Reply to Why is Wilson's college counselor out the week applications are due?

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[quote=Anonymous]They aren't critically important.  It's not that grades and GPA aren't unimportant, it's that, however impressive standard academic metrics might be on a certain application, they're not nearly enough for admissions to competitive US colleges on their own. Things are different in Canada, Britain, Europe, Australia.

I used to work in admissions, at an Ivy.  Other than where applicants we're recruited athletes, the Ivy would almost always take kids who wowed us with extra-curriculars and intellectual curiosity over kids with weak extra-curriculars who didn't come off as bright sparks, even if they were valedictorians.

Applicants need to meet a rough baseline for GPA for their applications to land in the "read in full" pile at an admissions office.  But the baseline isn't as high as you might think if you haven't worked in admissions. The Ivy where I worked often used to admit kids who weren't in the top 5, 10, 20, or even 50 in their HS if they came off as intellectually ravenous and committed to making their mark in a certain field.  Valedictorians did no better than others whose applications were read in full.  Ivies routinely reject up to 90% of valedictorians who apply.[/quote]

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