If you were an admissions officer,

<p>And you saw two applicants from the same school:</p>

<p>Applicant 1:
3.5 UW / 4.0 W
2200 SAT
16 AP classes and 10 honors
ECs: 5
Good essay
Average recs
Fin aid: no
Hook: participates in pretty good ECs, shows aptitude in writing and graphic design, highly rigorous courseload</p>

<p>Applicant 2:
3.9 UW / 4.1 W
1900 SAT
6 AP classes and 5 honors
ECs: 1
Poor essay
Average recs
Fin aid: yes
Hook: has only lived in US for a year, doesn't speak English well, but has amazing grades and shows strong aptitude in math and science</p>

<p>Which applicant would you choose?</p>

<p>they’re both applying for different things right, because they show different strengths? You can’t really compare them then. If I were an officer I would only compare those with similar interests and take the best.</p>

<p>I’d take applicant 1, if I am an admissions officer at a LAC or university that expects a lot of writing and reading. If I’m an admissions officer at Georgia Tech or UIUC I would take both of them, even Applicant 2 who looks like yet another Asian science robot. (Who by the way has pulled off a good trick taking 11 classes in the one year he’s been in the US…)</p>

<p>i agree.
schools look for different qualities.
maybe in the essay one showed humor, or a quality that the other applicant didn’t. we can’t tell, we’re not the admissions council.
they both have certain stats that would be desired.</p>

<p>Applicant 2 has actually been in the U.S. for almost 2 years now, but at the time they applied (in fall 2008), they’d only been here for 1 year.</p>

<p>really depends on the school. What some colleges look for might be COMPLETELY different from others. I’ll look for personality, fit, etc.</p>