<p>From experience of others or yourself--Which Ivy League School (plus Stanford) would you say gives the most weight to impressive Extracurriculars? I know you need them for all, of course. You can't get in with just scores, well you might be able to for some.</p>
<p>So basically the question is Which Ivy League Schools really push Extracurriculars more so than the others might? </p>
<p>I read somewhere that while Penn, Columbia, and Dartmouth are more about scores, the top three ones (Princeton, Harvard, Yale) are much more Extra-curricular focused. Does that sound true? Like obviously one must have good scores to get into any of those schools, but do they value extra-curriculars quite heavily? Since they are trying to produce phenomenons in the world....lol. I could be totally wrong. I've also heard Stanford is very yielding to impressive extracurriculars.</p>
<p>Basically to get into Columbia, Penn, and Dartmouth if you have a 2390 and are your valedictorian you have a strong shot even with average ECs. The same Stats at HYP won't get you in, however. You'll need strong stats and ECs to separate you from all the other perfect stats apps.</p>
<p>is everyone who applies to these schools valedictorian?
i mean i'm in top 5 percent of my class. and i'm in cum laude. i have an unweighted gpa of 4.0, but i'm not valedictorian.
but i do have extracurriculuars that personally mean ten times more than anything the valedictorian has.</p>
<p>Yeah, I think Columbia does. Actually, I think the essays matter A LOT at Columbia. My friend had a 2400 superscored SAT, very mediocre ECs, bad GPA (3.5), but was an awesome writer. That's prob what got him in</p>
<p>That's probably fine. I had an OKAY rank, but amazing ECs and a strong SAT score. I got into Columbia and Northwestern over people with higher GPAs, much of it I believe due to my extraordinary ECs. ECs help for sure, but they won't make up for a huge gap in stats.</p>
<p>Kids with awesome ECs within their communities often get a ho hum from the top schools. They look at things nationally for the most part. Attracting a college with an EC is trying to hit a rapidly moving target, as the most desirable ECs for any give college is what they want NOW. You can be a great tennis player but if their team doesn't need you, or the coach isn't interested, it isn't going to count for much.</p>
<p>This is probably not representative of the entire class, but almost everyone i met at yale when i went to bulldog days (prefrosh visit for admitted students) this year, almost everyone i met either played an instrument or sang. For most of the top schools, having good ECs helps a lot</p>
<p>I think it mostly depends on the programs, e.g., Wharton would want to see some sort of business extra-curricular, I'm pretty sure work experience at a hotel would help a lot for Cornell Hotel Ad.</p>
<p>How do schools value EC's that you are very deeply involved in but don't really have many awards for? Can leadership positions make up for a lack of awards?</p>
<p>kmatimber: one of the best ECs is a part time job. ECs show the person's willingness to push themselves or experiment or contribute to the needs at hand. The kid who has to come home every afternoon to babysit because his single mother needs to work 2nd shift -- isn't going to be in too many school ECs. Yet this person can show many desirable characteristics if he/she also excels academically.</p>
<p>Basically, don't worry about awards or even positions per se -- do what you will enjoy (or at least experiment in interesting areas). You'll find yourself leading in the areas you enjoy.</p>
<p>To answer the OP, all the Ivies value kids who show great potential combined with academic excellence. Sometimes this is shown through ECs sometimes not.</p>