<p>This thread was from a while ago but in case anyone is still curious, someone asked...</p>
<p>For the people who posted that numbers don't matter, do you fall into any of the following categories:
1) URM-- Asian living in Northeast
2) legacy-- No
3) recruited athlete-- Athlete, not recruited
4) people applying in the arts-- No
5) people with lopsided SAT scores (ie 800+600=1400)-- Somewhat (750 V/640 M)
6) women applying in engineering/technical fields- Def not</p>
<p>Applied all RD
Accepted- Amherst, Williams, Wellesley, Cornell, UChicago, Syracuse, BU
Wait list->Rejected- Yale
Wait list->Declined place on WL- BC
Rejected- Tufts</p>
<p>My advice is to apply to a lot of schools and write essays that are presented uniquely and remain true to who you are. I rmember having a difficult time writing an essay for Tufts. I worked hard on it but it just never worked out. I submitted it thinking "this really sucks but I'm tired, it's due in 2 hours, I'm done with this". When I got rejected, I felt like my essay was one of the factors. I felt great when I finished my Amherst essay; I'm not a good writer but my essay sounded "so me". At the very least, make sure you LOVE your own essay.</p>
<p>Try your best on the SAT's... why wouldn't you? But if you come up short, try your best to compensate in other areas. It's obvious advice but if you hold on to that thought, it makes more sense and makes the process less stressful.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>while i might give you some credence with the general supposition that numbers matter, you should amplify your argument.</p>
<p>On the other hand, as colleges use the "community building" concept to diversify, more and more decisions will be made on a holistic basis, allowing for "interesting but less statistically perfect" candidates to be admitted. At some college websites you can get an inkling of what is being noticed--airline pilots, belly dancers and cheerleaders (sic!!!!), bagpipe players, etc. How weird can we get seems to be playing out. I expect to see Duke admitting strippers/callgirls shortly--just someone working their way thru high school. Ha, ha, ha.</p>
<p>once you achieve the baseline of numbers, all is dependent on essays, recs, ecs and how welll you capture the adcoms eye in the timeframe of sixty seconds. It's a marketing game and how you present yourself.</p>
<p>They're a business---heck they even admit full pay students!!!!!!! Too many are forgetting that someone has to pay to support those who've gotten financial aid.</p>
<p>I've gotten more and more cynical as I explore the workings of the adcoms. Their decisions are really a roll of the dice.</p>
<p>What you cannot forget is that a MAJORITY of applicants to Ivies have the same GPA/SAT/rank. There is no way to choose based on numbers only.. So yes, numbers matter in that they reject people with lower scores and average stats, but then for the other 90% of high-scoring applicants, it IS passion/commitment/EC's/essays that get them in. And even with amazing EC's, ppl. get rejected. Basically, youget the baseline scores, do your best on the essays, and the rest is PURE LUCK.</p>
<p>I think scores matter to an extent. Once you hit 2100+ and have a 3.9+ GPA and have taken the hardest courseload in your school, then everything else consists of the intangible factors. Of course, if there are two identical people (i mean theoretically identical), they're going to take the one with the higher SAT score. Once your SAT scores are "up there", the difference between a 2300 or 2400 is a matter of just a few questions. But I mean, I have a friend who got 1790 on the SATs and has her heart set on stanford... she has absolutely no hook, most teachers don't like her b/c she's too "grade-oriented" v. "learning-oriented". Ok, i'm rambling</p>
<p>Getting judged by past rather than present . . . think about it this way. There are kids that have been getting good grades the whole time. All other things equal, it's about them being more attractive candidates than someone who just started doing really well. </p>
<p>COLLEGES DON'T JUDGE in the sense of "Hmm, a B! Not good!". They judge in the sense of "Hmm, this guy's improved, but what about this guy that always did good?". What a lot of people forget is that their own application isn't the only one being considered--it's in the context of tons of other people. It isn't so much that colleges are 'forgiving' or 'unforgiving' about flaws, its about the other people they would have to reject that had nothing they needed to be forgiven for.</p>
<p>And btw . . . numbers do matter . . . but they are very rarely everything.</p>