<p>So just a general question, does "perfection" (meaning perfect grades, rank, ECs, ect) matter when applying to Ivies or is it more important to be yourself and highlight your strengths??? Or do you have to have a healthy combination of both?</p>
<p>A healthy combination of both!</p>
<p>well it’s obviously difficult to have both perfect scores as well as character so between the two which do you think top colleges would favor more?</p>
<p>there is no magic bullet. If there was, all the kids on CC would apply it. My daughter, Yale class of 2015 was not “perfect” (she was not valedictorian for example) but exhibited other “exceptional” qualities. But don’t try to mold yourself into what you might think Yale wants, because “who knows”. Just do what you love because you love to do it, and then try to tell that story.</p>
<p>How about this: it’s academic.</p>
<p>Either you are or you aren’t. It’s not as if you can go up to a Redbox kiosk and order one or both.</p>
<p>And even if one isn’t, if you have a deeper understanding of what top college are looking for, you’ll know that the question doesn’t even have to be answered.</p>
<p>the reason i am asking is because my academics are strong enough for colleges like georgetown for example, but not for my top picks like Yale. I feel that my personality can put me over the edge and I am trying to find a way to convey that in my admissions essay, however i want to know if my personality is in fact enough to push me the extra mile and make up for my great (but not fantastic) grades.</p>
<p>I know that colleges look for a candidate who is passionate about their work, not just a ridged academic. I am wondering if colleges will focus in on my less than perfect grades to the point that they overlook my personality. But im sure if they look at a combination of both then i will get in. :/</p>
<p>From the primary source, you can interpret as you see fit:</p>
<p>[What</a> Yale Looks For | Yale College Admissions](<a href=“http://admissions.yale.edu/what-yale-looks-for]What”>What Yale Looks For | Yale College Undergraduate Admissions)</p>
<p>thanks :))</p>
<p>I think top college want students who are not only passionate, but have been super successful as well.</p>
<p>I hope you don’t underestimate other people who think they have “outstanding” personality. While thousands of applicants are valedictorians and 2300+ SAT scorers, as many applicants, I believe, are relying on ECs and personality. And since those are plain subjective at a certain level, trying to predict your chances based on how you look to the college is as futile as predicting your chance of winning a lottery.</p>
<p>@melody10511 - I completely agree with you, trying to predict the admissions process of top colleges is nearly impossible. But I find that all their acceptees have something special that puts them above and beyond others. It is not simply academics, rather a combination of things. I guess finding the balance is the key.</p>
<p>“I guess finding the balance is the key.” Sort of…</p>
<p>Great personality isn’t going to make up for less than stellar GPA. It just won’t. Your 3.8 GPA will ensure you have a great college career. But may not make the cut for any top ten college. Their applicant pools are flush with people with fantastic GPAs.</p>
<p>well, is there anything that I could do to possibly compensate? I’m sure that colleges just don’t look at GPAs and start weeding out applicants with lower grade point averages. After all they do look at applications holistically. There must be something I could do which will balance it out. And I’m still an sophmore so I have some time to bring up my gpa.</p>
<p>Perfection is better than imperfection. As are better than Bs. Winning a major national prize is better than not winning one. Being the president of the senior class is better than being the vice-president. I understand that everybody wants to be told that something really good can balance out something that’s not so good, and that’s true, up to a point.</p>
<p>so I guess I’ll have to study much harder and hope for the best. 
Thanks anyway, guys :)</p>
<p>I think colleges do start weeding out applicants from the pool based on GPA and SAT scores. I’ve heard that for the top schools, if you have less than a 2000 on your SAT, they might not even look at the rest of your application. But that’s only what I’ve heard.</p>
<p>
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<p>And develop a solid list. </p>
<p>It’s OK to have a reach like Y on your list, when problems arise is when the majority of the list is made up of reaches which are long shots and matches which could fall either way, many times leaving the candidate with safeties they’re not that keen to attend.</p>
<p>will do :)</p>