could essays be the deciding factors?

<p>has someone ever been admitted to columbia with lower stats but good essays?</p>

<p>No offense, this is an absolutely stupid question. Of course kids get in because of good essays...they do to every college.</p>

<p>colleges, imo, are shifting their emphasis more and more towards student's qualities/personality/character, whatever you want to call it, and away from pure numbers. i have an inkling that this is partly because strong scores/number don't reveal much about a person- are they especially gifted in academics? are they just good test takers? did they study exhaustively for exams, standardized tests, etc? i think the ad coms want a more in depth look at who they could be potentially accepting and the essay is their best shot</p>

<p>i think its a lovely question... i've been wondering too</p>