we will still include what information we have.
How the University of Chicago Evaluates Applicants
We have fewer concrete details on UChicago, as these come from a mix of reports from former admissions officers, and alumni who requested and received their own graded applications. (Fun fact, if you got into a college, and attend it, then you can request your admissions file. This won’t have all their notes on you, but you will be able to see how they scored you on various categories. It’s a fun and/or terrible activity to do with friends!)
UChicago evaluates students in three categories: Academic, Personal, and Intellectual. There is an additional activity rating, which is based solely on whether or not a student is recruited as an athlete or for another of their activities.
Each category is scored using a different scale, a needlessly complicated system which is completely on-brand for UChicago to use. Academic rating is on a scale of 1-6, with 1 being the highest, and is based on grades and test scores. Personal is A-E, with A being the highest, and is based on activities. Intellectual refers to a student’s intellectual vitality, and is rated on a scale of W-Z, with W being the highest. This is determined through a number of factors, with your essays being most important.
Among these factors, a middling academic score of 2 or 3 can be overcome with a high intellectual rating. A low intellectual rating cannot be so easily overcome with high academics. High academics are expected, but displaying intellectual vitality is necessary. A low personal rating can similarly sink an application, though a high one won’t necessarily save it.
How Duke Evaluates Applicants
Duke is an interesting case compared to the previous two schools, as the way it handles admissions is differentiated by college; Trinity College and Pratt have their own admissions offices, and review students separately. Note that this data comes from former admissions officers, and is slightly out of date, but still provides some valuable insights.
Trinity at Duke evaluates students on six separate categories, scoring each out of ten. Students need a combined score of at least 45 (out of a possible 60) to have a realistic shot at acceptance. These categories are:
- Strength of curriculum
- Grades and class rank
- SAT/ACT scores
- Extracurricular achievement
- Essays
- Letters of recommendation
Strength of curriculum is judged based on your school’s offerings; if they had AP and honors courses, then Duke expects that you took AP and Honors courses. Extracurricular achievement does have a specific focus on national level awards.
Pratt evaluates students using the same categories, but weights them differently. They skew more heavily towards caring about hard factors, such as grades and test scores, especially your performance in STEM classes. Pratt faculty also have input on the admissions committee, and there is significant weight put on past STEM research you have done. Students are graded out of 100, a score of at least 75 is required to be considered for admission generally. Here is how they weight the categories:
- SAT/ACT Scores: 30 points
- Grades and class rank: 20 points
- Strength of curriculum: 20 points
- Extracurricular achievement: 10 points
- Essays: 10 points
- Letters of recommendation: 10 points
How Stanford Evaluates Applicants
Stanford’s evaluation system is somewhat similar to Harvard’s, in that students are ranked from 1-6 (with 1 being the highest) in three different categories. These are: academic, extracurricular, and intellectual vitality. Our information about how exactly these are calculated is not as detailed as we would like, as we are relying solely on reports from former admissions officers.
We know best about the academic ranking. An academic ranking of 1 goes to students who are in the top 1-2% of their class, with a 99th percentile standardized test score, and who have taken the most challenging set of courses available to them. This score also takes into account your letters of recommendation, where they look for students seen as the best relative to their school.
GPA is recalculated by Stanford when judging performance. Only grades from sophomore and junior year are included, and only those from academic courses. Further +/- grades are flattened, so A- counts as an A, and B+ as a B. The average recalculated GPA is 3.94.
How UPenn Evaluates Applicants
The data we have for UPenn, as is so often the case, comes from a former admissions officer. Unfortunately, it is a few years out of date; in the intervening years UPenn went test optional, and then returned to requiring standardized test scores. We are uncertain how, if at all, that impacted their system. Still, we do believe it is worth discussing.
At one point, UPenn assigned each applicant an Academic Index score of 1-9 (with 9 being the highest) based on two factors:
- GPA
- Standardized test scores
Penn recalculates your GPA based on a four point scale, without weighting, and without any consideration of +/- factors. They consider grades from all four years of high school. Standardized tests are superscored; Penn has no preference for the SAT or ACT.
How Yale Evaluates Applicants
Yale grades each applicant on a scale of 1-4 (with 1 being the highest) in two categories: academic and personal. A student with 1s in both is likely to get accepted, a student with a 1 in one and a 2 in the other may get accepted. Students scoring below a 2 are unlikely to gain admission.
An academic score of 1 goes to students who are in the top 1-2% of their class, 99th percentile standardized test scores, evidence you have taken the most challenging possible courseload, evidence you have pursued your academic interests outside the classroom (such as through research projects), and letters of recommendation that speak to your strengths as a student.
A personal score of 1 goes to students who have won national or international awards in their chosen field, or who are otherwise seen as being among the best in what they choose to do. What the field is matters less than a student’s performance in it. Note that recruited athletes have an advantage here.
How UT Austin Evaluates Applicants
UT Austin has two separate evaluation processes. First, there are automatic admissions; if you are a Texas resident in the top 5% of your high school class, you gain acceptance to the school. Note that this acceptance does not necessarily apply to your school and major of choice, for this, and for all students who do not qualify for automatic acceptance, UT Austin uses a holistic review.
UT Austin ranks applicants on two metrics, your Academic Achievement Index (AAI) and Personal Achievement Index (PAI). PAI is scored from 1 to 6 in whole number increments, with 6 being the best, AAI is scored from 4.1 down, in .1 increments. PAI looks at everything from extracurriculars to essays, and special circumstances. AAI is based fully on hard metrics; grades, class rank, test scores; PAI is the holistic portion of the review.
Once admissions officers have both scores, you are plotted on a grid. There is one grid for each college, and in some cases for specific majors (such as computer science). Once all applicants to a specific college or major are plotted on that grid, admissions officers draw a zig-zag line across it; students above the cutoff are admitted, those below it are not. Where this line is drawn depends on the school and major in question; some are more competitive than others. For reference, this is what the grid looks like, based on a 2014 release from UT Austin:
Overall, UT Austin is looking for how you will fit with both the school as a whole and your desired major when they review your application. They are also looking for evidence of leadership, and signs of your commitment to your academic areas of interest.
Final Thoughts
Students put a lot of work into their applications by necessity, for a lot hinges on such a small thing. We hope that by sharing what we know of how admissions officers actually weigh these applications, we demystify the process slightly, and help you understand what exactly you are being judged on, and what criteria are used. This does not make it easier, but does allow you to familiarize yourself with an often distant and closed-off process.
We work hard to be experts in every aspect of admissions, and use that expertise to aid students in their quest to gain admission to top colleges. By understanding what these colleges want, and how admissions officers think, we are best able to advise our students on strategy when helping them with their applications. If you have questions on any aspect of the admissions process, or want help on your own application, then schedule a free consultation today. We have a long experience working with students of all backgrounds, and are always happy to hear from you.
