<p>Greetings, CC community. Do you think colleges give more weight to EC's than to GPA's and the SAT?</p>
<p>GPA and SAT, I think.</p>
<p>No. Your transcript is still the most important factor of your application.</p>
<p>ECs do not get anywhere near the importance as grades, difficulty of courses taken, and test scores unless you can honestly claim having invented the internet.</p>
<p>I went to a presentation from a college counselor last night, and this was one one of the first questions posed to him.</p>
<p>He said that for “selective” schools, that the GPA and Test scores account for about 75% of the decision for admission, and even a higher percentage for merit scholarship consideration.</p>
<p>He said for “highly selective” schools such as the Ivies and their ilk, that EC’s become a much bigger factor. Those schools typically receive applications from the top 1 or 2% of students with respect to grades and test scores, so the EC’s help make the tough decisions for admission.</p>
<p>So, unless you are interested in schools that are not selective, get a good GPA and good test scores.</p>
<p>The way it was explained to me was that getting good grades and good SAT/ACT scores was like being given a ticket to applying to highly selective schools and having a chance. To be a competitive candidate, you also have to have impressive ECA’s. </p>
<p>arrdad’s right, the ivies are flooded with academically great candidates and the deciding factor is often the ECA’s.</p>
<p>But if one is speaking of the overall context (beyond the handful of ultra selective colleges), about 90% of US colleges admit solely on transcript and scores.</p>
<p>In that light, no one can say ECs are more important than academic performance. Unless you’re a D-1 footballer or hoopster.</p>
<p>^Exactly. For the vast majority of schools, transcript and SAT will be the deciding factor. For the more competitive schools, statistics are still the most important factor–that is, you won’t get in without superior GPA and SATs–but ECs are necessary to explain to colleges exacty what you’ll be doing with your four years there. Colleges are trying to assemble a well-rounded student class, so they’re not necessarily looking for well-rounded kids but rather ones with focused, accomplished interests. But if you sacrifice your academics to accomplish those things, Harvard won’t be interested.</p>
<p>Here is a (growing) list of colleges that don’t require SAT/ACT scores for admission: </p>
<p>[List</a> of SAT/ACT Optional Schools](<a href=“http://www.fairtest.org/university/optional]List”>ACT/SAT Optional List - Fairtest).</p>
<p>Many of these schools do require their own supplement in lieu of a standardized test score, but it’s still an interesting statement. The whole idea behind this movement is to reward students who have excelled beyond the classroom.</p>
<p>Some schools have even tried to bring students’ personality traits into the application process. The Wall Street Journal had an article on this awhile ago: </p>
<p>[College</a> Applicants Getting Personality Scores](<a href=“http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203612504574342732853413584.html]College”>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203612504574342732853413584.html)</p>
<hr>
<p>Dan
[Discus</a> Awards](<a href=“http://www.discusawards.com/]Discus”>http://www.discusawards.com/) - Recognizing high school students for more than their grades and test scores</p>
<p>Don’t ask about “colleges” since they weigh in so many different ways. Some big state schools weigh ECs much lower than, say, a selective LAC that gives equal weight to them, but the numeric score bar starts out higher.</p>