<p>One final point re: character. I see this debated all the time. I don't doubt that true character does matter. But I have seen no direct evidence that admissions officers are especially good at picking this out. And I think that the myriad complicated rules that have been created are often self-servingly supported on "character" grounds. I'd like to see more transparency on this and at least some semblance of statistical evidence that their "character" criteria do more good than harm on average.</p>