<p>GPA?</p>
<p>SAT Score?</p>
<p>Community Service?</p>
<p>Extra Curriculars?</p>
<p>Awards?</p>
<p>Recommendations?</p>
<p>Social Status?</p>
<p>?????</p>
<p>What do you guys think should be the most important factor in college admissions? Which way would be best?</p>
<p>I think GPA and the strength of the high school transcript should be the top consideration for admissions. If you want to know how a student will perform in college, their high school performance is the best indicator. Second to GPA should be the extracurricular activites a student participates in. This is what shows a college what a student will bring besides classroom performance. Every college is looking for a well-rounded student body with a wide array of interests and talents so having that special extracurricular involvement could be a clincher. After this should be essays and recs. SAT I consider to be a horridly skewed and increasingly irrelevant factor. Thankfully, colleges are beginning to see it that way as well. Much less weight is being given to the SAT than in the past. One three hour test provides almost no evidence of what a student can bring to four years of college. Therefore I'd say GPA and transcript, extracurricular, essays, recs, SAT's, in that order. Obviously a social status can have verying effect based on the demographics of a school. However it is always a gamble as to how great that effect will be.</p>
<p>Rank.....so basically grades recieved in difficult class (ie. IB and AP)</p>
<p>Personally I feel that Extra curriculars/volunteer work should be seen as the top aspect of a person's application. Colleges stress how they are accepting kids who will help build a community on campus and not only that what people do beyond their studies really define them as well; Gpa can be skewed based on difficulty of classes/school and Sat scores can be skewed based on if ur a good test taker/had money to take tutor courses, etc etc. volunteer and exc are things most people have access too. Granted GPA and Sat are also important factors but thats jsut how i feel.</p>
<p>I say EC/communtiy service and Recommendation. Grade/scores arent everything plus Grades only tell one side of you. I dont meant GPA isnt important but it is so one-dimensional. But good GPA does mean that you work hard to get good grades or like learning... I doubt colleges love study-only ppl.</p>
<p>While Ec/ recommendation gives so much info about you(ie your habits, work ethnics, values, and passions). Also, Colleges are looking for well-rounded students who can excell at many things.</p>
<p>The first consideration of college admissions is that the student will be able to handle college classes and won't drop out because they can't take it. No amount of ec or volunteering can demonstrate the ability to handle the college curriculum. Students can't build a better community if they drop out of school because it's too hard.</p>
<p>Thus, the first consideration is usually the strength and rigor of the high school curriculum. Next is GPA/Rank. I think the latter should be used more to account for grade inflation/deflation.</p>
<p>
[quote]
volunteer and exc are things most people have access too.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That's not necessarily true. Only fairly affluent families can afford some expensive activities. Poorer students might have to work and often cannot afford the expenses associated with activities and volunteering. It's much harder for a teenager to be the manager of a business than the president of a club, so leadership positions are generally more available to richer students.</p>
<p>Colleges are academic institutions (most of them at least), so academic factors should be the most important to admissions.</p>
<p>I agree all factors are important. I know that grades don't tell everything, but imagine if all the colleges don't even have access to your transcript. If we compare student A with excellent grades and hard curriculum but no activities with student B with a few Fs and would barely graduate high school but has an amazing resume, student A should still be the preferable candidate.</p>
<p>We can also compare grades vs. ec by looking at the time devoted. Most of us devote at least 40 hours a week on schoolwork, but few devote that much time to ecs.</p>
<p>I guess GPA, but I would be screwed if that was the case.</p>
<p>C'mon I wish I could say GPA, but GPA, like time, is relative...</p>
<p>Now if you could standardize nationwide GPAs...</p>
<p>Ponnan, that's why rank is a better indicator--it compares each applicant to all the other kids in the high school (which is closest there is to a small sampling of all applicants nationwide).</p>
<p>For the more selective schools.
