With nine selective programs and nearly 1,000 students yearly, Salt Lake Community College struggled with increasing applicants and limited staff to review essays, an essential part of the admissions process.

Scaling holistic review at the community college level

The School of Health Sciences offers 10 programs, nine of which use holistic selective admissions. With nearly 13,000 students in the pipeline planning to apply in the coming years, scalability was a growing concern. These programs encompass a range of healthcare disciplines, including Nursing, Physical Therapy Assistant, Dental Hygiene, Radiologic Technology, Respiratory Therapy, Surgical Technology, and other allied health professions.

“Our programs are highly competitive,” shared Cher Knupp. “And our healthcare partners are very clear about the qualities they’re looking for in future professionals. We needed an admissions process that reflected that.”

By implementing Kira Talent’s standardized video interviews, we were able to assess a broader range of competencies while maintaining consistency across programs and reviewers.

Replacing essays with meaningful, efficient assessment

Previously, essays were central to the admissions process—but they came at a high cost. Admissions staff spent extensive time redacting personal information, and faculty reviewers often received documents stripped of context.

“By using video interviews instead of essays, we gained so much time back,” Knupp explained. “Not just for admissions, but for faculty as well. And students can show us who they really are in a way an essay just can’t.”

The shift allowed the team to ask more targeted questions earlier in the process, while giving applicants a chance to demonstrate communication skills and professionalism.

Supporting diverse and non-traditional applicants

As a community college, Salt Lake Community College serves a wide range of learners—from career changers entering healthcare fields to younger students completing dual enrollment and applying directly into professional programs. The applicant pool is also ethnically diverse.

Students responded positively to the new format, particularly re-applicants who had experienced the essay-based process before.

“They told us it saved them time and stress,” Knupp shared. “They felt seen and heard, and they appreciated being able to answer questions in depth without worrying about word limits.”

Fast, collaborative implementation

Despite a tight timeline—less than one month before going live—the onboarding process was smooth and efficient.

“The customer service team was incredible,” said Knupp. “They were responsive, knowledgeable, and willing to jump on calls whenever I needed help. It was easier than any other platform I’ve used.”

The team successfully launched on schedule, even during the holiday period, reinforcing confidence in the partnership.

Looking ahead

After a successful initial rollout across two programs, the School of Health Sciences is expanding its use of Kira Talent to additional programs. The team continues to refine its holistic admissions process, leveraging Kira’s expertise to reduce workload while improving outcomes for students and faculty alike.

Reviewer Services has improved the reviewer experience by providing clear structure, manageable workloads, and consistent evaluation criteria. Reviewers appreciate being able to focus on meaningful applicant signals—without the fatigue and inefficiencies of essay-heavy review—and look forward to incorporating Reviewer Services into future cycles.

“If you’re considering holistic admissions, don’t be afraid to ask for help,” Knupp advised. “Kira knows this work, and they’ll sit down with you and help you build it. That kind of partnership is incredibly valuable.”

Program Snapshot

Situated in the heart of Yakima, Washington, Pacific Northwest University’s (PNWU) School of Dental Medicine is leading the way in community-focused dental education. With a highly selective cohort of just 36 students, the school offers a uniquely hands-on learning experience designed to develop future dentists who are deeply committed to making a difference in rural and underserved communities. Achieving that goal starts with the admissions process.

"We know that the Dental Admissions Test (DAT) offers minimal predictive value in assessing future success," explained Dr. Fotinos Panagakos, Dean of the School of Dental Medicine. 

"Research shows that individuals from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds, who lack access to resources needed to prepare for admissions tests, are often deterred from pursuing a career in dentistry."

“We wanted to reach potential applicants who have been historically excluded by traditional dental school barriers, like the DAT,” Dr. Panagakos continued. “Instead, we wanted to focus on their experiences, traits, and soft skills—qualities predictive of success in dentistry. When we explored holistic assessment tools, Kira Talent stood out as the perfect fit for our needs.”

