Looking at some of the colleges my son may be applying to I decided to check out the common data sets, assuming for colleges with somewhat similar profiles/rankings that the important factors section (selection of students section) would be very much alike for all these colleges.
I was surprised to see that was not always the case. For instance, one college listed
the GPA as not important and another listed ECs as “considered” but not as important or very important.
Should applicants use the data sets as a way of increasing their chances for admission? In other words, if a college does not stress ECs on the data set and my son does not have as strong ECs as many who are applying, might he have a better chance at that college than another with otherwise similar applicant profiles?
For example, if a college says that they recommend subject tests, it’s in your best interest to have your son take them. If they consider them, then that’s one less thing for him to stress about. You should use that data to your advantage.
That data is the best source of publicly available info you are going to get, so I’d rely upon it. Schools have no reason to misrepresent themselves. That’s good news for your S if they say ECs are merely considered and that’s not your S’s strength.
I’m surprised if a school says GPA isn’t important. Just to make sure it’s not a reporting error, I’d check a few previous years for that school (there are usually multiple years of CDSs on line) to see if that’s consistently been the case. If it’s changed this year, your S might want to drop admissions a line and ask if that change is accurate.
As with everything, you have to filter what you learn. It’s one thing to see stats for matriculants, another thing to expect C7 (Relative Importance) to be cast in concrete and view it as an absolute. For that, you’re better off reading the main pages, seeing what they emphasize. If a school CDS, eg, says ECs are only “considered,” no one tells you what that really means. ECs can still be a darned significant factor when deciding among applicants. Be logical about this. The college I work for used to say the interview was not considered, when I knew darned well they read them all.
There is no standard that says the qualitative aspects are exactly represented in the CDS.