Assume a 4.1 W gpa, 1500 SAT and Solid (but not anything outstanding EC’s) such as XC/Track at HS, one or two clubs holding a leadership position, slight volunteering, and maybe some sort of academic summer program, but nothing like an internship or gov school. So all around, not anything stands out, but just a “good” applicant. (basically me lol)
And assume this person has amazing essays on his application, and it tells a lot about him in a good way. Nothing about building apps or anything, but just a small thing from his life that is really insightful.
How would their chances be for T20 schools just being a solid applicant, but really amazing essays. Rice? Vanderbilt? And going lower, Ivy league schools an stanford?
What’s the unweighted GPA? A 4.1 W means a lot of different things coming from different schools.
Bottom line, though - assume most applicants with top stats are also able to write really good essays. Meaning - with a 1500 SAT and let’s say that your UW GPA is like a 3.8 or 3.9, you are not totally out of the running, but the odds are low. Better at Rice and Vandy than the top 5 schools. So it doesn’t hurt to throw your application to a couple of reaches, but spend time researching and finding some solid match/target schools that you would be happy with.
–A great essay is a positive in an application but it will not make up for academic stats that are out of range for the school. While admissions are holistic, academics are a top priority. Use tools like Naviance if your HS has it or google the school profile/common data set to see if your academics are a fit for the colleges you are interested in.
–The idea of a “lower Ivy league school” is just plain silly. All of the Ivy League colleges are outstanding academic institutions with incredibly competitive admissions.
–Agree with the above that you need to create a list that includes reach, match, and safety schools that appear affordable (run net price calculator) and that you would be excited to attend.
A 4.1 weighted GPA may be based on a 3.1 unweighted GPA or a 3.9 unweighted GPA, or many other possibilities. The difference has a very large impact on your chance of admission to a super selective college.
Stanford said at one point that 80% of their applicants are academically qualified to attend. You should assume that pretty nearly all of that 80% are also writing excellent essays. They accept less than 5% of applicants. The Ivy League schools are all going to have similarly difficult expectations for applicants.
If you want to apply to a few Ivy League schools, then do so. However, you need to primarily focus on schools where you have the stats to get in and which will be affordable for you and your family, preferably without debt.
At UC-Berkeley, from my discussions with AOs, GPA (using both UC GPA and fully weighted GPA) along with test scores and perceived rigor makes up about 2/3 of the internal scoring by my best estimation. Essays, ECs, and other factors such as first gen college and in a single-parent family adds bonus points. So a strong essay may help some, but not that much.
If your UW GPA is at 3.8+, you could be in the running because your test scores are great. You should still have match and likely schools because T20 schools are reaches for everyone. A great essay can boost your application, but it won’t make up for any deficiencies on your transcript.
Your question is misleading because 1500 SATs are hardly “average”. Your stats are certainly good enough for many top 100 schools, and that’s pretty darn good.
Regarding reply 2, I don’t think the OP intended a reference to “lower Ivy League schools.” “Lower” appears to have been a reference to lower U.S. News rankings ordinals in the university category.
When you are talking about schools like Vandy, Stanford, and the Ivy League, the chances for all unhooked applicants are poor. As for your question, can outstanding essays cancel out or otherwise make up for the fact that an applicant’s GPA and test scores are below median? My guess is no.
Essays are the most subjective part of your app and therefore their impact is the least predictable. An essay that is interesting and provocative, in a good way, to one AO, may fall flat with another even in the same institution. With rare exceptions, your high school transcript will carry the most weight in your app. It represents 2 to 3.5 years of work in terms of challenges you took on and the resulting outcomes.
The other thing about application essays is that most applicants and others the applicant knows (teachers, counselors, parents, other students) have no idea how good the essays are in comparison to those in the entire applicant pool at a super-selective college. For example, it is possible that the best essay anyone has ever seen at the applicant’s high school is nothing special in comparison to the best essays in the applicant pool at a super-selective college.
Think of super-selective college admissions this way: you are in a class with thousands of other students, but you do not know any of them, or even know who they are. The class is graded passed/not-passed, with only a limited number getting “passed” grades. The grade is entirely based on a project (college application) on which general descriptions of what is being sought are given, but less specific than typical school projects or assignments. After submitting your project, you wait several months and then get only a “passed” or “not-passed” grade, with no feedback on what was good or bad about your project.