<p>It also helps if the applicant is </p>
<ol>
<li>A strong writer</li>
<li>Talented in music, art, or athletics </li>
<li>A “leader” in the community (community service, participant on youth board, etc.) or in school (starts up clubs, has glowing recommendations, etc.)</li>
<li>Taking a challenging courseload or otherwise academically making up for poor performance (ex. low GPA but a lot of AP classes, independent study, good SAT scores can get you into a lot of great LACs)</li>
</ol>
<p>Generally it is the well-respected LACs that tend to do a more “holistic” look. I saw woman’s colleges especially as placing a lot of emphasis on recommendations, essay quality, class load, etc. above stats. But I am sure many other small LACs can be wow’ed by someone who writes well and has strong and/or unique extracurricular involvement.</p>
<p>Generally it is the Big State Us that will establish cut-off GPAs and SATs and not really pay much attention to essays, etc. And of course, hyper-selective schools (Top 20ish), probably have their fair share of kids with BOTH great grades and great “others.” So what they mean by “holistic” admissions is that you have to be good at everything, not that you can just be good at something :P.</p>
<p>A kid who has mediocre grades and SAT scores, mediocre involvement, and a “shining personality” is unfortunately going to have to aim a bit lower in terms of school selectivity, but there are a lot of great universities and colleges out there that aren’t hyper selective but still provide a fantastic education.</p>