<p>Two students. Both applicants for a school of moderate competition. (Say, 35% acceptance rate - #45ish ranked nationally.) </p>
<p>Student A:
GPA: 3.8
Rank: Top 2%
SAT: 2000
APs: 8 in total. </p>
<p>Student B:
GPA: 3.6
Rank: Top 11%
SAT: 2200
APs: 4 in total</p>
<p>Same ECs. Student A has stronger essays. Student B has stronger recommendations. One got rejected, one got accepted. Which is which?</p>
<p>A gets accepted.</p>
<p>Student B, you sound like you are student A and you are bitter.</p>
<p>LOL - no, I’m not student A (or B), these were two kids who applied to Northeastern in the early action round. Tons of people got deferred/rejected at my school, only a few got accepted. I’m still waiting for my decision which is quite a few months away. I’ve just become really fascinated with people’s stats at my school and who gets in and who doesn’t, just so I can tailor my own expectations for myself.</p>
<p>They’re also both dudes, if that makes any difference.</p>
<p>In my opinion you can never really take who got in and who didn’t as an indicator of your chances (to a certain extent. If you are far far below their common data set you know what to expect) but you never really know how an adcoms will see essays and supps. What you and your friends think is a masterpiece could be pretentious trash to an adcom and what you think is poorly written could resonate with an adcom. Nobody knows.</p>
<p>I’m gonna say student A because it seems like a trick question since B has a GPA/class rank and less APs but then I thought maybe it’s not a trick question–in that case it’s a DOUBLE trick question, so I’ll pick A.</p>
<p>lol i’m thinking too hard.</p>
<p>Yeah but I was under the impression that really big universities like Northeastern are very stats oriented, so the subjective parts of your application won’t make much of a difference unless they’re awful or phenomenal. Like NEU’s average SAT is a 2010, and GPA is an A-. A stellar essay really won’t do much for a 1500 SAT, and a mediocre essay won’t bring down the prospects of someone with a 2400.</p>
<p>Based on the info listed, my guess is A got in. But, not enough info. Stellar EC’s, leadership, volunteer or work experience. It is not all about the numbers.</p>
<p>Both guys were in like, two clubs. And I’m pretty sure they were the same two clubs - Robotics and Key Club, and neither held leadership positions.</p>
<p>I didn’t really think this through as to when I was going to reveal what the right answer is - but yeah.</p>
<p>B was the one who got in. A got rejected.</p>
<p>I think A got accepted because his application looks better. More AP’s, better rank, strong essays, and better GPA… My friend has similar stats to A. She has a 2000 SAT and got into Northeastern EA with a full scholarship.</p>