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Topics

Article Type

Professional Proficiency

Competency

Article Abstract

Related Issue:

Holistic review considers applicants within the context of their lived experiences. But it fundamentally relies on contextual materials like recommendation letters that differ in quality. In this literature review, the authors highlight promising practices and policies for better leveraging letters to promote equity in the undergraduate admissions context, specifically for traditional, high school-aged applicants.

Author(s)

nicola-t-p--sm

Tara P. Nicola, Ph.D, is a Visiting Scholar at Harvard University and Senior Consultant at Gallup.

Nicola’s research focuses on issues of access and equity in higher education, especially in relation to the college admissions process. Her research has been published in top education journals such as AERA Open, the Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, and Educational Policy, as well as featured in media outlets such as Education Week, Inside Higher Ed, and The Hechinger Report.

Nicola holds a Ph.D. in education from Harvard University, an Ed.M. in education policy and management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, a M.Sc. in higher education with distinction from the University of Oxford, and a B.A. in English from Johns Hopkins University.

savitz-romer-m--sm

Mandy Savitz-Romer, Ph.D., is the Nancy Pforzheimer Aronson Senior Lecturer in Human Development and Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE).

She is also the faculty lead of the school counseling strand of the human development and education program. She writes and speaks extensively on college and career readiness and school-based counseling, especially as it relates to students of color and first-generation college students. Dr. Savitz-Romer is the author of Fulfilling the Promise: Reimagining School Counseling to Advance Student Success and co-author of Ready, Willing, and Able: A Developmental Approach to College Access and Success and Technology and Engagement: Making Technology Work for First Generation College Students.

Dr. Savitz-Romer earned her Ph.D. from Boston College and her master’s degree in school counseling from Boston University.

dilorenzo-j--sm

Julius DiLorenzo is an experienced admissions professional and recent graduate of Harvard’s Graduate School of Education (HGSE).

His research interests focus on increasing equity in the admissions process with particular attention to how school counselors and admissions officers are trained to produce and interpret application material. Outside of research, DiLorenzo serves as a first-year advisor to new undergraduates at Harvard College. He earned his B.A. in politics from Occidental College and his Ed.M. in education policy and analysis from HGSE.

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Endnotes

  1. This article focuses on recommendation letters used in the admissions
    process for traditional, high school-aged undergraduate applicants. These
    applicants are typically submitting letters from high school teachers and
    counselors. Older, adult learners applying for undergraduate programs
    might also submit letters, but their letters of recommendation are often
    from employers or others in their community rather than high school staff.
    The expectations about what those letters should convey—and the challenges
    those letter writers face in crafting strong letters, are thus distinct
    and necessitate their own discussion that is outside the scope of this
    article. However, many of the broader points in this piece about how
    admissions officers can mitigate bias in considering recommendations are
    applicable to evaluating all letters, including those for nontraditional
    students.
  2. The authors define selective colleges broadly as institutions that are not
    open-access and have procedures in place for evaluating the admissibility
    of applicants.
  3. While this article focuses on the undergraduate admissions context, many
    of the topics discussed also apply to the graduate admissions realm as
    well given the use of recommendation letters in the admissions process for
    graduate and postgraduate (e.g., medical residency) programs.

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