How the Application-Evaluation Process Actually Works

[ucbalumnus]

From the linked page:

@Sally_Rubenstone

There is no one universal way that admission staff approach the complex application-evaluation process. So any book or article that suggests otherwise should be eyed with skepticism. However, at most institutions, each application (which means all associated materials, of course, and not just the application itself) will be read by a “regional rep" (this is the staff member assigned to oversee applications from a specific geographic area) plus at least one other staff member who reads randomly (meaning that this person is seeing applications from throughout the pool).

Does “most institutions” mean most overall, or most of those which these forums focus on (private residential colleges on the upper range of admission selectivity using holistic admissions reading)? It is hard to believe that this method is applicable to a majority of colleges overall including open admission community colleges, regional (or sometimes flagship) state schools that admit most or all of their students by a GPA/rank/test-scores formula, less selective private colleges which get most applicants and matriculants from their local region (so regional division would not make sense), etc…