<p>Tokenadult:</p>
<p>Thanks for the kind words and happy wishes. </p>
<p>
[quote]
My "gut reaction" is that a truly NATIONAL-LEVEL EC, which is rare, can trump several class-rank positions, and can trump 60 or 70 points on the "old" SAT and also trump most "tip" factors. If so, that national EC would put an applicant "ahead" of tens of thousands of other college applicants worldwide. But maybe I'm full of baloney, so I invite further discussion.
[/quote]
I believe that you might be on the right track. Once I read that, I realized that the national recognition is what had made your applicant a star in my mind. </p>
<p>I have to believe that a candidate with those great stats and that level of recognition would be an easy admit at most places. Legacy status, athletic and music recognition, and any other tip factors would be superfluous in that case. Similarly, a candidate with great statistics who is also an athlete and a legacy, but with more average recognitions would still be a great prospect at Famous school. The lack of national recognition (i.e. Intel, Westinghouse, and the like) does bring down his profile a bit but not enough in the latter case. </p>
<p>How much would your candidates chances decrease if we were to take away his legacy status, take away his athletic and music recognitions, and lower his national-level EC to an average local or regional recognition? I dont know enough to offer an opinion, but it is interesting to speculate.</p>