<p>would doing something unique (like comedy) cancel out a less than 4.0 gpa?</p>
<p>You mean like acting?</p>
<p>I think that would certainly boost your EC, which is a major factor colleges look at. Your GPA isn’t “canceled” but not every accepted Stanford applicant is a valedictorian</p>
<p>like stand up comedy, verbal memoirs, similar stuff</p>
<p>but taking it further than just in school</p>
<p>I think sustained, successful involvement in comedy is a great ec because it is uncommon, or at least not run of the mill. You don’t need a 4.0, but you do need very good grades and if your grades are inconsistent it should be because they improved as you progressed in high school. I believe in the absence of stellar grades you will need recommendations that testify as to what Stanford likes to call your “intellectual vitality.” This is all just my opinion!</p>
<p>There’s no score kept in Stanford admissions. Nothing will “cancel out” a GPA less than 4.0. You can have some great ECs, essays, recs, etc. that will make your application look good as a whole. GPA matters but only so much. A boring person with a 4.0 and a 2400 with barely any ECs and mediocre essays would probably be beaten out by someone with less than perfect numbers but with much better ECs, interesting essays, etc. </p>
<p>That said, if you apply with a 2.5 GPA, you had better cure cancer or something.</p>