<p>For example, if i have adequate grades, average SAT scores, but an awesome essay, awesome extra curriculars and awesome teacher recommendations - how much would this help?</p>
<p>This is not me, but I'm just wondering.</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Hahaha that’s actually my problem. </p>
<p>I read a book on College Essays by the Princeton Review a couple months ago and it basically said this: “An essay can cure the ill, but it can’t raise the dead.”</p>
<p>Get it?</p>
<p>Most selective colleges’ first hurdle will be grades and scores. If the applicant isn’t in the “critical mass” then he/she starts way behind. The reason is that there are “awesome essay, awesome extra curriculars and awesome teacher recommendations” from many with top GPA and stellar test scores.</p>
<p>So it all depends on how selective a college to which this hypothetical students applies. Less selective, more chance (this is true of everyone however).</p>