<p>So i was roaming CC and saw several ppl with outstanding ECs but low GPAs, including a person who owns a company that makes six digit profits, one with a charity organization, etc. They all have pretty low GPAs (like 3.3 or 3.6, but with rigorous courses) but relatively good SATs (2000ish or 2100ish) their GPAs are also in a sharp upward trend. However, they did not get into very good schools (MSU, Pittsburg, Florida)
My question is why does this happen? I understand colleges want students to demonstrate intellectual capacity and potential, but doesn't their upward trend (they all achieved 3.9 or 4.0 in their junior and senior year) prove that they have that? Plus normally people with a sharp upward trend and ECs demonstrates more emotional maturity. And why don't the colleges accept them for their exceptionally good ECs? Entrepreneurship and all, don't colleges want diversity and people with unique experiences that can contribute to the community? With all the mass 4.0 mediocre ECs ppl, why don't they some how stand out? By far i haven't met one person that is in this situation and not a recruited athlete, URM that is accepted to a top college. They all got in their safety schools.
I am in a very similar condition and I am extremely worried. Can anyone attempt to explain+give some tips to people like us that want to (and are definitely qualified) to get into a top school?</p>
<p>Think of it as a cake. The academic performance is the cake itself and the ECs are the frosting. The very best frosting in the world won’t help very much if it’s spread on a lousy cake. And the very best cakes have both great frosting and great underlying cakes.</p>
<p>Now leaving baking aside and getting back to to admissions, an upward trend in grades after a slow start is admirable. Colleges like to see that and will count it in your favor. But why would a college choose someone in that situation over someone whose grades were great all the way through? The ECs would have to be pretty phenomenal for that to happen. Either that or the ECs would need to involve excellence in something that the school is specifically seeking for its own sake, like say being a thousand yard rusher or someone who can consistently hit the jumper from the top of the key.</p>
<p>There is no one formula for gaining admission to college. As you know, it’s a mix of both academic and non-academic factors. The trick to find the schools that are looking for the mix of excellence that you have to offer. And those schools may not turn out to be your sky-high dream schools, but with your qualifications you are likely to get admitted to plenty of very good schools.</p>
<p>This question makes sense only in the context of selective colleges and universities, so I’ll reply in that same context.</p>
<p>Leading colleges want excellent students who also play basketball, sing opera, or have an entrepreneurial flair; they don’t want basketball players or sopranos or entrepreneurs who do some homework on the side. (Obviously, and IMO sadly, this is less true in the case of basketball than in the other examples.) The essential task of colleges and universities is educating students. They want people who demonstrate both aptitude for that task and perseverance at that task. And make no mistake: academic success at leading colleges and universities will require perseverance, which is why these leading institutions are less interested in students who have not shown that they can and will stick it out when the going gets tough academically.</p>
<p>One answer we have heard to the question of why being an athlete who will represent the college/university on an official competitive team is more desirable admission-wise is that they make the most committed alumni. There is, apparently, something about representing the school that makes them more school-spirited for life and, thus, better donors and spokespeople for the college/university as alumni.</p>
<p>short answer: because they prefer the kids with the great GPAs AND the great ECs.</p>
<p>The only schools that ECs really matter at are generally the highly selective schools. Which means that almost all of the applicants have top grades and scores…which is why ECs then come in to play.</p>
<p>An applicant with great ECs–unless they are world-class great–it unlikely to have the ECs looked at before an application is put in the discard pile for lackluster grades.</p>