<p>Didn’t here the talk and don’t know the consultant. I’ll take the two “facts” at face value … a 90% ED acceptance rate … and advising students to focus on GPA at all costs. There is only one scenario I can think of that possible makes those two work together. First, the 90% acceptance rate for ED applicants … this can only be close to true if the consultant is steering applicants down the food chain a bit; away form reach schools and probably even away from “match” schools if their stats matches are the Dukes and Cornells of the world. And <em>if</em> you’ve dropped below the tip top schools than admissions tend to much more stats driven especially for those with top stats. So I guess the original comment is plausible … and, in my opinion, it is terrible advice. </p>
<p>We’ve told our kids … 1) take a challenging course load and do well while not killing yourself … 2) keep busy outside of classes … 3) explore and have fun and hopefully you’ll find some lifetime interests … 4) and if you do 1-3 well the college thing will work fine.</p>
<p>Students who have interesting ECs, high self efficacy, and friendships enjoy school more…and likely do better in class as a result! It’s not one or the other…but rather finding the right balance.</p>
<p>Short answer is that the right ECs (along the lines you’re describing) make a difference. Longer answer: Do you want to attend a college that values grades over actual contributions to society? Of course, for the top schools it’s often not a case of either or, the students have both. But if you can’t do both, which are you happier with?</p>
<p>3togo - To be precise the consultant suggested dropping all ECs if it interferes with the student achieving the highest GPA not drop all ECs to focus on GPA. I am sure we all have sons/daughters that if they dropped their ECs would not materially change their GPA. </p>
<p>In your analysis you left out another reason why the consultant may have a high success rate - she primarily handles top students. In our area the top twenty or so students in the high schools pretty much are accepted to the top colleges in the country. These are the same pool of students the consultant draws on for this very expensive service. To me it makes sense she has a high success rate.</p>
<p>The consultants point was that ECs are not weighted nearly as much as GPA/SAT or as much as parents think they are and the students first priority, if their goal is to get into the best school possible, is to focus on GPA.</p>