Using Kira to gather early applicant insights

As they prepared for their first admissions cycle, Kira helped PNWU’s School of Dental Medicine build a holistic evaluation aligned with their program's mission and goals.

“Kira gives us an early understanding of the applicants’ personalities and helped identify those who showed real potential and alignment with our mission,” explained Professor Olga Gutierrez, Associate Professor of Dental Hygiene in the School of Dental Medicine.

“Our assessment in Kira functions as a pre-interview questionnaire,” Dr. Panagakos explained. “We’re able to dig into the non-cognitive aspects of the applicant to understand what motivates them, see how they align with our mission, and assess their commitment to helping underserved communities.”

“Kira helps us get an early indication of applicant fit, and ensures that we’re optimizing our time during the final interview stage.”

“The final interviews typically last around 45 minutes — that’s a short window to truly understand who an applicant is and what value they could bring to the program,” he continued. “With Kira, we’re able to get a lot of information upfront, so the final interview can be more personalized and focused.”

“It was incredibly helpful to have a sense of who the applicants were before they arrived for their interviews,” added Dr. Jennifer Domagalski, Assistant Professor for the School of Dental Medicine. “We could greet them by name, personalize the conversation, and build rapport right from the start.”

Kira helped PNWU’s School of Dental Medicine build a holistic evaluation aligned with their program's mission and goals — and with just one week from setup to launch, the team was able to implement the new process quickly and efficiently.

Creating a fairer, more mission-aligned evaluation

By combining Kira’s structured video assessments with implicit bias training, PNWU’s admissions team is better equipped to evaluate applicants holistically and fairly.

“We feel confident that our process is now better equipped to recognize and mitigate bias in a meaningful way,” explained Dr. Panagakos.

“The scoring platform in Kira is well designed, with rubrics built into the module that give clear guidance on what differentiates one score from another,” noted Dr. Domagalski. “I found that my scores consistently aligned with those of my fellow interviewers, which gave me confidence in the consistency and fairness of our evaluations.” 

Building a process that evolves with a new program

“Kira has been a very positive change for our admissions process,” shared Dr. Panagakos. “Making process changes in admissions can be arduous. Kira made it painless. Our staff and faculty find the platform very straightforward and easy to use, and Kira provided great support.”

“We approached this process with scalability in mind,” Dr. Panagakos continued. “Kira gives us a flexible way to implement holistic review and refine our tools without overwhelming the team. We can review and update our questions as needed, and re-recording new prompts is simple with the support we have in place.”

As a new dental school, PNWU approached their admissions process with the expectation that it would need to grow and improve over time. With Kira, they’ve found a platform that not only supports this evolution but helps make it seamless and sustainable.

Program Snapshot

This quarter at Kira Talent, our primary focus has been a major milestone: the launch of our new Admin Platform (AP), now available in open beta.

👉 Access the beta Admin Platform: https://manage.kiratalent.com/ 

The new AP is a rebuilt, modernized experience designed to give you more control, better visibility, and greater efficiency across your admissions workflow — especially when working at scale.

During the beta period, you’ll continue to have full access to both:

You can switch between the two at any time, allowing you to explore the new platform at your own pace while continuing your work uninterrupted. As we move toward a full transition later in 2026, we’ll keep you informed and provide plenty of notice and support.

Below is a look at what’s new with this AP and how these updates support faster, more transparent admissions workflows.

What's new in the beta Admin Platform

    1. Speed at scale
    2. Filtering, sorting & searching
    3. Advanced user management
    4. Reviewer ratings
    5. We heard you!
    6. Advanced applicant integrity reporting

 

1. Speed at scale

Inviting & reminding applicants

Performance and speed are core pillars of the new Admin Platform, especially when you’re working with large applicant volumes.

You can now invite up to 1,000 applicants to an assessment in a single action and send reminders to up to 100,000 applicants at once. Once you hit send, you’re free to move on. The platform handles the work in the background, so there’s no longer a need to wait on the page while all emails are delivered.

Assigning reviewers

Another major focus of the rebuild was improving performance across the assignment workflow. We’ve re-engineered our bulk assignment tool to be faster, more intuitive, and significantly more flexible - so managing reviews at scale doesn’t feel as resource-intensive.

