In a world that’s increasingly dominated by technological advances replacing a human’s personal touch, Shake Shack founder and restaurateur Danny Meyer reminds us that our emotional skills and ability to make others happy are among our greatest assets. Examining the core essence of a human being has been largely sidelined in today’s screening process of job applicants. However, Meyer’s focus on the more character-driven aspects of a potential employee puts vital elements of humanity at the center of his mission for staffing his restaurants.
At the Qualtrics X4 Summit, Meyer offered a rare perspective from a business leader with regard to hiring employees. “I really don’t give a damn what your IQ is,” he said. “We are hiring for HQ [hospitality quotient] … What an IQ basically says is one’s aptitude for learning. What HQ is, is the degree to which someone is happier themselves when they provide happiness for someone else.”
Meyer determines whether a person has a high HQ by looking for six emotional skills: integrity, optimism, intellectual curiosity, work ethic, empathy and self-awareness. This refreshing departure from the typical metrics used to measure your potential to thrive in the workplace got me thinking about how crucial it is that the same line of thought be applied to college admissions.
A more holistic approach to evaluating students for college admission
As the mother of a bright, multitalented and compassionate teenager who is in the throes of applying to colleges, I was pleased to learn that more universities are now screening student applications using a holistic review process similar in concept to Meyer’s HQ approach to hiring.
Many colleges now take into consideration evidence of one’s character alongside their SAT and ACT scores, GPA and class ranking. An applicant’s leadership roles, extracurricular activities, work and volunteer experience all increase their chances of standing out in a pool of applicants.
This holistic review enables students, who might not have even been given a second glance due to a low SAT score, a better chance at securing admission to college. (Many top universities still require an SAT score for admission. For example, Harvard University enrollees boast high SAT scores.)
However, the tide is turning on test scores being submitted as a mandatory requirement. According to FairTest, over 80% of four-year colleges and universities in the U.S. did not require college hopefuls to submit an ACT or SAT score for admissions consideration in fall 2025. They were evaluated on their GPA instead.
Whether an applicant is deemed worthy of entering certain colleges and universities has historically been determined by their intellectual abilities. But it’s prudent to change the focus and make it more kaleidoscopic. Students should be evaluated based on multiple facets of their existence. Someone can score a 1600 on the SAT, but are they also a good person who will thrive in school and be a beacon for others?
Susie Watts, author of Beyond the GPA, How to Give Your Student an Edge With College Admissions and college consultant at College Direction, says that students should amount to more than a listing of their numerical data.
“Students are more than just their GPA and test scores. They bring diverse experiences, perspectives and unique attributes that enrich campus life,” she says. “By considering personal backgrounds, extracurricular involvement and individual challenges, colleges can create a more inclusive and vibrant community that encourages not only academic success but also personal growth and collaborative learning, ultimately preparing students for a diverse world.”
The soft skills colleges seek in applicants
Katie Beringson, MEd, director of admissions for the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Arizona, evaluates potential students to ensure they have the soft skills required to be veterinarians.
“We actively look for empathy and compassion in applicants…. Test scores are limited in what they can tell us about a candidate and cannot reflect an individual’s capacity to show empathy,” she says. “Our questions during the supplemental phase and multiple mini-interviews allow us to score our applicants’ responses based on empathy, teamwork, resiliency, etc. We believe these qualities are essential for our future veterinary professionals.”
Beringson shares that grades are just one piece of a larger puzzle to be granted admission to the program. “We want students who will not only survive vet school but also become excellent veterinarians,” she says.”To be exceptional, it’s not just about getting high grades; it’s about heart, determination and how you treat animals.”
Amy Addams, director of student affairs alignment and holistic review at the Association of American Medical Colleges echoes this sentiment. “Strong academic performance alone doesn’t make a good doctor,” she says. “While medical knowledge and the ability to apply it are essential, patients and communities also need physicians who are compassionate, who listen, communicate well and treat each person as a whole, without making assumptions about them.”
Addams also notes that students should be assessed holistically given their overall life experience. “Understanding an applicant’s context is crucial,” she says. “This includes their family, educational and financial background; the community settings they grew up in, lived in, worked in; and the opportunities or challenges they’ve faced along the way. Did they have access to enrichment opportunities or support? Did they have to work to pay for college? Did they excel in an activity that required discipline, resilience, coaching and commitment? These factors not only shape who they are, but also offer insight into their academic potential and motivation to pursue medicine.”
How HQ directly applies to college admissions
Dan Lee, co-founder of Solomon Admissions Consulting, has spent more than a decade helping students gain entry into elite undergraduate and graduate programs. He affirms that these institutions do indeed look beyond grades and test scores. “Top universities can fill their entire incoming freshman class five to six times over with students with perfect grades, perfect testing and amazing extracurricular activities. So, yes, they have to look beyond just grades and testing to select their incoming class,” Lee explains.
He explains that students who want to attend the nation’s most prestigious universities “have to have it all to be admitted—perfect grades, perfect testing, a compelling application [and] high intellectual vitality.” But Lee says that colleges also apply each facet of Meyer’s HQ philosophy to their evaluations of applicants.
Below, Lee outlines the emotional skills lauded by Meyer and how each applies to college admissions.
- “Integrity: Top colleges look for academic integrity. If a student has been reprimanded or expelled for academic dishonesty in high school, that’s typically disqualifying at the top colleges.
- Optimism: Top colleges look for future academic leaders in their fields. Most of these leaders who will make an impact will be optimists by nature.
- Intellectual curiosity: Top colleges use a metric called “intellectual vitality” to measure applicants’ intellectual curiosity outside the classroom. Activities that bolster the intellectual vitality rating include conducting academic research with a professor in high school.
- Work ethic: Top colleges already screen for work ethic. A smart student with high testing and poor grades due to a poor work ethic will not be admitted.
- Empathy: Top colleges screen for empathy. Many top colleges rescind offers to admitted students who post racist or bigoted remarks.
- Self-awareness: Top colleges already screen for self-awareness through their essay questions.”
Colleges and businesses want people who can make an impact
Danny Meyer delivered the commencement speech at his alma mater to the Trinity College graduating class of 2024. In his speech he explained that he was “rejected from Princeton, rejected from Brown… and wait-listed at Trinity. Accepted nowhere.”
“I sat down to write the most important letter of my life to Trinity’s dean of admissions, explaining why I knew that we were just right for each other. I committed to enrolling if Trinity would take me off the waitlist,” he added. Meyer was accepted at Trinity, where he earned his degree and went on to become a celebrated alumni who has received multiple awards from the college. He experienced firsthand the importance of being evaluated above and beyond standard protocol.
“The personal trait most important to college admissions is impact,” Lee says. “Can this student make an impact if admitted? Most top colleges look for high impact students.”
It takes more than a high IQ to make an impact, which is why HQ should also be evaluated during college admission and hiring processes. This will help populate college campuses and the workforce with well-rounded people who have the emotional skills to excel, while creating the kind of ripple effects that make the world a happier place.
Photo courtesy of PeopleImages.com – Yuri A/Shutterstock
