<p>I was wondering if there are any colleges that look at an applicant holistically, meaning that they look at all parts of you.
Thanks</p>
<p>Almost all of them do that. Usually doesn’t make up for weak academics and test scores, but there are exceptions where a really great backstory can get you in. I don’t advise getting your hopes up of getting in that way, but almost all elite schools (Top 50) are holistic.</p>
<p>The majority of college look “holistically” at a percentage of their applicants–if not all of their applicants. However, this does not mean they don’t use baseline GPA, Class Rank and/or test scores to determine their “first cut”. </p>
<p>Are you trying to determine which colleges don’t require test scores, but evaluate applicants on other items? If so, here is a link for those colleges: <a href=“Test-Optional Colleges that Don't Require SATs”>http://collegeapps.about.com/od/standardizedtests/a/optionalscores.htm</a></p>
<p>I would say many rather than “almost all” or “the majority”. Many directional Us and almost all CCs admit by the numbers. That would more likely be the majority.</p>
<p>^^You are correct. I was thinking only of the tip-top schools. The vast majority of publics are numbers driven, especially in-state.</p>
<p>For all Common App schools (from the commonapp website): “Application Review - All members must practice holistic review for all applicants pursuing full-time, undergraduate, degree-seeking admission”</p>
<p>Holistic consideration/review does NOT mean they fail to consider “hard numbers” when making admission decisions, it only means that they promise to take other things into consideration also. But those other things would need to be pretty exceptional in order to make up for the school not liking what they see on your transcripts.</p>
<p>At the end of the day, they must report the grades and test scores of admitted students, but do not share the essays or letters of recommendation. So cover your academic qualifications bases first.</p>
<p>I do have a story that explains why my SAT score is so high but by grades are not that great. That is what I was planning on doing for my essay and that’s why I was wanting colleges that look holistically. I know that there are colleges out there, particularly the big ones, that won’t even look at you application unless you meet either certain gpa or test score standard.</p>
<p>You fall in the category of smart and lazy. :D</p>
<p>Have a look at some schools in the CTCL group.
<a href=“http://www.ctcl.org/colleges/list”>http://www.ctcl.org/colleges/list</a>
At Guilford, for example, the average entering GPA for 2013-14 was 3.16.</p>
<p>Yes, CTCL is a good start as are most small LAC. It does seem like a smaller school would probably work better for you, although I have no idea why there’s such a discrepancy between your GPA and standardized test scores. Many kids do far better in college than they did in high school for a variety of reasons, you’re looking for a college that knows that and believes you will be one of those students based on your essays.</p>
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<p>Pretty sure that all of those open admission community colleges are not doing any holistic evaluation of applicants. That same likely applies to moderately selective state universities that admit by a formula made of GPA, rank, and/or test scores.</p>
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<p>It does seem to be common for students posting here to ask how to deal with such a situation, since it causes the student to be typecast as “smart but lazy”. Most schools, holistic admissions or not, do not emphasize test scores higher than whichever of grades or rank they use to evaluate your high school performance. Lehigh may be an exception, with test scores being “important”, but GPA and rank only being “considered” (however, course rigor is “very important”): <a href=“http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg02_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=794”>http://www.collegedata.com/cs/data/college/college_pg02_tmpl.jhtml?schoolId=794</a></p>
<p>Thanks, Lehigh is exactly the type of college I was looking for. I am not lazy by any means just a lot of personal factors that got in the way of my academic record. </p>