<p>besides all the requirements being important, what about extra stuff like additional writing samples, continuous letters to your interviewer etc.</p>
<p>bump...........................</p>
<p>1 Interview If your completly strnage or your interviewer thinks that you would not attend the school your cooked...
2 Teacher recs what will the school recieve form you?
3 SSAT (measure grades between schools, how much is an A worht at school x vrs y?)
4 Grades (If you get good recs and a high SSAT but you have only B's then how hard is your school, could it be better than the student who got a 60 on the SSAT and A's?)
5 Essays (a good essay shows your commitment and how much you want to attend whatever school)
6 this is only somewhat of what yyou can offer to the school</p>
<p>What are some other factor you think can nudge a strong applicant's file from the big pile into the little?</p>
<p>Already mentioned:
hooks, racial diversity, geographic diversity, parents' college, sibling of current student, FA status, "holes" the school wants to fill.</p>
<p>I'll take a stab at a few more:
-a letter from a trustee or well-connected alum. who knows you well. Don't want to pi$$ off the big donors, do we?
-celebrity parent. Admitting movie star X's son or pro. athelete Y's daughter will help to bump up applications in the next few years.
-who interviewed you. If the admissions director really wants you you're more likely to get in than the alum. interviewer's pet. Of course, on the other side, if the top dog didn't like you, your stellar grades and flawless recs. won't help you.
-parental craziness. Purely something that will keep you out. Rude parents, pushy, humorless parents, attempts to bribe the admissions staff, etc.. Who wants to deal with these people for the next 4-6 years?</p>
<p>What else can you think of?</p>
<p>Parents with mega $$$ - differentiated from celebrity parents. Might not raise applications next year but might lead to huge gifting down the road.</p>
<p>Not all schools want children of celebrity parents. The Overachievers talks a bit about that. It can be a hassle to have to have children with their own security guards at school.
Many elite prep schools do take bribes. They don't really like to, but it's the way things work. Of course, there's a difference between personal bribes (probably could make them automatically reject an applicant) and school "donations" (could tip the scales).</p>
<p>bump for godot</p>
<p>personally i would not rank them all as top importance.
Sell what you have. =]</p>
<p>Also, if the school you attend now pushes you very hard, it could help...
And, personality. Not just your answers. Show your true self.</p>
<p>Bumping this thread - curious to see if people's opinions have changed post March 10th. </p>
<p>My initial responses:
My ranking:
1. Grades
2. Teacher recs
3. Interview
4. EC's***
5. SSATs
6. Essays</p>
<p>My thoughts now:
My ranking:
1. Grades
2. Teacher recs
3. Interview
4. EC's***
5. Essays
6. SSATs</p>
<p>*** If you have an EC which fits a special need of the school, it can give you a big boost</p>
<p>Bottomline - The first 4 are the most important > gradess prove you can do the work, teacher recs show ability as well as character, a great interview can lead to your interviewer really championing you, and you need ECs - preferably more than one as these schools want doers and joiners</p>
<p>Wow creative1, exactly my point when I started this thread. Everyone judges each others chances on SSAT scores and imo and it seems yours, it just isn't that important in the scheme of things.</p>
<p>I have spoken to friends who have worked in admissions offices, and you would be off the mark to think that SSAT scores are last on that list.</p>
<p>I thought that before and I feel even stronger about it now. If you've don't have anything "special" to offer e.g. minority, strong sports or other ECs, etc, > sure - a great ssat score will help you, but more than any of the other items listed, I think schools will look past a less than stellar SSAT score. </p>
<p>This board focuses WAY too much on SSAT scores because the scores are easily quantifiable and therefore comparable across applicants. I think putting too much weight on scores is a huge mistake. </p>
<p>After going through the process with my child, I would put much greater weight on teacher recs and the interview than I previously thought and much less on the SSAT scores.</p>
<p>So, how would you rank things lintball?</p>
<p>Of course, we're all biased by our own experiences.</p>
<p>What YOU would put a lot of weight on and what the admissions people put a lot of weight on may be different things. The reality is that they do not put a LOT of weight on any ONE thing, but they do look at grades/SSATs together as a unit. They EXPECT that a straight A student should have pretty good SSAT scores. It is when they don't "jibe" with one another that they may look more carefully for the reasons why.... that may come from teachers recs or from the parents statement. The school which I am most familiar does use the SSAT scores as a predictor of future success. I can not say this is true of ALL schools.</p>
<p>You can't rank things, every applicant will be treated somewhat differently. Depending on their situation.</p>
<p>I still stand behind my original assessment as quoted below:</p>
