What is Contextual and Holistic Review?

People are often surprised to hear that we read every individual piece of an application during the review process. Although this takes time and effort, it is really rewarding! Each application piece reveals something about the student and creates a fuller image of that person. This type of application review is called holistic review. An equally important part of application review is contextual review. We consider each applicant within their unique context, meaning the student’s personal, school and local environment. This also includes the opportunities that the student has had access to and the challenges they have faced. Students do not have cookie cutter experiences, so our evaluation process should not be a one-size-fits-all approach. Contextual and holistic review go hand in hand to reveal interesting stories, characteristics and goals from students. 

Why?

At Rice, we pride ourselves on our university’s tight-knit culture that celebrates the diverse interests and lived experiences of our students, staff and faculty. With less than 4,700 undergraduate students enrolled at Rice, we cannot reduce students to GPAs and test scores. If we did, we would not be able to maintain this tight-knit culture because we receive applications from highly ranked students and strong test takers.

Reading applications within a student’s context also allows us to be more fair to students who come from less resourced backgrounds. It is important to remember that not every school is the same, and some may have more access to accelerated AP and IB courses. Those that live in rural areas may have circumstances that hinder them from participating in advanced extracurricular activities. Contextual review helps us understand what a student has access to and to better evaluate how they are standing out within their community.

Personal, Regional and High School Context

Context can vary widely and will look different for every student. While it is helpful to understand some of the challenges a student has faced, context is not just about difficulties. We want students to feel free to write about what excites and inspires them, as well as including growth opportunities. Context can also range in size, from personal to regional. Some common examples of personal context that we consider are mental and physical health, family education, and even commute time. High school context could be the type of school, available classes, or whether the student has been there all four years. Regional context considers what types of opportunities are available, such as research or part time jobs, or other things like natural disasters. We gather different types of context from the entire application, and it can be helpful to consider how you’ll express your context in your application.

How to Share Context

Here are a few different ways that your school provides our office with context. 

• 1. The High School Report is a document that your counselor uploads to the Common Application and it gives us an idea of what your school is like. It includes information such as the courses that are offered, the percentage of students who attend college after graduation and if there are any limits to curriculum. 
• 2. The counselor will also send us a letter that is specific to you. Here, they can talk about who you are within the context of your school. They might highlight your different achievements and how you have made an impact on your community.
• 3. Lastly, teachers are another great resource for context as they speak specifically to your performance in the classroom. They can highlight what projects make you excited for learning or how you collaborate in groups. (Tip: talk to your recommenders sooner rather than later so you can tell them anything you feel is important to highlight.)

You are also empowered to provide us with any context you feel is necessary for your application. The Common Application has the Education Progression section, where you can share if you changed high schools. It also has the Additional Information section, where you can share anything you feel is important. And of course, the Personal Statement, along with Rice’s supplemental questions, are great ways for you to express yourself. 

It is important to know that the responsibility of sharing context is not carried entirely by the student. It is a shared partnership between the student, school officials and your admission representative. However, your personal story is important to us, and we want you to feel empowered to share what matters to you! We hope that by better understanding the role of context in admission, you will feel more equipped to showcase your background, stories and goals.

(Published 12/3/24)