<p>I just wanna know who has a better chance of getting into a college.
Student A has a 4.0 GPA 2000 SAT with some ECs like long-term community service activities and varsity sports and about 2 clubs with no leadership position and just for one year. And not sure if the teacher recommendation will be as good as for Student B.
Student B has a 3.7 GPA 2080 SAT with STELLAR ECs!! President of a club, winner of sports activities, community service, all the teachers love her, so the recommendations will be excellent.
Let's say the SAT scores are similar but Student B's is a little bit more.
Who has a better chance? A or B?
And the essays are about the same for both.</p>
<p>I would say Student B</p>
<p>It depends on the colleges being applied to.</p>
<p>There are also some unstated factors:</p>
<ul>
<li>Choice of high school courses (more or less rigorous, what subjects are taken in greater depth in relation to student’s intended major, etc.).</li>
<li>Distribution of SAT scores among the three sections (some schools only consider CR and M, for example).</li>
</ul>
<p>If the classes are of the same rigor, then I would actually say Student A. EC’s are good and all, but nearly every top college considers GPA and rigor the most important and a .3 difference is actually a significant difference, whereas 80 points on the SAT is negligible.</p>
<p>What if these two students are from the same high school and apply to the same college? Will they get compared and only one would be accepted? Would it be bad for both to apply to the same college?</p>
<p>The way you put it, Student A is definitely a much more competitive applicant. 2080 to 2400 is a massive jump (SATs only stop mattering in the 2300+ range), and a perfect GPA (assuming they have the same number of AP classes and the like) trumps 3.7 any day. </p>
<p>And no, Student B doesn’t have stellar ECs. President of a club isn’t that great unless you do something with it (Food Club? GG). Winner of sports activities? Student A is in varsity too. Teachers love B? Who’s to say they don’t love A as well? Recs may be better for B, but they can’t make up for the 5+ Bs she got. Fact is, Student A has very good ECs already, especially levelled against his or her impeccable academic record.</p>
<p>ECs are ancillary to GPA and class schedule in the end.</p>
<p>can’t say
there is something about the essays after all.</p>
<p>Student B does not have stellar EC’s. Both EC categories look pretty similar: good, but not special. SAT score is pretty much the same, and a 3.7 => 4.0 GPA difference is HUGE.</p>
<p>Teacher recs are very important though.</p>