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Most high school seniors applying for colleges would kill to get inside the mind of an Ivy League admissions officer. Luckily for them, and their interest in avoiding a federal prison sentence, Janet Lavin Rapelye, Princeton University’s dean of admission, made herself available to answer their questions. In a three-part series with the New York Times, Rapelye covered the age-old question on every high school student and parent’s hearts: the importance of standardized test scores in a student’s application.

One frequently raised question was on the subject of standardized tests and their importance in light of the overall application. If the number of questions relating to the importance and weight of standardized test scores is any indication, this was a question on many a nervous high school senior’s mind. Rapelye noted that standardized tests “only partially predict first-year performance in college” and provide an incomplete understanding of the applicant. She pointed out that the tests are limited in providing insight on other qualities, such as “motivation, creativity, independent thought, intellectual curiosity, and perseverance.”

Rapelye cited these limitations as the primary reason that Princeton University does not have a minimum or maximum cut-off score for applicants. She emphasized repeatedly that Princeton admissions officers look at each application from a holistic view – meaning that there is no single factor that determines a prospective student’s admission or rejection.

For high school students raised in a test-saturated culture, Rapelye’s answer – while politically correct – may be difficult to believe. After all, students in America are inundated with standardized tests assessing everything from aptitude in the core subjects to writing and listening comprehension – and all from grade school. The assertion that student applications are reviewed holistically is an oft-repeated claim by many university admissions offices, who take pains to paint the admissions process as more than a numbers game. However, given the fact that top-tier colleges are flooded with tens of thousands of applications in a given year, it makes sense that grades and test scores are often used to narrow down the pool of applicants to a manageable number – no matter what the official stance from admissions officers may be.

Even as she downplayed the make-or-break role of any one factor, Rapelye acknowledged that an applicant’s transcript is one of the first things that admissions officers look at. In particular, admissions officers analyze the difficulty of the coursework, along with the grades actually received. High school students are expected to take the most advanced program offered at their respective high school in order to keep up with the rigor of coursework at a prestigious Ivy League university.

Do you think that the admissions process is essentially a number game, where higher test scores and grades translates into acceptance and lower numbers equal rejection? Have you experienced this to be true, or seen instances when it wasn’t the norm? Let us know in the comments!

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