<p>I've heard of students with really poor grades being admitted because they have amazing personalities; can anyone elaborate on this?</p>
<p>i have only heard the opposite happen. guy got good scores, good ecs, 800 maths and physics, seemed like a genius every possible way but got rejected from the big H because of his teacher's recommendations. he was basically outlined as a loner who was just involved with himself.</p>
<p>There was an article in Atlantic Monthly some time ago about how Harvard's admissions process in past days had been largely based on personality, being "the right kind of boy" for Harvard, etc. They were not referring to the present.</p>
<p>Of course personality plays a big part. It shines through on everything that is (or is not) on your resume. And it works both ways, as noted in post #2. Isn't that the whole point with highly selective schools? they're looking for more than just statistics.</p>
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i have only heard the opposite happen.
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Same. Generally, a poor personality has the potential to keep you out of a school, but a good personality won't necessarily get you in (unless you have good qualifications to match it).</p>
<p>And also, you have to keep in mind that adcoms are people, too. Would you really want to admit an extremely arrogant applicant? And wouldn't an adcom become more attached and drawn to an applicant with a great personality?</p>
<p>So it all comes down to your essay?</p>
<p>They get enough of both types of applicants-smart, but arrogant or the opposite-not as smart and great personality. You need both to get in.</p>