<p>Rather than asking you all to chance me (pretty much worthless), I was wondering what the most important parts of an application are. I am really afraid of this entire process and I am afraid of March 10th. I know it will not be the end of the world, but it will be the end of a dream for many, I digress. Anyway, I was thinking that if I knew what the most important
pieces of the application are, then perhaps I can make my application the best that it can possibly be? At this point, all I have going for me are teacher, EC, and guidance recommendations which are supposed to be absolutely stellar from what I hear and my essays. Maybe being a "minority" and socio-economically disadvantaged could help me a bit (although I wouldn't dwell on those, I live in NJ)? Even if I do not gain admission this year, I would most definitely apply next year and never give up until I have to. Further insight would most definitely serve me well for the future. Thank you for taking the time to read this, to respond to this, and to tolerate my annoying personality. Best of luck to my fellow applicants and parents of applicants! I wish you all the best!</p>
<p>All the parts are important, but grades are probably the most important. The very selective schools don’t expect straight As but would like to see more As than Bs.</p>
<p>At schools w very high avg SSAT scores, the SSAT matters more to them, than for schools w lower avg SSAT scores.</p>
<p>Being a low socioeconomic URM may garner u some slack on ssat, but if the school concludes u cannot handle the tough academic load, then it really is not in your best interests to enroll there.</p>
<p>From what I’ve heard, the triad of importance is 1) essays, 2) interview, and 3) SSAT. The essays are important because those are the only way that the AO’s know about you and your though process. The interview is for one person to see who you are in person and if you’re personable. The SSAT’s are a way to look beyond grades and know how a person is like academically. Some schools may inflate or deflate their students’ grades. The rest is like icing on the cake, like the music or athletics. If the cake itself isn’t good, nobody will care about the icing. The cake is the biggest thing that gets you admitted</p>
<p>*Thought process</p>
<p>@GMTPlus7 what would you consider a high SSAT school? I am retaking the SSAT because my scores are below the averages of top two schools. I am a URM but not in a low socioeconomic class but I’m a legacy at one of the schools. Does that even out?</p>
<p>A “high” score is relative. To me it means a score that is at or above a school’s average.</p>
<p>A “too low” score is also relative. My gut feel is that if your score is below the school’s average X 0.85, then it’s an issue w/o some mitigating hook-- again, I have no data to back up this estimated score cut-off. </p>
<p>So what constitutes a mitigating hook? That is the big question… I have observed that being a URM in itself and being a legacy is not an automatic free pass. There was a longtime poster on this board who is an Exeter alum and a URM, and her daughter did not get admitted into Exeter despite the URM & legacy status. </p>
<p>Being a very elite athlete, I have observed, is a BIG hook. At his very-selective school, DS has classmates that were recruited hockey players and are seemingly dumber than a doorknob. But hockey will probably get them into college, too.</p>
<p>^ don’t forget lacrosse. A sophomore in my dorm is already committed to a top 15 university for lacrosse, despite being as dumb as a rock.</p>
<p>That’s insulting to rocks</p>
<p>ouch 10char</p>
<p>GMT: You rock! :)</p>