How Do We Evaluate Your Application?

Reading your application

Marquette's holistic admission review considers academic achievement in conjunction with a student's unique talents, leadership and service activities, application essay, school profile, letters of recommendation and any other information a student wishes to submit. Your application may be reviewed by multiple admissions committee members or discussed by the committee as a whole. We know you spend a good deal of time assembling your application, preparing your extracurricular lists and writing your essay. We want you to know we, too, spend a good amount of time reading each application.

What do we look for?

When considering whether to extend an offer of admission, the committee members review the following (listed in order of importance):

An evaluation of the courses you took while in high school

When evaluating high school course work and grades, the committee wants to know that you have challenged yourself academically and done well in your courses. We look specifically at the trend in grades, noting consistency, upward or downward trends. We evaluate the types of courses you have taken — AP, honors, IB, regular, etc. — in relation to the overall courses offered by a school. Especially with AP courses, it is important to note that a B in an AP course is not the same as an A in a regular course. It is a B in an advanced course. We take all of this information under advisement.

We recognize class rank and grade point averages mean different things at different high schools. When making an evaluation, we are trying to get a sense of how you have performed relative to your peers in relation to all information with which we have been provided.

ACT or SAT test scores

Marquette is a test-optional institution. This means that at the point of application, students can choose whether they want their test scores to be used as part of the review process.

Test-Optional Policy Details

ACT / SAT Submission Information

Your essay and extracurricular activities

The essay and your extracurricular activities give us a chance to get to know you as an individual and not as a series of numbers. Be genuine and honest in your responses and lists. There are no magic phrases or specific activities for which we look.

Any letters of recommendation

Although we only require the school counselor recommendation, a small number of students choose to provide additional letters of recommendation. Additional recommendations are not required to complete your application. Though additional letters are not required, they may be especially be helpful in more difficult admission decisions. We encourage you to save additional recommendation letters for the scholarship application process.

Additional material you may provide

Supplemental material is not necessary and will not necessarily influence an admission decision.