<p>When considering colleges like Yale or Harvard who get huge amounts of applications each year, do they really go through each application that they receive. Wouldn't they just use the SAT or GPA as the base to filter out anyone below a really low level without considering the whole app? I know all the websites say they are holistic with their application process but is this really true?</p>
<p>I, for example, have a really low SAT score but the rest of my application is pretty strong. So I am worried about what I mentioned above.</p>
<p>What does everyone else think about this? Does anyone out there have any sort of experience?</p>
<p>I believe that those schools truly use a holistic approach, but primarily to choose among their abundance of applicants with nearly perfect stats.</p>
<p>They have different needs to fill. They start by splitting them up into piles according to those needs (Recruited athletes, URMs, development apps, legacies, etc.) Then they look at GPAs and SATs among those groups. They make note of geography, h.s., family history,etc. The essays are taken seriously among those that look attractive. Does that sound “holistic”?</p>
<p>It’s holistic, but you also have to keep in mind your competition. When over 30,000 people apply, there’s a good chance that there will be other applicants who have as strong of an application, but with higher scores. When admissions are as competitive as they are, holistic admission might not do that much to make up for low scores, unless you’re very unique in another way.</p>