<aside> 💡 It’s impossible to tell as applications are holistic. There is no formula. Using what you think is the formula will get you a swift rejection. College admissions’ job is to create a diverse campus, which means a collection of individually special people. Copying a superstar application for last year will not cut it. They don’t want that again. They want you.
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Colleges are hyper-competitive; the top 10 have acceptance rates between 3 and 5%. It's simply not enough to have the best grades in your school, or even in your borough. Holistic applications mean you need all the other stuff and be a match for the school.
Don’t make a ‘you’ that fits the college, in opposition. Be authentic with every word and everything will work out in your favour. Due to the phenomenal range of colleges in the US, there is incredible diversity in the experiences one can have. You could be studying Marine Biology at Bowdoin's Marine Lab on the East Coast or taking an Engineering Food Class at Rice in Texas. The ML at Bowdoin is the most beautiful place I’ve been. Here’s a pic of me and my squa at the boat dock:
Me and my Sutton Trust cohort at Bowdoin’s Marine Biology lab (Maine, East Coast of the US)
Understand this: colleges compete for applicants the same way you are competing to get accepted to x college.. by the way. The same way you do all these things to seem appealing to a college, they’re designing out brochures, scrubbing student GPAs, creating summer insight programs, and constructing artsy websites to draw students in. Colleges might diversify course & program offerings, and hire reputable scientists & writers all to bolster the college's power and reputation, which they need to stand out to applicants. Factors like the values the university hold, the academic focusses, the local area, and the type of students the college attract give the college powerful and interesting cultures and reputations.
!This is not the UK! You have a huge, huge range of colleges to pick from - choose somewhere you're going to like to spend time for the next 4 years! Are you looking for a large research university, a small liberal arts college, or a technical uni? Do you want a core curriculum or a flexible program where you can carve your own path of study? Do you want to live in a city or a college town where you interact with local residents? Colleges looking for students that are a fit for the college’s academic approach and culture.
There are 4,200 colleges and universities in the US, 200 in the UK. The top 1% in the UK = 2 unis, let's say Oxford and Cambridge to make it easy. 1% of the 4,200 colleges = 42. Yep, 40+ colleges in the US are Oxbridge-level or have courses that rival those at Oxbridge. Or better. Better resources, a wider course range, a richer campus experience, more money to aid students, a wider network of opportunities, better research opportunities, etc. This is not hypothetical, I was just going on a tangent about my college experience. Lol.
Statistic: 75% of people with a perfect 4.0 GPA got rejected from Stanford in the 2018-19 application cycle. Shocking right. How can so many people who are academically qualified get rejected from an institution that values... intellect? It’s probably the case that those people didn’t fulfill all metrics that Stanford values..
Analogy: Building an application is like making a smoothie. Bear with me. To gain admission, your cup is to be 100% full. This can be done in an infinite number of ways. You can do 30% banana, 40% strawberry, and 30% ice - 30% grades, 40% extracurriculars, and 30% awards. Or maybe, instead: 50% banana, 25% strawberry, and 25% ice. Both make 100% and both taste great. This is analogous to candidate's applications - different mixtures/amounts of the different components of the application (grades, ECs, awards) will still make an application that admissions officers may admire equally, and want to extend an offer to. You don't need to have the same application as the guy from your school that you got into Dartmouth, to get in. You and your friend's application taste great. They’re looking for different versions of the same smoothie type. "Slightly less banana is fine, this applicant brings grape which I think is really cool and we need that on campus". Everyone is entirely unique and it takes self-awareness & intelligence to understand who you are. It takes belief in who one is and their abilities and power to portray that accurately.
Student A has a 3.6 GPA = '36%' in grades, student B has a 4.4 GPA = '44%'. A is more exciting in their extra-curricular endeavors, giving 48% compared to B’s 40%. The remainder is covered by awards from both. See how both candidates fill the cup to 100% but in different ways. Both students get accepted.
Someone who has a 5.0 GPA (50% in the cup for grades), may only have 10% in ECs, and 15% in Honors. That only adds up to 80% - not enough for the 100% that Vanderbilt will require for you to be admitted. This solves the common rebuttal to a rejection of 'Ah what? I got way better grades than her and still didn't get into Yale.'
The different types of students that colleges like to admit are the same smoothies, of a different fruit make-up. For example, Rice Uni could love the banana, strawberry & ice mix we had going on before. Vassar could instead be looking for more of a kiwi, apple, and frozen grapes-type mix. Stanford, a more guava and pineapple concoction. They're all made of different fruits but all taste great. If you consist of bananas don't apply to Stanford - they don't like those in their smoothies. But there may be 15 other colleges that love that in their mix.. take the time to do the research.
You want to spread your efforts across a bunch of colleges, whilst having strong motivations for attending each. Acceptance rates are too low to apply to less than 5 colleges, especially if all are competitive.