<p>The common trend among Echols Scholars is that they all had top scores, grades/ranks/ and essays. They all got into several top schools. In my suite alone, the lowest SAT score I know of is 1490 and there are several valedictorians. Nearly every school in the USNews top 25 was represented in acceptances. If you’re a very competitive applicant for schools like HYPS, you’ll be very competitive for the Echols program.</p>
<p>About selection - from what I’ve gathered from the Echols website and what I’ve been told by admissions people, to have one’s application sent to the Echols selection committee, one must be a one-read admit. Selection at the committee level is very heavily based on essays and recs, and about 33% of these applicants are designated Echols Scholars.</p>