<p>wsd, didn’t mean for my post to be condescending, sorry if it came off that way.</p>
<p>I was very serious. I believe the best educational quality:holistic admission ratio to be fairly well-respected LACs. Amongst my friends I noticed women’s colleges to be especially less focused on stats (grades, SAT scores) and more focused on the essay, recommendations, ECs, etc. Other “hippy-ish” or alternative schools are probably the same, like Sarah Lawrence, Macalester, Reed, Colorado College etc. A male can improve his chances by applying to schools with low male:female ratios (many LACs apply haha). </p>
<p>Of course, those friends who were accepted to fairly selective schools with sub-3.5 GPAs (one with a 3.2, actually!) had exceptional writing ability, great recs, decent talent in the arts/music (I believe them to be talented and they now contribute to campus arts/music, but they were never “all-state” or won awards), strong courseload, community involvement, and fairly strong SAT scores (~2100+).</p>
<p>I don’t think any college is going to be willing to take a “long shot” on a kid unless kid is stronger in other areas, i.e. kid has talent in arts/music, can write really well, took a very hefty courseload, has demonstrated leadership ability, all of the above, etc. Harvard may take someone with a 3.5, but rest assured they took harder courses than you can imagine, got great test scores, and are probably athletes or musical geniuses or something - I do believe all of the top schools are holistic in their admissions, but “holistic” means little for most people (including myself) who are simply jack of all trades and not super talented in a particular area. The worst schools to go for would be the hyper-selective (top 20), since they receive enough applicants with super star grades and ECs that they don’t need to take any chances and/or “holistic” just means they’ll take you if you’re a star actress or something, and many Big State Unis (since they don’t have time to factor in ECs/other strengths as much). </p>
<p>Of course, it is all about packaging - well-written personal statements (easier to do if the app allows for more customizing and is not Common App), knowing what teachers to get recs from, knowing how to frame your interests in terms of “ECs that contributed to my character”, etc. can make or break. A college app is much like a resume, one shot to make everything you’ve done look really good. This wouldn’t have as much of an impact on the hyper selective schools, since there’s only so much you can “make it look pretty”, but it would have an impact on the fairly selective ones, such as good LACs.</p>
<p>Some colleges are in general less selective, however, and still provide a good education, so if kid has mediocre grades, test scores, and ECs (but may be a great and intelligent person still, just not the High Achieving High Schooler), then probably should find school where his/her data set matches school’s data set. But again, that doesn’t mean they have to settle for a mediocre school. Parents on here always cite the “Colleges that Change Lives” book for schools that provide a good education but range in selectivity.</p>