Admissions, beyond a single test
In a few days, Harvard College will send out invitations to its newest prospective freshmen. Those emails, calls, and letters cap an arduous three-month, 40-person review of applicants — a record 35,023 this year. As with every new class, the search for the Class of 2017 was based not just on test scores, but on the activities, adversities, and other measures that reveal an applicant’s character, achievements, and talents. Harvard has always been eager to share this “holistic admissions” model, even on academe’s world stage. One case in point: On Jan. 14, William R. Fitzsimmons, dean of undergraduate admissions and financial aid, delivered a speech on admissions reform at the Royal Irish Academy — Ireland’s premier learning society — on behalf of Trinity College Dublin, the island nation’s flagship university. Fitzsimmons was there at the invitation of Patrick Geoghegan, Trinity’s dean of undergraduate studies. Their collaboration could lead to changes at Trinity...