<p>I gotta believe that smaller schools are going to read a kid’s entire application and ergo would be more holistic. Large Public U simply has to make a first cut based on numbers (GPA, test scores) alone. With applications numbering in the tens of thousands, I think a kid really has to survive that first cut before everything else (recommendations, ECs, . . .) can be considered.</p>
<p>So I’d be thinking smaller school, and not first tier. The CTCL schools would be a great place to start. Worked very well for DS#1 (solid SATs, shaky GPA, great teacher recs and essay).</p>