# A holistic admissions abstract leaves its evidence unclear

A 2024 review describes changes in U.S. admissions, but its abstract gives too little detail to assess the evidence. We have not read the full paper.

By DreamSchool.co Research, November 3, 2026. Source page: https://www.dreamschool.co/research/a-holistic-admissions-abstract-leaves-its-evidence-unclear

The abstract of a 2024 literature review says U.S. colleges are adopting holistic admissions and relying less on standardized tests. It does not describe the evidence for its claims about equity. We read only the abstract, so we cannot judge the full review's methods or sources.

## What the study found

The authors say U.S. colleges are "increasingly adopting holistic admissions practices that comprehensively evaluate students' diverse abilities and potential," while "simultaneously reducing reliance on standardized testing." Holistic admissions means a college looks at the whole application, not at scores alone. The paper also covers the spread of test-optional policies, which let applicants decide whether to send SAT or ACT scores.

The authors say these practices "promote educational diversity and equity," and that they "also present certain operational challenges." The abstract does not say what those challenges are. It reports no numbers for either the benefits or the challenges.

The paper also discusses policy. It names four areas: student assessment, standardized test use, the reliability of high school grades, and university autonomy and accountability.

The abstract describes a direction in U.S. admissions. It does not provide evidence that holistic or test-optional admissions help any group of students.

## How it was done

The authors describe their work as a "literature review and analysis of the changing dynamics in U.S. college admissions." The abstract does not report new data collection or describe a design that could establish whether an admissions policy caused a result.

The abstract does not say how the sources were found or chosen. It gives no search method and no rules for which studies to include. A review that picks its own sources can leave out the ones that disagree with it. It also does not say how many sources it reviewed, and it names no time period, so a reader cannot tell whether "recent trends" means the last few years or the last few decades.

## What holds up

The abstract states a direction: more holistic review and less reliance on standardized tests. It gives no evidence or effect size for its claim that these practices promote diversity and equity. That omission limits what we can conclude from the abstract; it does not establish that the full paper lacks evidence.

The abstract alone is a weak basis for claims about what holistic or test-optional admissions do. We cannot assess the full review's quality without reading its methods and sources.

## What to be careful about

The abstract does not take up the contested evidence on testing. It does not say whether the authors looked at studies that disagree with them.

We read only the abstract. We could not check which sources the review used, who funded it, or what the full results say. No funders appear in the metadata.

The authors wrote for a Korean comparative-education audience, so the policy points may be aimed at Korean readers rather than U.S. families.

The abstract discusses U.S. admissions broadly and does not separate selective colleges from open-access colleges. Those two kinds of college use holistic review and test-optional policies in different ways, so a general trend may not describe the colleges on your list.

## What this means for your family

This abstract does not establish whether holistic or test-optional admissions change who gets in or how students do afterward. It is not enough to decide whether a college cares less about scores.

For SAT or ACT decisions, look up each college's own current testing policy. Start with the colleges on your list and confirm the policy on each admissions office website before you register for a test date.

## Source

- [A Study on the Trends in U.S. College Admission Policy: Focusing on Holistic Admissions (2024)](https://doi.org/10.20306/kces.2024.12.31.1). DOI 10.20306/kces.2024.12.31.1. Narrative review; metadata shows 0 citations.

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