<p>
[quote]
I don't think there is a "ranking" of these things at all, personally.</p>
<p>Grades (plus rigor of courses) and test scores tell admissions whether a student can handle the work at a school. Beyond a certain threshold (each school has their own), only adds a small portion to an applicant's overall score. </p>
<p>I know that when I went to Berkeley, I heard stories from the engineering school about how many 4.0 students were turned down and how many perfect SATs (1600 in my day as they didn't have the writing test) were turned down, while several friends in the school had GPAs between 3.5 and 3.8 and test scores from 1350 to 1450 and were admitted. Clearly perfection wasn't required in academics.</p>
<p>Teacher recs serve to validate the grades and test scores, but more importantly give a feel for how the student fits into the classroom - is s/he a leader, a poser, or invisible. Is s/he high maintenance or a contributor? Need a certain level of comfort that the student will add to the flavor of the classroom without being a disruption. This is more of a pass/fail test most of the time.</p>
<p>Essay is all about a student's motivation - what makes him/her tick and where the passion is. Yes, there is a bit of intellectual measurement here for the truly high level institutions (how well can s/he communicate an idea), but more importantly it shows how self-aware the student is of where he/she is, where the student wants to go, and how s/he is going to get there. Lots of bonus points available here for the student who needs a boost from lack of academic achievement. Lots of opportunity for the pretentious to lose points.</p>
<p>Extra Curriculars and Awards - Very similar to the essay. It shows the passion of the student and committment to achieve over time. This is where a lot of students fool themselves thinking more is better. A school doesn't care if you were a member or officer in 12 different school clubs. What did you achieve from those clubs? Did the chess club go to a big tournament. Did your ranking improve? </p>
<p>Quality and committment are what count in extra curriculars. You do need a certain number of items to show that you are not a total recluse (a big turnoff to schools). That is a minimum requirement. But being a member of 6 clubs at school is no better than being a member of 2 clubs, if membership is all that you achieve.</p>
<p>A multi-year, 6 hour or more per week activity is probably a requirement to get into any of the top schools, whether it be a sport, music, church, or volunteer activity. Some sort of achievement or recognition related to that activity is a good validation of that activity. It shows a passion for something and confirms that a student is driven to achieve over time.</p>
<p>A bunch of 2 or 3 hour a week activities generally is regarded as having a schedule well managed by the parents. They are busy and well rounded, but no passion points are awarded for being highly-motivated.</p>
<p>The Interview - Mostly a tool to validate the passion and drive as exhibited in the extracurriculars and essay. Lots of trap doors to fall through. Also a tool to see where the school lands on an applicant's list. For a candidate who looks generic enough to go to a lot of different schools, this is the opportunity to show committment to that particular school. I'd say this is mostly a pass/fail test.</p>
<p>Money - Yes, I brought up that dirty word! And yes, not needing FA does help, despite the "need blind" claims of some schools. If you meet a certain threshold (some places higher than others) passing all the pass/fail tests, and you are full paying (and even better legacy who have donated money), you are in. All schools need full-pay students. Some need more than others, hence different thresholds at different schools. </p>
<p>The good news is that this is a relatively small percentage of overall applicants who get in this way at most of the competitive schools, because they are usually well endowed and are willing to spend the money for better candidates.</p>
<p>I don't think they look at ranking in these areas. I think they look at minimum scores in each area, then at the number of bonus points beyond the minimum collected from all of the areas to determine admission.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>lintball, using the ssat score to judge future success has nothing to do with whether or not they use it to accept someone. SSAT scores will not help the sit in the front of the TV kid, but great recs ec's will more than make up for less than stellar SSAT scores. imo, there is way too much emphasis on SSAT and SAT scores when evaluating one's chances for acceptance. </p>
<p>We are seeing a trend with more and more colleges turning away from SAT scores. imo there are better predictors than scores in evaluating prospective students.</p>
<p>prepparent, I didn't say how I FELT one way or the other, I was only relaying infomation that I have gotten first hand from people who work in an admissions department of a prep school. Don't shoot the messenger.</p>
<p>My guess is there are differences in how certain schools may weight ssat scores. We talked to schools (some of the most selective) who said ssat scores really weren't that important of a factor.</p>