With the new assignment experience, you can now:

Just like invitations and reminders, the platform does the heavy lifting for you. Click ‘Confirm’ once, and assignments are created in the background, so you can keep moving forward in Kira without interruption.

2. Filtering, sorting & searching

We also addressed one of the biggest limitations of the previous platform - finding what you need quickly.

Every list in Kira - Assessments, Applicants, Assigned Reviewers, and Teammates - is now fully filterable and sortable across a wide range of criteria. You can also search within any list, making it easier to focus only on what you need.

On top of that, we’ve introduced a universal search for both applicants and assessments at the top of our screen, so you can locate what you’re looking for in seconds, no matter where you are in the platform.

3. Advanced user management

We’ve also expanded admin controls for managing your reviewing team (called ‘Teammates’ in the new platform), with more powerful self-serve tools and greater visibility across the entire review process.

With these enhancements, you can now:

Together, these updates give you tighter control, clearer insights, and faster adjustments as your reviewing team evolves.

 

4. Reviewer ratings

Just like the previous platform, our Reviewer Ratings chart gives you valuable insight into reviewer rating behavior - but with clearer, more actionable visibility.

Quickly identify which teammates tend to be hawks (scoring applicants lower than average) and which are doves (scoring higher than average). You can view these insights at the overall applicant score level or drill down by individual competency. You can also sort by overall score as well as score deviation.

With a single click, highlight outliers and filter results by reviewer or competency to spot patterns, ensure consistency, and confidently calibrate your review process.

5. We heard you!

This rebuild addresses nearly 50 features requested by clients. Many are highlighted above, but here are a few additional improvements worth calling out:

Together, these enhancements add up to a smoother, more transparent experience across every stage of your admissions workflow.

6. Advanced applicant integrity reporting

Finally, we’re excited to introduce a brand new ‘Advanced Applicant Integrity’ report, available for each assessment.

This report gives admins a downloadable view of all applicants who triggered integrity flags during their assessment, providing added transparency and support for fair, consistent evaluation.

The new integrity flags include:

This report is an important first step toward a dedicated applicant-level integrity view within the new Admin Platform, where these signals will be surfaced visually and in greater detail. More to come soon.

 

A note on beta access

The new Admin Platform is currently in open beta. During this phase:

You’ll continue to have access to both the current Kira platform and the new Admin Platform throughout the beta, with the ability to switch between them at any time.

Thank you helping us build a better, more powerful platform. We’re excited for you to experience the new AP and to keep improving it together.

 

The Faculty of Education at the University of Lethbridge offers five graduate programs, including two highly competitive counseling programs that receive 400–600 applications for just 40 seats. Historically, the admissions process relied on intensive live interviews, requiring faculty to block out weeks of time and raising concerns about potential bias in decision-making.

“We worried that decisions were being shaped by subjective impressions rather than consistent criteria,” shared David Slomp, Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and Research in Education. “That risked fairness and could impact cohort dynamics.”

Scaling holistic review with Kira Talent

To address bias and capacity challenges, the Faculty implemented Kira Talent as the final stage of admissions for counseling programs. Applicants shortlisted through GPA and prerequisite checks complete an asynchronous video assessment in Kira, scored by two faculty members.

“We spent a lot of time building the right questions,”

Slomp explained. “It was a great exercise to clarify what evidence we’re really looking for.”

The new process engages the entire faculty rather than small subgroups, and Kira’s reporting tools help identify scoring discrepancies and calibrate reviewers. “The underlying factor determining who gets in should not be who scored the file,” Slomp emphasized. “Kira helps us make that transparent.”

Advancing diversity and accessibility

Enabling diversity was a key priority when building the new process. The team analyzed applicant data, flagged files from underrepresented groups, and reserved 10–20 interview spots for those applicants. Early indicators show a more diverse applicant pool and a slight increase in Indigenous admits.

Accessibility also improved. “We have applicants from First Nations communities and rural areas,” Slomp noted.

