<p>I know someone who got into a top 25 with exactly one AP course from a rigorous private. She had a 3.4 gpa. She had a very, very focused application and a clear academic goal. Culturally, she was a fit for this U as well. Her e.c.'s & community service complemented & strengthened her academic focus. I should also be clear that, while not a development admit or otherwise hooked, she nevertheless was definitely not a FA candidate. (For the non-generously endowed institutions, and for those ones which do not offer merit aid either, this can factor into the standard for any particular admit.)
I also think that foreign language fluency was a tip. </p>
<p>I’ve seen many CC students not be admitted to top 15 when they had double-digit AP’s and a long unfocused “list” of mediocre e.c.'s. Many of these students in the last 5 years have also owned up on Results threads that they believed they somewhat blew off the app or merely regretted being insufficiently explicit.</p>
<p>And I have seen statistically equal candidates from prestigious public & private h.schools, where both – applying to the same Elite, for example – have impressive AP completions & scores, identical gpa’s, but where one of the two has distinguished himself or herself qualitatively – going deeper into academics, deeper into committed e.c.'s, and above all (again) showing that in the applications, resulting in an acceptance for the one candidate who did so, not for the “equal” classmate.</p>
<p>Some of us continue to notice that the application effort can be where the rubber meets the road. It’s great to have accomplishments, great to have stats, and exciting to have goals, but in the end these all need to be communicated in an appealing & differentiating way.</p>