<p>Congratulations Lafalum! You hit the nail on the head. My daughter was also heavily involved in volunteerism and EC’s. We knew from the beginning that those factors could tip the scales for applicants. We visited Elon three times and asked lots of questions about what the admissions committee was looking for. In all of our discussions, the thing that stood out was that sure, the college was looking for academic strength, but just as importantly, they were looking for students who were strong all-around individuals. Involvement in their communities, school leaders, creative and innovative thinkers, compassionate people, service oriented, etc. In one of the info sessions, an admissions officer also mentioned how closely they looked at the essays to determine if that’s the type of student they wanted. The officer even went as far as saying that the essay could “make or break” the student. My daughter was careful to craft her essay responses to include all of those qualities and “buzz words” the school was seeking as they related to her background and qualifications. I really do feel that made all the difference, because as you can see from the many other responses here…all these kids are the “cream of the crop”…When everyone is seemingly highly qualified, there has to be some other factor used to tip the scale. I also think back to the college’s committment to “diversity”…they played that up a lot in the info sessions. That tells me the college is stretching its search even farther and wider to get a good mix…culturally, racially, academically, socially, and economically.</p>