<p>which colleges have the most complete holistic evaluation of a student.</p>
<p>ive seen threads about schools that place more emphasis on numbers than usual.. MIT, Caltech etc.. but what about colleges that place more emphasis on things like essays, recs, and EC's than others.</p>
<p>I have a low gpa due to a lot of serious family problems(junior year GPA will be around a 91 unweighted with only two honors classes and AP stats, which is a HUGE improvement from sophomore year, which was in the low B range with only one honors class).</p>
<p>My GPA is very poor compared to other people in my school and my rank is not competitive. </p>
<p>assuming my SAT's and EC's are on par with students who get into ivy league schools,but nothing amazing, what colleges should i be looking at.</p>
<p>Well, for most holistic in the Ivies, I would truly give that edge to Columbia. Take a look at the ED and RD rounds and see the many who got rejected with 1500+ and the many who got accepted with around 1300's.</p>
<p>Most schools that are the most holistically based, are those whose stats reflect that. If a school cares about the grades and test scores, it shows up very clearly in those stats. It is not pure coincidence that those ranges exisit. If your grades are not very good, you need to drop your school selectivity ranges (by SAT scores) down a notch to compensate. Also look for schools that re looking for someone like you. A male might look at schools that are low on the males. A female may go the other way. If your SAT1 score is a real catch for the school, they may overlook those grades. But at schools where they have plenty of kids with both the grades and scores, you really need to have something that the school wants badly to get accepted at threshholds below their averages.</p>
<p>Schools that receive thousands of applications tend to be more numbers driven, so that is one good way to start sorting out options. Also, many liberal arts colleges do a very good job of looking at the "whole person" when evaluating candidates. The midwestern schools, in particular, seem to be a very good admissions value from this standpoint: not only do they get fewer applications, many look at intangibles such as character, or rec's and essays quite closely. They also receive fewer applications from outside of the midwest, which gives students from other areas a bit of a boost. Some good ones to look at, depending on your stats: Beloit, Earlham, Knox, Lawrence U, Wittenberg, Grinnell, Dennison, Carleton, St. Olaf, Kalamazoo, Lake Forest, Hiram College, Kenyon.</p>
<p>UChicago is known for its uncommon application that puts a great deal of emphasis on essays and recommendations. Their admit letter states it is words not numbers that gets one admitted.</p>
<p>The problem is that the highschool transcript is probably the strongest indicator of success in college. It is better to get lower test scores and top grades. My girls are an example of student that U of C might consider even with low SAT1s. They took the the most rigorous courseload at a tough school that sends a lot of kids to selective colleges. They had high scores on the SAT2s and APs that they took. They had a lot of good ECs that showed they could balance that course load, and that they had excellent study skills. U of C is not a school to consider if you are not going a good student, as the organizational and study skills become crucial to succeed there even if you are a smart kid. Having said all of that, I do know kids from rigorous prep schools who are a bit low on the gpa but very high on the test scores get into U of Ch. So the difficulty of the school and courses taken can possibly mitagate the gpa.</p>
<p>I agree, my S (a UChicago admit) had a rather low GPA in a tough curriculum and a high ACT, did not take SAT. His essays, recs, and ECs where good as well. Friends with much higher GPA's and similar test scores were turned down; those essays count for a lot. (Don't feel too bad for them, they did get accepted at some good schools including a couple of Ivies and Duke).</p>
<p>Conversely, could you recommend colleges that put the emphasis on numbers: high school grades and SATs, but do not look so much into essays, extracurriculars, sports and such? (I slept through high school, but still managed to maintain a decent GPA and get good SATs)</p>
<p>Tulane seems to be really chasing people with high scores. Three people in each of the past two years from our high school got in with definietely less than stellar grades but very nice test scores, and no other special hooks.</p>
<p>I agree that LAC's, particularly ones with an artsy or alternative reputation, may be your best bet. Think about schools like Hampshire, Bard, Oberlin, Sarah Lawrence.</p>