<p>Every year, Harvard (and other top schools) reject students ranked in the top 5% of their class with 2400 SAT’s. Why? Because something else was missing – their recommendations were not stellar, their essays were lacking, their EC’s ordinary, their “character” questionable. You cannot completely disregard any aspect of the process with holistic admissions. Do you still have a chance? Sure! How much of a chance depends on everything you are asking us to disregard. Make sense?</p>