As a rule, I don’t read chance threads, but this one keeps getting topped, so I took a look. I have so many comments.
First of all, chance threads are pointless because they are missing context. I think people make huge conclusions based on numbers when we are looking at a much bigger picture. We look at your progress across your disciplines. The number of APs a student takes doesn’t tell you about that. What if five of those were in Social Studies and the rest were in electives? Context is key!
Decisions aren’t made and lost in the testing section. SAT Subject Tests are optional. No one has every come into my office and said they had a fabulous applicant that wasn’t admissible because of testing or the lack of subject tests. It just doesn’t happen. Testing is interesting, but it is a four hour component of the application. Four years of classroom work gets a lot more of our time when we’re reading files.
And while I adore my students, none of them are familiar with the overall pool and the process, so they can’t make a definitive statement about why they were admitted. The fact is that they were probably excellent students, with wonderful recs, and nice essays.
May I suggest reading my blog? I have gone over the different components of the application and those posts might help you understand what we are looking for when we read.
Good luck!
P.S. [url=<a href=“http://uvaapplication.blogspot.com/2015/07/consistency-in-extracurricular.html%5DStop%5B/url”>http://uvaapplication.blogspot.com/2015/07/consistency-in-extracurricular.html]Stop[/url] worrying [url=<a href=“http://uvaapplication.blogspot.com/2014/08/i-saw-tweet-today-that-said-choose.html%5Dabout%5B/url”>http://uvaapplication.blogspot.com/2014/08/i-saw-tweet-today-that-said-choose.html]about[/url] the [url=<a href=“http://uvaapplication.blogspot.com/2013/10/will-this-help.html%5Dactivity%5B/url”>http://uvaapplication.blogspot.com/2013/10/will-this-help.html]activity[/url] stuff. 