<p>Hello everyone,
While I understand there is probably no real answer to my question, I would love to hear some input. We all know that when a HYPS applicant reaches a certain grade/score threshold (with a perfect 4.0/2400 not weighing much more heavily than a 3.8/2200), acceptance really comes down to standing out and being special in some other subjective aspect, despite a 3.8/2200 with average essays and EC's guaranteeing admission to most schools in the country. What I'm trying to figure out is where exactly one would draw the line amongst colleges when subjectives become the deciding factor. (While I hate to use rankings as a measure of a school, I'm not sure how else to do it besides maybe acceptance rates?) Can a candidate with very high scores and average subjectives feel confident when applying to say, Georgetown/Johns Hopkins level schools? Or slightly lower, say UVA/NYU? Or even lower levels?
Any comments would be greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>Top 20 schools and a handful of other schools will use ECs and essays as the determining factor once you reach their threshold more so than other schools. And it really depends when you say high scores. Let’s say we have 2 students. One student has a 3.8 and a 2200 and participated in 4 clubs extensively with leadership positions, did a ton of community service, and held a job for 4 years. Our other student has a 4.0 and a 2400 but only lightly participated in 2 clubs.
In this case, assuming the essays are the same, the first student would be accepted over the second.</p>