“Kira’s platform worked seamlessly even with less stable internet connections.”

Creating an engaging applicant experience

Applicants appreciate the chance to present themselves beyond transcripts and test scores. “They feel valued as individuals,” Slomp shared. Faculty also benefit from reduced scheduling stress and polished workflows.

“The quality of service and the platform’s polish really impressed us,” Slomp said. “It communicates professionalism to applicants and reflects well on our institution.”

Expanding a successful process

After a successful pilot, the Faculty signed a three-year contract renewal with Kira Talent. The team continues to refine its process, leveraging Kira’s reporting to automate second-round scoring and calibrate faculty reviewers.

“We’re excited to keep using the platform,” Slomp shared.

“It’s easy to work with, reliable, and helps us uphold fairness and rigor in admissions.”

Program Snapshot

Thanksgiving. That glorious day where you get together with friends and family, eat whatever you want, and most importantly, enjoy an extra long weekend. This time to relax is important, especially if you work in admissions -- arguably one of the most interesting, frustrating, and unique careers out there.

We asked admissions teams across the country what they were thankful for and we got a lot of great responses. Read on to hear about them. Oh, and don’t forget to leave what you’re thankful for in the comments below!

tom & jerry

(more…)

We asked our clients to submit their favourite applicant "horror stories" and we were blown away by the number of entries we received.

We've read and heard some absolutely crazy stories. Some made us laugh, some made us shudder, and others just left us plain confused.

This Halloween we've got our picks for the top applicant horror stories we heard from admissions teams.

(more…)

With nearly 2,000 students across four campuses in San Jose, The Harker School is the largest independent school of its kind on the West Coast. Each year, the admissions team receives more than 1,700 applications across early years admissions, middle school admissions, and high school admissions. Traditionally, families were asked to submit written parent statements, but these were increasingly inadequate.

“They could be labored over and outsourced to an educational consultant — or even ChatGPT now,” explained Jennifer Hargreaves, Upper School Admission Director. “We really wanted to hear the unfiltered parent perspective, their responses about their children and their family values.”

For Harker, where students themselves were not always interviewed, particularly in the early years admissions process, parent input carried even greater weight. “We often wished we could just interview every parent,” said Diann Chung, Lower School Admission Director. 

"But with 1,700 families, it was impossible to schedule that many one-on-one conversations."

Scaling personal connections

Kira’s asynchronous video assessments offered a way to make those personal connections without overwhelming staff capacity.

“It really gave us such a valuable tool to see deeper into a family,” shared Danielle Holquin, Middle School Admission Director. “I loved being able to peek in and see the connection between parents and how they spoke about their child.

"Given our volume, it was amazing to get to know families on such a personal level."

The technology also proved seamless for applicants. “I was shocked that nobody asked us for help,” Holquin added. “It really was that user-friendly.”

Communicating values, not just academics

The shift to Kira also gave Harker a new way to highlight what matters most in K-12 admissions. 

“Since we are a very high academic school, some people think all we care about is test scores and classroom achievement,” Hargreaves noted. 

"Harker is about so much more than that. We truly care about each child’s wellbeing, finding balance, and expanding their interests and passions beyond the classroom."

By carefully designing questions around values such as balance, wellbeing, and integrity, Harker encouraged families to speak authentically about their children. “The questions were really eye-opening for parents,” Hargreaves explained. “They realized we weren’t asking about academics at all. They were happy to hear we cared about their child’s overall wellbeing, not just resume building for college.”

This clarity helped families self-assess fit as much as it helped Harker assess them. As Hargreaves put it, 

"We want to raise great people, not just great college applicants."

Positive response from families and community

Despite initial nerves, parents quickly embraced the new format. “We were a little worried about how families would respond,” Chung admitted. “But the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. Parents told us it was easy, it saved them time, and they appreciated being able to share authentically about their child.”

Some even found it reassuring. “One family came in thinking they had tanked their application because they knew they weren’t Tiger parents,” Hargreaves recalled. “In reality, their responses helped us see it was her initiative and you were not pushing, you were supporting.”

