<p>I’m sure most everyone has heard of the homeless girl getting into Harvard (aided by her high scores, of course). We also all know that recently top schools have been appealing to diverse backgrounds in students, who often times use their uncommon experiences as an edge on their application.
How far do you suppose a unique story can get a person in terms of acceptance? And just how unique would that story have to be? I’m undecided in my opinion when it comes to the order of importance: do colleges look at uniqueness, then scores; do colleges look at scores, then uniqueness; or are applicants able to get into top tier schools with average/high average scores, coupled with fantastic life stories?
What is your opinion on this matter? Feel free to share any personal stories if you’d like.</p>
<p>Pretty danged unique. Real suffering accompanied by great achievement. Brooke Ellison’ injury (she’s a quadroplegic) along with her near perfect grades, hardest classes in a tough school with near perfect SATs did the job.</p>
<p>Not true in ALL cases, but in most, the scores/gpa/rank are like qualifiers. If those are out of whack, it doesn’t matter how great your essay or stories are. In the case above, that is something quite special, but notice the stats are also there.</p>
<p>Unique experiences are low on the totem pole. Your grades, GPA, test scores, EC’s, recommendations, etc. all come first. If those are all fantastic, the unique experience can be a extra push! IF…</p>
<p>1) you explain the unique experience well. If you don’t explain it well, colleges will just see it as a sympathy-grabber or desperate attempt for extra attention.</p>
<p>2) you show that you gained something from the experience. If you just say that you were homeless for example, you won’t get anythign out of it. You have to show what you learned or how you grew from the experience.</p>