<p>Also, how holistic are schools such as Chicago, Northwestern, Vanderbilt, USC, Notre Dame, Columbia and Penn? I have really good ECs but my GPA is a 3.69... (with the heaviest course load available at my school)</p>
<p>All top universities are holistic. Look up the Common Data Set (section C7) for each to see how much weight each element gets in admission.</p>
<p>The rigor of one’s courseload and the grades achieved are the most important factors for admission to virtually all of the top universities. They are “holistic” in the sense that the vast majority of their applicant pool is numerically qualified (nearly perfect GPAs and very high test scores), so the deciding factors are often other factors like extracurricular involvement, awards, and the personality reflected in essays. Many students mistakenly assume that holistic admissions means that other components in their application can make up for a weak transcript. </p>
<p>Past posts indicate that you’re a sophomore, so you have plenty of time to improve that GPA. At this point it’s best to focus on doing well in classes, not picking out specific colleges. </p>