Using a Holistic Review in Admissions: One Program’s Evidence Towards Enhancing Diversity
Background and Purpose:
Despite a growing number of applicants to Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) programs, the diversity of admitted students does not reflect the diversity within the United States. The University of Colorado (CU) Physical Therapy (PT) Program’s Recruitment and Admissions Committee (RAC) created a holistic rubric based on non-cognitive attributes to supplement their traditional academic review. The holistic rubric was focused on increasing diversity in three areas: 1) race/ethnicity, 2) socio-economic status (SES), and 3) other unique characteristics (military, rural, first generation, etc). The purpose of this case study was to 1) determine the proportion of diverse students admitted to CU PT in 2018-19 cycle using the holistic rubric compared to the most recent PTCAS applicant data (2017-18), and 2) compare the proportion of diverse students invited to interview at CU PT using the holistic rubric to a more traditional cognitive-based admissions approach.
Case Description:
Admissions decisions for the 2018-19 CU PT admissions cycle were made using holistic rubric scores and supplemented with traditionally used cognitive measures and interview recommendations. CU PT received 919 verified applications by the hard application deadline, 713 met the CU PT eligibility requirements (completed or planned bachelors degree, met the prerequisite and GPA requirements, official GRE scores were submitted) and were reviewed using the holistic rubric, 193 were invited to interview, and 71 matriculated. In 2017-18, PTCAS reported 18,359 total applicants of which 10,393 were accepted.
Outcomes:
Overall, CU PT admitted a greater proportion of diverse students as compared to the total CU applicant pool in the three diversity categories listed above. Compared to the 2017-18 PTCAS data, CU admitted an increased proportion of students in the following categories: race/ethnicity (+4.1%), SES (+4.6%) and 1st generation (+6.1%). The 193 applicants who were interviewed at CU PT based on the holistic review compared to the top 193 applicants based on cumulative GPA had an increased proportion of students in the following categories: race/ethnicity (+10.4%), SES (+12.4%) and students with unique characteristics (+9.8%).
Discussion:
While this data represents only one admissions cycle, the initial data suggests that the use of a holistic review may increase diversity in entry level DPT programs. In efforts to increase diversity amongst admitted DPT students, the use of a holistic review process appears to be one step towards creating change. However, admissions tools like a holistic review can only increase diversity so much. More work is needed to increase the diversity in the initial pool of applicants before diversity in DPT programs can reflect diversity in the US.