The Effect of Wholistic Admissions Processes in Graduate Admissions

With progressive numbers of graduate programs moving away from using the GRE due to it’s inability to predict success in graduate school [1,2], and GPA inflation becoming more rampant [3], admissions committees have shifted away from these quantitative criteria in favor of a more encompassing review process. The University of Rochester Department of Physics and Astronomy implemented a well-defined rubric system, that allowed for contextualization of the applicant’s individual experiences, which included metrics for “success-critical skills” [4]. Furthermore, moving to such an application review policy can be one way to improve representation of historically marginalized individuals [5]. This presentation will overview one such system and the effect of implementing a wholistic graduate admission process.