<p>At all of the information sessions I've been to, the admissions officers speaking mention that their school rejects 4.0 2400 applicants every year. They then go on to say that they don't want students who are just churning out grades and test scores.</p>
<p>I seriously did not try to churn out grades. I just did my best, and same with the test scores. I only took the SAT twice, I didn't get a tutor, and I didn't take a class. I only studied for the second time I took it by going through a practice test 2-weekends before the test, and another one the week-end prior to the test. </p>
<p>I really didn't plan to get a perfect score. It's just that all of the questions were fairly east, I guess. But will colleges think that I am a perfectionist and that I'm an overzealous test taker just because of my grades and scores? Will they take pride in rejecting the churning-out-grades-and-test-scores kid, just for fun?</p>
<p>I'm sorry this is long, but every time I hear about the pride admissions officers seem to take in rejecting to this type of student, I panic a little inside.
What do you think?</p>
<p>While it is true that applicants with perfect numbers get rejected each year, there is no reason to believe that they are rejected at a greater rate than those with lower scores and worse grades. In fact, all of the data suggest an admissions benefit as scores go up, though this has not been broken down to 2400’s in particular. </p>
<p>The largely successful results of past applicants who had perfect numbers and who posted on CC suggest that having excellent grades and scores is certainly no disadvantage. And why should it be? It’s unlikely that those with 2400 exhibit the signs of “robotic mindlessness” any more than those with, say, 2300; they simply answered more questions correctly on the college admissions test.</p>
<p>I think this is a misguided attempt to describe the holistic admissions process, which goes beyond–but does not ignore or even downgrade the importance of–scores. In practice, those with higher scores are admitted at higher rates. (This could be due to a
correlation between higher test scores and more impressive attributes overall, however.)</p>
<p>You need to demonstrate that you have strong outside interests and just happen to have great stats.</p>
<p>They don’t want a kid who is solely focused on grades/scores who has “zero personality” and will be some (hated) cut-throat classmate in the classroom.</p>
<p>As long as you’ve done something else in your life you’ll be fine. Perfect scores help everyone so as long as every other part of your application is “acceptable” you should be fine. My only advice would be to write the college essay on something non-academic but you should have no trouble getting into some extremely good colleges/universities. Good teacher recommendations can also be extremely helpful.</p>
<p>Also, you only took the SAT twice. That’s not being overzealous. There’s a kid at my high school who got a perfect score but took the SAT again so that he could prove he could be perfect twice. (he wasn’t)</p>
<p>Great Scores with no ECs is better than horrible scores with great ECs. The most important factors in admissions are SAT scores and Academic GPA.</p>
<p>If you have a 4.0 and 2400, even if you really don’t do much else you’re basically a lock to get into at least one top 10 school.</p>
<p>It depends on what you mean by “much else.” Even a quantitatively perfect applicant with compelling essays and recommendations but zero meaningful EC’s (e.g., participating in only a couple clubs that require very limited time commitment; no leadership positions) is still not in a strong position for a top-ten school, let alone a “lock.” But if you were referring to weak EC’s by CC standards (e.g., moderate time commitments to several typical clubs and one or two leadership positions), then the applicant, indeed, has a good chance of being accepted to at least one highly selective school if he or she applies widely.</p>
<p>The takeaway from this is that great scores and grades are helpful but are not assurances of anything: compelling subjective factors are needed as well. To illustrate this, many admissions officers often point to rejections of 2400/4.0 applicants; in doing do, they are not, however, meaning to say that having perfect numbers is in any way detrimental to your application.</p>
<p>Schools even accept the kids who have no life outside of academics. They accept all sorts of kids - the lopsided kids, the well rounded kids, the grinds, the free spirits, the creative, the socially active. All these kids can make up a community. Some schools may prefer a particular type of kid, but there is room for all sorts of kids in all sorts of schools. </p>
<p>My daughter’s friend is applying to a school that values leadership. My daughter and I laugh and shudder at what those dorms must be like with all those leaders living side by side…</p>
<p>I know a kid who is solely interested in one subject. He competed in it, he tutored in it, he went to camps that emphasized it, he volunteered by teaching it. His test score were perfect in it. Anyone looking at his education might wonder what he did for fun besides this, and if they asked, the answer would be not much. He had no trouble getting into top colleges. The school he is at values the kids who show that they very hard workers - they have to, because it is a very difficult school, and if they did not value that, then many of the students would not make it through core. </p>
<p>Be proud of your scores and grades. Just make sure that among your college choices, are schools that value the type of student you are!</p>