Every spring, accredited US universities quietly publish one of the most consequential documents in higher education: the Common Data Set (CDS). Buried in Section C7 of each filing is a self-reported table where admissions offices rate 18 academic and nonacademic factors as “Very Important,” “Important,” “Considered,” or “Not Considered.” These ratings are the closest thing to an official statement of admissions philosophy that colleges publish.
MyAdmitFit manually verified Section C7 data from more than 40 institutions’ most recent CDS filings. The picture that emerges reveals meaningful divergence in how institutions approach holistic review — and several patterns that applicants building college lists in 2025–2026 cannot afford to ignore.
Methodology note: All C7 ratings cited in this analysis were verified directly from each institution’s official CDS PDF, obtained from institutional research offices. No AI-generated or estimated data was used. Data reflects the most current available CDS filing for each institution.
The most striking pattern in the 2025–2026 CDS filings is how cleanly institutions have bifurcated on standardized testing — and how permanent that split appears to be.
| Institution | Test Scores Rating | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Princeton University | Very Important | Test-required |
| Stanford University | Very Important | Test-required |
| Johns Hopkins University | Very Important | Test-required |
| University of Chicago | Very Important | Test-required |
| Georgetown University | Very Important | Test-required |
| University of Southern California | Very Important | Test-required |
| University of Miami | Very Important | Test-required |
| Yale University | Considered | Test-flexible |
| Northwestern University | Considered | Test-flexible |
| Duke University | Considered | Test-flexible |
| Columbia University | Considered | Test-flexible |
| UNC Chapel Hill | Considered | Test-flexible |
| UC Berkeley | Not Considered | Test-free |
| UCLA | Not Considered | Test-blind |
| Penn State University | Considered | Large public — GPA-primary |
| University of Florida | Important | Public flagship |
This divergence creates a practical sorting problem for applicants. A student with a 1450 SAT applying to Yale (where test scores are “Considered”) is in a fundamentally different position than the same student applying to Princeton (where test scores are “Very Important”). The score matters more at one institution by the institution’s own admission.
US News rankings sort institutions by outcome metrics, but CDS Section C7 reveals how differently schools actually conduct their reviews. Two schools ranked identically can have radically different admissions philosophies.
Among all institutions verified, Syracuse University presents the most expansive holistic profile. The university rates interview, extracurricular activities, talent/ability, character/personal qualities, and volunteer work all as “Very Important” — the only institution in our dataset to rate interview at that level. First generation status is rated “Important,” and applicant interest is rated “Important.” For a school with a ~46% acceptance rate, this is a remarkably person-centered admissions profile.
At the other end sits Penn State University Park, whose 2025–2026 CDS filing rates academic GPA as the sole “Very Important” factor. Rigor of secondary school record is “Important.” Application essay, recommendations, extracurricular activities, character/personal qualities, first generation status, volunteer work, work experience, and level of applicant interest are all rated “Not Considered.” Penn State’s CDS reflects a GPA-first, high-volume admissions model that prioritizes academic credentials above all contextual factors.
The practical implication: a student with a 3.9 GPA and minimal extracurricular involvement has a very different relative position at Penn State than at Syracuse, even though the raw acceptance rates might make them appear comparable options. CDS data reveals this distinction; acceptance rates alone do not.
State residency — one of the 18 CDS factors — is a revealing signal of institutional mission. Among the public flagships in our dataset:
| Institution | State Residency Rating |
|---|---|
| University of Virginia | Very Important |
| UNC Chapel Hill | Very Important |
| University of Michigan | Considered |
| UC Berkeley | Not Considered |
| UCLA | Not Considered |
| University of Florida | Considered |
| University of Texas at Austin | Considered |
| Penn State University | Considered |
UVA and UNC Chapel Hill both rate state residency as “Very Important” — reflecting statutory obligations to Virginia and North Carolina residents respectively. The University of Michigan and the California UC system, despite being public, rate residency differently: Michigan as “Considered,” Berkeley and UCLA as “Not Considered.” For out-of-state applicants, this distinction carries significant practical weight.
One of the more surprising findings: the University of Florida rates recommendations as “Not Considered” — the only institution among those verified to do so. Penn State similarly rates recommendations “Not Considered.” For applicants investing significant time in cultivating teacher recommendations, understanding which institutions actually weight them is operationally important.
At the other end, Princeton, Stanford, Yale, JHU, Northwestern, Columbia, Georgetown, Notre Dame, Brown, Dartmouth, and Cornell all rate recommendations as “Very Important.” The difference is not marginal — it reflects whether a school reads recommendation letters as central evidence of a student’s character and ability, or processes applications as primarily credential-based.
Among all institutions analyzed, Notre Dame presents one of the most distinctive nonacademic factor profiles. The university rates volunteer work as “Very Important” — a rating shared by no other highly selective private institution in our dataset. Class rank is also rated “Very Important,” unusual among top-20 institutions. Religious affiliation/commitment is rated “Important.”
These ratings reflect Notre Dame’s identity as a Catholic research university with an explicit service mission. The CDS data confirms what anecdotal admissions advice has long suggested: Notre Dame is not simply a peer substitute for other highly selective schools. Its admissions priorities are structurally distinct.
The aggregate picture from these CDS filings reinforces a core principle: acceptance rate is a blunt instrument for understanding fit. Two schools at the same selectivity tier can have admissions processes that reward fundamentally different profiles.
A student with strong extracurriculars, volunteer history, and a compelling personal narrative is better positioned at holistically-oriented institutions (Notre Dame, Syracuse, Brown) than at academically-formulaic ones (Penn State, certain UC campuses). A student with a near-perfect GPA but limited extracurricular depth faces different odds at Northwestern (where extracurriculars are “Very Important”) versus Penn State (where they are “Not Considered”).
This is the problem MyAdmitFit’s Admissions Fit Index (AFI) is designed to solve: scoring a student’s profile against each institution’s own self-reported priorities, rather than relying on acceptance rate as a proxy for fit.
Data notes: All C7 ratings cited reflect each institution’s most recent available Common Data Set filing, verified manually from official institutional research office publications. MyAdmitFit does not use AI-generated or estimated admissions factor data. Institutions included are a subset of those in the MyAdmitFit verified database. Individual school profiles with full factor breakdowns are available at myadmitfit.com/schools.
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