The platform’s built-in integrity checks also provided valuable insight. “Integrity is a really important value at Harker,” Hargreaves shared. “

"The integrity flags helped us identify when there wasn’t alignment. It became another way to see if the fit was right for both sides."

Word of the new process spread quickly within the community. “I got an email from a current parent who said people at a parent coffee were talking about how excited they were about the questions we were asking,” said Hargreaves. “Families want their children surrounded by peers whose families care about the same things.”

Looking ahead

After a successful first year, Harker plans to build on its use of Kira across early years, middle school, and high school admissions. “We’re looking to tear down barriers and broaden our community,” Holquin explained. “We want families to know Harker is more than just high achievement — it’s about diversity, wellbeing, and balance.”

The team is already refining its question bank and exploring expanded language support. “This year, we let families know they could respond in their native language or request extended time,” said Hargreaves. “Next year, we’re aiming to add full translations in Spanish, Vietnamese, and Mandarin.”

For Harker, Kira has become more than an admissions tool. It’s a way to scale authenticity, align values, and ensure that every family has an equal opportunity to share their story.

As Holquin summed it up: “Kira bridged the gap for us. It gave us authentic, insightful ways to connect with families, something we couldn’t have achieved otherwise.”

This article was written based on this webinar with The Harker School.

The University of North Carolina Eshelman School of Pharmacy is home to the largest community-based pharmacy residency program in the nation. With a mission to prepare future leaders in pharmacy practice and a culture rooted in mentorship, the program partners with a diverse network of sites from independent pharmacies and ambulatory care clinics to public health departments and charitable pharmacies. This breadth allows residents to train in real-world settings that reflect the communities they will one day serve, while fostering innovation, collaboration, and patient-centered care.

“Residents get the chance to continue learning from established professionals who want to invest in their growth and development. It’s a win for us as a program because we’re training up future leaders in the profession.” shared Macary Marciniak, Clinical Associate Professor at UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. 

With its rapid growth, UNC sought out a platform that could support the duality of their PGY1 programs without relying on disjointed tools. 

A custom fit platform for every site

Although all residency sites use the same evaluation criteria, Kira allows each site to adapt the interview experience to their unique context.

“One site does a forum presentation with breakout sessions, another uses a panel interview,” explained Marciniak. “We give sites the flexibility to structure interviews in the way that works best for them, while still maintaining consistency across the program.” 

“What’s nice is that these sites get to learn from each other, one might try a new format this year because they saw it work well elsewhere.” 

“It took a little bit of learning that first year, but now it’s effortless to adjust timeframes, breakout rooms, or formats whenever a site wants to do something different.” shared Marciniak.

This kind of adaptability gave UNC the confidence to expand its residency sites without worrying about added complexity. But the real difference came not just from the platform itself but from the people behind it, whose support made the transition seamless.

A trusted partner in  every rotation

“The Kira team felt like a safety net. Even if something went wrong, I knew someone was there to handle it — and that peace of mind is invaluable during interview season.” shared Marciniak.

“I’ve been so impressed with the responsiveness of the Kira team,” she shared. “It’s not just the platform, it’s the people behind it who help us troubleshoot, suggest improvements, and make the process stress-free.” shared Traci Shell, Program Associate at UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy.

“Having that support felt like a security blanket. I had zero stress implementing Kira because I knew their team was there if we needed them, and we ended up having very few issues,” 

“Implementing new technology can be stressful, but with Kira I felt none of that. The training, support, and responsiveness made it smooth from day one.” shared Marciniak.

Charting what’s next

What started as a way to reduce scheduling chaos and modernize their admissions process has now become an integral part of UNC’s PGY1 residency programs.

“It’s been an amazing solution, and I only see more opportunities to use it in the future.”  shared  Marciniak.

“We’ve already added more sites since adopting Kira, and yet it feels like even less work because the system handles the complexity so well.” shared Marciniak. 

“I see opportunities to use Kira even more across our school, whether in admissions or additional residency processes, because it’s proven to be so adaptable.” shared Marciniak.

