<p>I’m going to disagree with Sikorsky a little bit here. At the schools the OP is talking about, strong GPA, class rank, and test scores are pretty much a minimum requirement, except for the most coveted recruited athletes; for URMs they might set the bar slightly lower but they’re still looking for the strongest of the lot. But once an unhooked candidate passes a certain threshold, the difference between candidate A’s 3.9 UW GPA and 2300 SAT and candidate B’s 4.0 UW GPA and 2400 SAT will be seen as trivial. At that point, ECs, essays, LORs, and a variety of diversity factors (socioeconomic, geographic, and cultural, not just racial) play a much bigger role. So bottom line I’d say GPA, class rank, and test score won’t get you into these schools, but they can easily keep you out. ECs and essays are not likely to make up for deficiencies in the hard numbers, but they will be important factors in determining which among the many candidates with strong numbers get pushed over the finish line.</p>