<p>Zonlicht </p>
<p>Re “1 or 0” chance of admisssions. Until the result is released the applicant is very much in a Schroedinger’s Cat situation.</p>
<p>OP </p>
<p>The answer to your question is “YES”</p>
<p>The interplay between SAT and ECs, etc. at competitive schools (which claim to take a holistic approach to admissions) is incredibly complicated, differs school to school, activity to activity and can only really be addressed by an admissions committee. But in answer to your question, schools like Amherst do not admit on a straight numerical basis – strong ECs can make a difference.</p>
<p>Let me give you an example (based on what ad ops said when my D was applying). Let’s say that Student 2’s fantastic EC was being a great Tuba player (tuba-ist?). If a school knew that all of its Tuba players were graduating next year, this could be a tremendous advantage. If last year was a bumper crop where 4 all-American Tuba Players were admitted – not so much. A lot of this comes down to what they think makes the stronger class.</p>
<p>IMO, the more important factor between the two may very well be the ED vs RD factor – though I don’t know for sure how this plays out at Amherst.</p>