<p>Hey all! In my college book (Princeton Review: The Best 373 Colleges) it lists factors for getting into each college by how important they are, and things like Essays, GPA, standardized testing etc. differ in importance by each college. All of my favorite colleges have Class rank, GPA and standardized testing under Very important factors, and extra curriculars, essay and interview under important factors. I have pretty good scores (3.6 GPA UW, 27 ACT), but I feel like I can really stand out on my essay, extra curriculars and interview. How much do these sway the admission decision, even if they aren't under very important factors?</p>
<p>It depends on how selective the school is. At Ivies and other top schools, ECs, essays, and recommendations are extremely important, as they need them to differentiate between the massive number of academically qualified candidates. These schools generally weed out the candidates who aren’t academically qualified using GPA, transcripts, test scores, etc. and then shift their focus to the ECs, essays, and recommendations to decide which of the academically qualified applicants to admit.</p>
<p>Thus, they’re still extremely important in admissions for elite schools.</p>
<p>However, at lower-tier schools, GPA, transcripts, and test scores tend to play a larger role in comparison to ECs, essays, and recommendations.</p>