<p>I have a question. When students from the same school apply to the same college and admission officers compare them to each other, do they place more emphasis on gpa/rank as opposed to SAT and extra-curricular activities??</p>
<p>No. Usually the scores/GPA are too close to look at and they look at EC's (of course). Same situation at my school, out of the Top 5 we had our vale get in at Cornell, salud and 4th get in at Penn (and I know almost everyone in the top 10 applied to Penn). In other words, don't sweat it.</p>
<p>but as i mentioned earlier, i had waaay more EC's.. :S</p>
<p>Did you already get your decision or something?</p>
<p>Oh wait, Duke just came out. No, just because you have more EC's doesnt give you more points. Colleges like to see a focus in your activities, whether it be music, politics, etc.</p>
<p>Oh, and essays.</p>
<p>it's actually kind of disappointing how duke based their selection.. the guy ranked #5, despite his inferior rank, was much much more qualified than any of us.. the entire school believed that he'd definitely get accepted..it was a MAJOR shock to everyone when he didnt.. if rank was the sole criteria duke based their decisions on (at least for our school) then i'm glad i'm not going to such a school that can't even look past beyond the numbers.. actually.. not even 'numbers' coz they obviously ddnt put sat scores into consideration when they judged the people from my school! to say that i'm disappointed would be an understatement.. i just hope that other colleges don't follow the same ridiculous criteria :S</p>
<p>A school like Duke doesn't look solely at numbers. It's the whole picture.</p>
<p>Besides, you can't guarantee an acceptance ANYWHERE, especially at a school like Duke. (Besides, #5->#2 really isn't much of a difference).</p>
<p>yes, i may have had a lot of EC's but that doesnt mean that i ddnt dedicate a significant portion of my time with them.. i played piano for ten years, flute for 7 years, and violin for 6 years.. i'm fluent in four languages and i was also involved in this community service club (i was president) as well as an animal welfare club for four years.. i was also very dedicated to sports..</p>
<p>I don't know about that....</p>
<p>They get tens of thousands of essays every year, what's to say your's was unique and someone else's wasn't?</p>
<p>Honestly, it's a crapshoot either way. I'm sorry if Duke was your first choice, but there's plenty of great schools out there ;)</p>
<p>its understandable that you can't trust my judgment since it would be prone to biases and i'm not saying that other essays werent unique.. but i had a creative approach, i took a risk, my topic was controversial and everyone who read it found it intriguing..looking back, it may have been a bit too risy a topic but it stood for what i believe in and i wouldnt change it in any way, shape, or form even if i had the chance to but i guess i should just wait and let other colleges be the judge of that.. duke wasnt my first choice anywaay, but the decision was still quite a disappointment..</p>
<p>Yeah -- commitment is much more important in ECs. You clearly played to the "I do everything!" route. Judging by the acceptances of my classmates (2 at MIT, 1 at Yale, 4 at U Chicago, 1 at Stanford, 1 at Duke, Many at NU... etc), the students who joined every single club really did poorly in the admissions process. Focus, at least from what I can tell, was MUCH more important to most admissions committees. For instance, the kid in at Stanford had community service and one sport. One of the kids at MIT had research, a sport, and community service. But, they were both VERY focused on those things. The kid at Yale played ONE instrument and had significant community service. Colleges value passion.</p>
<p>That is my two cents. I made your mistake, doing too many ECs and only being passionate about one of them. Nevertheless, it LOOKED like I joined every other club I could. So, I was waitlisted at most schools (including Duke) I have heard from.</p>
<p>Also, Duke clearly did not only look at the numbers. Do not act sour just because you were rejected. Freud called what you are doing "rationalization." It is a defense mechanism. You did not get into Duke because the AC thought other people were more qualified, not because their rank was higher...</p>
<p>i did play "i do everything route" but i was committed..</p>
<p>i dont think theres anything wrong w/ doing several ec's. all of the top kids in my class this yr are in several clubs & community service stuff, & colleges certainly arent rejecting or waitlisting us b/c we seem too "scattered."
altho it may also be b/c we're pretty committed to all the clubs we join...i spend plenty of time in each of my clubs & i have awards in most of them</p>
<p>i agree.. and i WAS committed.. i didnt join clubs and pursued activities just for the sake of college admissions like many applicants tend to do.. i was truly passionate about them and it's not wrong to have many interests or passions..</p>
<p>sara, i guess u can look on the brightside--duke has been rated as a pretty unsafe college in several college safety rankings & the readers digest 1...so basically now u'll prbly go somewhere safer =/</p>
<p>lol, thanks for the info! =)</p>
<p>I wouldn't worry too much right now... remember that duke is just 1 school,
don't generalize this experience and think the same thing will happen with all schools... it doesn't
and based on what you have said about yourself I am sure you will do great with other top schools!! remember that the college admissions process is VERY MYSTERIOUS
they must have their reasons for doing what they did... it depends a lot on the complete applicant pool as well...</p>
<p>I got into MIT even though I wasn't in the group of valedictorians...Two of those in the group of valedictorians had excellent ECs/SATs but wrote mediocre or boring essays were not accepted. I think once you cross that threshold for scores, it simply boils down to essays and ECs. The difference between ranks is probably so small that it doesn't matter at all.</p>