This study outlines and evaluates the admissions policies and procedures devised for evaluating applicants to the Indiana Academy for Science, Mathematics, and Humanities. The procedures utilized a holistic file review process that required applications to be evaluated in the context of their local regions. Complete student files, which included standardized test scores, grade transcripts, teacher and administrator recommendations, and student accounts of accomplishments, were evaluated and assigned a score in aptitude, achievement, and accomplishment. The file review process determined who would be invited to interview for admission. In the first 2 years of the Academy, 160 students were invited to interview. Results of statistical analysis of student records showed that: (1) the admissions procedures produced a student body that was characterized by academic excellence, geographic diversity, and ethnographic diversity; (2) the aptitude, achievement, accomplishment, and composite ratings from the holistic method were positively correlated with usual predictors such as Scholastic Aptitude Test scores, grades, and teacher recommendations and were positively correlated with academy grade point averages; and (3) canonical correlation and stepwise regression procedures do not produce results that would lead to the construction of a useful analytical model for predicting academic performance. These findings support the continued use of the holistic file review process and demonstrate that a holistic student identification method encourages attention to equity issues that usual predictors do not. (Contains 18 references.) (JDD)