How Colleges “Shape a Class”
Parents often lean heavily on Naviance or their school’s historical outcomes. But admissions decisions aren’t made by comparing students to past applicants one by one. They’re made in the context of shaping a class.
Shaping by Major
Colleges balance the number of students across intended majors.
Example: One year, a school might need more engineers; the next, they may prioritize humanities.
Two students with identical GPAs and scores can have different outcomes depending on major choice.
Shaping by Geography
Colleges seek a student body that represents different regions.
Example: A student from Montana may have an edge at a New England school simply because few apply from that area.
Large suburban high schools often face tougher odds because they’re overrepresented.
Shaping by Talents & Institutional Needs
Athletes, artists, debaters, and musicians fill campus needs beyond academics.
Example: A school might admit a strong bassoonist not just for talent, but because the orchestra has a gap.
Shaping Post–Supreme Court Ruling
With race-conscious admissions no longer allowed, colleges rely on essays, recommendations, and context to understand a student’s lived experience. (See details on the Supreme Court ruling here)
Officers still aim to build diverse classes — they just have fewer direct tools.
Why Naviance Misses the Point
It’s backward-looking: Scattergrams show history, not current priorities.
It ignores outcomes: Colleges track how students from a high school performed academically and in career placement. That data informs future decisions.
It can’t measure story: Essays, recommendations, and leadership are invisible on scatterplots.
💡 Insider Perspective: At UChicago, we didn’t just ask “Did the last kid from this school get in?” We asked, “How did they thrive once they arrived?” Performance and outcomes shaped how we viewed future applicants.
Closing Thought
Admissions decisions aren’t made in a vacuum. They’re about shaping a whole class — by major, geography, talent, and long-term outcomes. Naviance can’t capture that complexity, but I can help you see it clearly.
If you’re trying to understand how your student’s unique mix of academics, activities, and goals will fit into this bigger picture, let’s talk. Together, we can take the guesswork out of “scattergrams” and focus on what your student truly controls: their story and strategy.
