Your best to worst factors for admission

Applying to College
1

<p>Just curious about what people's (perceived) strengths and weaknesses for college admissions (generally for your colleges, in relation to what you expect the other applicants will have) are on CC. For example, if you have a 3.9 GPA but only a 27 on the ACT, GPA should probably be higher on your list than standardized test scores.</p>

<p>I'll start. You can re-rank these for yourself or add or subtract entries as you please.</p>

<p>From best to worst:
-Letters of recommendation (probably)
-Essays
-Types of extracurriculars
-Standardized test scores
-Difficulty of school
-Difficulty of classes
-Awards
-Jobs/Employment
-Depth of extracurriculars
-Hooks (race, gender, legacy status, etc.)
-GPA
-Class rank</p>

2

<p>Test Scores/GPA
Class Rank
Difficulty of classes
Essays
Types of extracurriculars (includes jobs/employment)
Depth of extracurriculars
letters of recommendation
Awards
Hooks
Difficulty of school</p>

3

<p>Test scores
Difficulty of classes
Essays
Difficulty of school
Types of extracurriculars
Job/employment
Letters of recommendation
GPA
Depth of extracurriculars
Class rank
Hook</p>

4

<p>-Depth of extracurriculars/Awards
-Difficulty of classes
-Difficulty of school
-Standardized test scores
-Essays
-Letters of recommendation (probably great! like everyone elses :stuck_out_tongue: )
-Class rank/GPA
-Jobs/Employment (none really)
-Hooks (race, gender, legacy status, etc.) (still don’t know what this is)</p>

5

<p>-Essays
-GPA
-Class rank
-Depth of extracurriculars
-Letters of recommendation
-Standardized test scores
-Difficulty of classes
-Types of extracurriculars
-Awards
-Jobs/Employment
-Hooks (race, gender, legacy status, etc.)
-Difficulty of school</p>

6

<p>GPA
Class Rank
Test Score
Class difficulty
Jobs/Employment
Essays
Recommendation Letters (teacher ones are great, counselor is eh)
ECs (not many leadership positions or awards)</p>

7

<p>-GPA
-Essays
-Class rank
-Difficulty of classes
-Letters of recommendation
-Types of extracurriculars
-Difficulty of school
-Awards
-Jobs/Employment
-Depth of extracurriculars
-Standardized test scores</p>

8

<p>Note that for the vast majority of schools, gpa and test scores will be the deal breakers.</p>

9

<p>From best to worst:
-Standardized test scores
-GPA
-Essays
-Letters of recommendation
-Depth of extracurriculars
-Jobs/Employment (if science summer internships count)
-Type of extracurriculars
-Class rank
-Difficulty of classes
-Awards
-Hooks (race, gender, legacy status, etc.)
-Difficulty of school</p>

10

<p>-Essays
-Standardized test scores
-GPA
-Difficulty of classes
-Depth of extracurriculars
-Letters of recommendation (probably)
-Difficulty of school
-Awards
-Types of extracurriculars
-Class rank
-Hooks (race, gender, legacy status, etc.)
-Jobs/Employment</p>

11

<p>@cortana OP means what your personal best and worst factors are, not what the school considers most</p>

12

<p>-Standardized test scores
-Types of extracurriculars
-Depth of extracurriculars
-Hooks (race, gender, legacy status, etc.)
-Difficulty of classes
-Difficulty of school
-Essays
-GPA
-Class rank
-Jobs/Employment
-Awards
-Letters of recommendation</p>

13

<p>I’m a little surprised that everyone is saying that GPA/SAT is their strongest asset, since those factors aren’t going to get you into the top schools… Maybe I’m just looking at this the wrong way, anyone care to explain their reasoning?</p>

14

<p>

</p>

<p>They might not get you in, but they are going to get you into the pile that at least will be considered for admissions. Without a world-changing EC, you are not going to get considered if you can’t make that first hurdle. No great essay, recommendation, difficulty of school/classes, etc. makes up for a poor GPA or test scores at top schools.</p>

15

<p>I’ve heard it mentioned by several of the admissions people we experienced (Ivies and other top schools) that the transcript is the first thing considered. The implication is that rigor (difficulty of classes) and performance (grades/GPA) are most important. The standardized testing has to confirm the grades. Letters of recommendation are next since they should confirm the performance as well as the applicant’s more subjective characteristics such as hard-working, timeliness, dedication, etc. Last are the “extracurriculars” which, again, should support the student’s ambitions and goals. Again - the transcript is the “first impression” and the most important component at the top schools.</p>

16

<p>I agree with keesh and I applaud the way s/he described the process - academic rigor and performance are paramount in predicting success at the collegiate level.</p>

<p>Those posters who have essays, LOR and/or ECs in the top half of their lists might have trouble gaining admission to highly selective colleges.</p>

17

<p>Oh, I guess I was looking at it as “once you’re in the pile, what stands out?” A 4.0 GPA or a 2380 SAT is not going to make the adcoms admit you, but I guess it will keep them from rejecting you… I mean tons of people (in these applicant pools) get straight A’s.</p>

<p>rmldad I would disagree, IMO if posters DON’T have ECs in the top half of their lists they’re going to have trouble gaining admissions to highly selective colleges. Pure academics won’t get you in unless you’re Evan O’Dorney. But I agree on the essays/LoR thing, in my experience people think their essays and recs stand out a lot more than they actually do.</p>