1. Rigor of school record
1. Final averages in the context of academic record and test scores
1. SAT II scores (accuracy check of averages)
1. AP Scores (accuracy check of averages)
2. Recommendations
2. Essays
2. Extracurriculars
3. Community Service
3. Awards
4. SAT/ACT scores
5. GPA
5. Rank</p>
<p>GPA means nothing anymore, and rank means nothing either because students know how to play the rank-GPA system. </p>
<p>The final averages in the context of a student's high school record and standardized test scores in particular subjects should be enough for adcoms to determine if that student is a hard worker or a slacker. </p>
<p>The subjective part should be the second most important thing along with extracurriculars. Essays allow people to show their qualities and personality. They can show how dynamic they are, not the average Harvard-MIT bookworm. </p>
<p>I think it's really become too much about numbers. We all know what UPenn has been doing for years. For every student they admit with a 2300+ SAT or 34+ ACT score, they admit somebody with a ~1900 SAT or 28 ACT score just so they can keep their SAT average at 2100. </p>
<p>Honestly, you're going to college for higher level learning, not a life plan. Too many students just work for the grades, not for the knowledge, and due to the way the admissions system works, even though colleges say they look for a passion for learning, they fail to see this type of common work ethic that really undermines their general goal.</p>
<p>"Essays allow people to show their qualities and personality. They can show how dynamic they are, not the average Harvard-MIT bookworm."</p>
<p>The problem is that the elite schools need to take some of the boring bookworms and these people dilute the interestingness of the class. What we need is an Institute like MIT not for technology but for people with great personalities. How about a Massachusetts Institute of Personality? That way all the most interesting, dynamic people could be together in one place and develop their great personalities. Why not?</p>
<p>I think GPA (along with rank) and ECs tie for first.</p>
<p>SAT Score - not accurate, too objective</p>
<p>Community Service - it's good, but not necessary</p>
<p>Awards - some awards just simply aren't available to some students (the school/club doesn't give them, etc.)</p>
<p>Recommendations - sometimes teachers just don't get to know a student well enough</p>
<p>Social Status - what?</p>
<p>I agree with Kyle......</p>
<p>I think community service should be important. There's lots of kids that never give back to their communities. I know that some people do them just to put it on their college applications, but the kids who do it genuinely should be preferred over those who did none. Helping out people in the homeless shelter is better than staying home and playing videogames -- and colleges should recognize the difference between the former and the latter.</p>
<p>I don't think rank should matter. Kids in prestigious schools always get screwed. Their rank is so low comparable to their class, but anywhere else, they'd be at the top [and the other kids at easier schools at the top of their class aren't any better than some average kids at more difficult schools].</p>
<p>SAT score.</p>
<p>In reality -</p>
<p>Academic performance and rigor(GPA w/ hard classes)</p>
<p>What I would like - </p>
<p>Test Scores - I'm lazy in class, still get fine grades, but my test scores emphasize my lack of effort.</p>
<p>I don't know how helpful this is for you. I think all are important. This is from my personal experience when I applied for colleges.</p>
<p>GPA? - I think it is important. My GPA was a 3.53. I'm not sure if it was weighted or unweighted. Probably unweighted. My advice, just do whatever you can to get get good grades. Do not over stress yourself. Because if you think about it, everyone will have higher/same/lower grades than you. Might as well just do the best you can in your gades.</p>
<p>SAT Score?- I think this is the most important part. Heh, my SAT score was like 1380 and 1420. I did not get in despite my GPA and others. The magic number? I'm not sure. I feel that 1800 or higher is good to me. In my opinion, check out the colleges's SAT averages. Some might not list, but use the ones that do list. Try to score between those ranges or higher if you want.</p>
<p>Community Service? If your high school requires you to do it in order to graduate. It's good to do community service. You have to think whether or not does it apply to your major, or do you have any passion in it. If you do have a passion for it, it will be worth it to write it in your essay.</p>
<p>Extra Curriculars? Do not join every single club. BAD BAD IDEA! Just joined the clubs that you have interest in or that applies to your major that you want to do. </p>
<p>Awards? Not sure about this one. Having awards are great. I think you are talking about those "Harvard" Award etc etc etc, lots of kids get them. It's not very important, in my opinion.</p>
<p>Recommendations? Choose the teachers that knows you very well. Yes, these are very important. Make sure choose teachers that you have conversations with like everyday or they are like friends to you. Something in common. </p>
<p>Social Status? Sometimes they are important. Sometimes they are not. I don't know for sure.</p>
<p>My advice to you,</p>
<p>Do not transfer more than twice. Do not transfer for your last senior year. It's the dumbest mistake ever. Make sure you go on campus tours, and have interviews. Go to open houses. It's never too early to do anything. If you are a slacker like me, might as well get start on it.</p>
<p>weighted gpa.</p>
<p>Rank/Competition of HS. My schools doesn't rank, but there is a school in a nearby city where if you just show up to class, you get an A. The curriculum is a joke and I can honestly say that a 2.5 at my school = a 4.0 at theirs. When it comes to rank, this is to better evaluate the applicant. If the kid has a 3.98 UW and isn't even in the top decile, you know the kid isn't the real deal. Conversely, a 3.5 UW in the top 5% is a very competitive applicant. I think </p>
<p>SAT/ACT scores should play a major role, but I do not think that they are necessarily an accurate indicator of future academic success. I think that a lazy kid in high school (3.2 UW with a 2200 SAT score) will most likely remain somewhat lazy in college. I understand that people change, but work habits typically don't improve or regress all that much, unless the person starts/stops using drugs or something extreme.</p>
<p>Everything is important, colleges want to see you good at something. Whether it be your an academic star, or an Olympic medal winner, it doesn't matter. If you excel in one area, chances are you're going to get into the college you want.</p>