As the first, and one of the largest, publicly funded nursing schools in Washington, the Washington State University (WSU) College of Nursing serves students across a statewide system of campuses in Spokane, Tri-Cities, Yakima, and Vancouver. Guided by its land-grant mission, WSU is committed to preparing nurses who reflect the communities they serve — from rural and agricultural regions to urban centers and multilingual populations.

“Traveling people to campuses was really tough.” explained Chris Sogge, Director of the Center for Student Excellence. “It was harder for our out-of-state applicants, harder for applicants who had jobs or children or other obligations. In-person interviews just weren’t feasible.”

To support this mission, the college needed an admissions process that was accessible, flexible, and capable of evaluating the whole applicant. With in-person interviews posing barriers for out-of-state candidates and those balancing work or family responsibilities, WSU turned to Kira for the tools to break free from geographic restraints. 

Elevating accessibility in admissions

“With Kira, students can choose when and where they take the interview, and practice until they feel ready,” explained Chris Sogge. “That flexibility reduces nerves and gives them more confidence in the process.”

“Before Kira, we spent so much time on room scheduling and keeping everyone in the same place,” added Sogge. “Now we simply open the assessment for a week and let applicants pick what works for them.”

This shift in structure not only eased the logistical strain but also opened the door for WSU to advance a bigger goal — making admissions more holistic.

 

Putting the “mission” in admissions

“With Kira, we’ve been able to increase diversity in our cohorts.”

“We’ve seen gains in race and ethnicity, first-generation status, rural backgrounds, and applicants who speak more than one language. That was exactly the goal.” explained Sogge. 

“Because we place more emphasis on healthcare experience in the interview, people have more to talk about,” Sogge continued. “That’s allowed us to reduce the weight of academic metrics like GPA and test scores. The averages have shifted from really unrealistic standards to more normal ranges, which opens the door to a broader range of applicants.” shared Sogge. 

“We recently shifted to a horizontal review structure for our BSN program,” explained Sogge. “It’s been really helpful to reduce reviewer bias by having two reviewers per competency instead of one person seeing everything.” shared Sogge.

This move toward holistic review has been paired with strong feedback from faculty, staff, and students, who have found the process both easier to manage and more insightful.

 

Elevating the reviewer and applicant experience

“I just love Kira,” shared Dianne Selcho, Admissions Coordinator. “The new reviewer platform has been absolutely amazing. Reviewers tell me all the time how easy it is to see what they’ve already done, what’s left, and how clearly everything is laid out. They absolutely love it.”

“Our faculty and staff really enjoy seeing students before they get to work with them,” Selcho continued.

“Even though it’s not face-to-face, they still feel like they get to know who the student is better than they could from just reviewing their paper file.” 

“Our Inspire report shows applicant ratings in the 4.5 to 4.9 range,” added Sogge. “Students really appreciate being able to complete their interview on their own time, in their own space, and to practice until they feel comfortable. That flexibility has been the biggest impact for them.” explained Selcho. 

While reviewers and applicants alike have praised the experience, the WSU team also highlighted how Kira’s support and customization features have strengthened their process even further.

 

A team to support the overtime shifts

“The bulk assigning is one of the biggest things I love about Kira,” said Selcho. “We use at least two reviewers for every applicant, and being able to assign them in bulk has been amazing. If we had to do it by hand, it would take forever.” shared Selcho.

“The ability to edit our questions, upload our own videos, or make small changes ourselves has been really valuable,” added Sogge. “But if I ever need help, the Kira team is right there. It’s such a rare mix of easy to use and highly customizable.” shared Sogge.

“Everyone I’ve worked with from Kira has been absolutely amazing,” said Selcho. “The customer service is top tier — responsive, helpful, and kind. I even got to meet with the development team to share my experience and wishlist of improvements. That really showed me they value the user’s perspective.” shared Selcho. 

 

For WSU, what began as a way to modernize interviews has grown into a tool that supports their mission of access, diversity, and holistic evaluation.

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