Acceptance to McCombs - the secret sauce

My daughter was accepted to McCombs business school for fall of 2018 - the school of her dreams. So many very capable classmates were not accepted (some of these kids got into UNC, West Point, Michigan). I believe what made the difference for my daughter was that she did well with the ‘holistic’ type review for McCombs. Her grades and test scores were high, as was the rigor of her classes, but some kids that got rejected had even higher. She had relevant business class experience in both Jr and Sr years - an obvious passion for her chosen field. She had very significant leadership roles in her multi year extra curricular activities. She had recommendations from teachers who actually knew her quite well, and thoughtful and well written essays that showed a depth of personal reflection. Even if you have very high grades and test scores, that may not be enough for McCombs. They really do want to see well rounded, well respected student, not just a smart student. They want the whole package, and kids that show an interest in business early on, not some someone who randomly chooses business as a major their senior year. That is what I believe made a difference for her in getting accepted when so many of her classmates did not. I hope this information helps.

From the visitor to McCombs last month, they have accepted 1,800 undergraduate students and expect half of them (900-1000) will enroll. The school currently has 4,600 students

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I wish D were admitted into McCombs.

You talk about your daughter being the “whole package”, but are there any particular aspects that you think helped her? For example, in addition to decent test scores, maybe business extracurriculars would be weighted more strongly than others.
(And while you’re at it, what did her test scores look like?)