<p>I think the universities going with the holistic approach is helping them come up with a student body that fits their school and wants to go there. Take Columbia. They admitted a relatively large percentage of those that applied early decision. These were students that really wanted to go there. When it came to students that had Columbia on their list, but not their top choice with the spring admits they could be very picky on who they admitted. For my daughter Columbia was her third choice, and the only reach school she applied for. She did not get in, but was not disappointed, as she got into her first two choices. </p>
<p>My daughter got into half of the schools she applied to, and surprisingly the "match" schools she didn't get into were also the ones she wasn't all that interested in. How did those schools know? I'm thinking they did a great job. She also got rejected from one of her safety schools, that also rejected many of the kids with stats similar to her at her school, but accepted those with less stellar stats, but most likely showed much more interest in the school. Good on them for being able to weed out the ones that would settle for their school, versus the ones that dream of their school. From the applications they seem to be able to determine a better fit than perhaps the kids themselves.</p>