How to Create a Holistic Admission Review Process

At its core, admissions is about more than filling seats. It’s about selecting students who will thrive at your university — academically, socially and professionally. Students who not only succeed in their studies, but also contribute meaningfully to your campus community and go on to become proud, engaged alumni.

To achieve this, many institutions are moving away from purely academic evaluations and embracing a more holistic admission review process. One that takes into account the whole person — their character, life experience, potential, and how well they align with your institution’s values.

But how do you define the right selection criteria? And how can you build a process that is both consistent and adaptable?

Here’s how to get started.

Step 1: Understand What Success Looks Like at Your Institution

Before you can select the right students, you need to know what makes a student successful — not just in terms of grades, but in terms of retention, community engagement and long-term impact.

Start by looking at your existing student data and ask:

• What is the age range of our most successful students?
• Which population segments have the highest retention or graduation rates?
• What academic or professional backgrounds do they come from?
• Do they tend to have prior international experience?
• Are they more analytical, creative, or collaborative?
• What motivates them to choose your institution — and what keeps them engaged?

This kind of profiling helps build a clearer picture of your ideal student. It’s not about excluding certain candidates, but about recognising the qualities that lead to success within your unique environment.

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Step 2: Align Your Admissions Criteria with Student Success

Once you’ve identified common attributes and trends among your top-performing students, the next step is to adjust your admissions criteria accordingly.

Ask yourself:

• Are we placing too much weight on standardised metrics, at the expense of potential?
• Are our interview questions aligned with the qualities we value most?
• Are we giving space to personal statements, references or other contextual evidence?

A well-designed holistic admissions process considers both quantitative and qualitative factors. Yes, academic performance matters — but so do life experience, resilience, motivation, and alignment with your institution’s mission.

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Step 3: Standardise Your Review Process (Without Losing Flexibility)

One of the biggest challenges with holistic review is consistency. With more variables to consider, how do you ensure fairness across applicants?

Start by establishing a clear framework:

• Create evaluation forms for each stage of the review process — from first screening to interview.
• Define your scoring criteria and explain how different qualities are weighted.
• Train reviewers to assess applications using the same rubric, while allowing for individual judgment where appropriate.
• Encourage interviewers to focus on structured, behaviour-based questions that reveal relevant traits.

It’s also helpful to revisit your admissions criteria regularly. Student success is not a static concept — it evolves with your institution, your programmes and your goals.

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Step 4: Build Diverse and Balanced Cohorts

A truly holistic admissions process doesn’t just evaluate individuals — it looks at how a group fits together.

When you evaluate candidates, think about how they might contribute to the wider class:

• Do they bring a different perspective or background?
• Will they challenge and support their peers?
• Are you building a well-rounded cohort with a healthy mix of strengths?

Diversity of thought, experience and ambition enriches learning for everyone. A holistic review helps ensure that no one metric — whether it’s GPA or work experience — overshadows the broader value a candidate can bring.

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Final Thoughts

Holistic admissions is about treating applicants as more than just a set of numbers. It’s about understanding the person behind the application, and selecting students who are not only capable of academic success, but also aligned with your institution’s purpose and culture.

By grounding your process in data, aligning it with your goals, and ensuring consistency through thoughtful frameworks, you can build admissions practices that are fair, future-focused and human at heart.