<p>How much does the personal statement count toward the college admissions process? Obviously, this cannot be quantified, but does anyone know how important it is? For example, I have a 3.89 GPA, which is low compared to most applying to Ivy League schools. However, I believe I have formulated a solid personal statement. Will this help me greatly?</p>
<p>Eh, unfortunately colleges also look at other numbers (APs, IB, SAT) so no one can really tell you. If it’s a good personal statement, of course it will help. Greatly? Who the hell knows.</p>
<p>A 3.89/4 is not low. If you think Ivy League schools only accept people with a clean 4.0 GPA you’d be severely mistaken. </p>
<p>Unless a 3.89 is weighted, in which case that’d be low.</p>
<p>In general, highly selective universities and colleges will use your grades and test scores to determine whether you’re well qualified academically. </p>
<p>Once you clear that hurdle, they (again, generally) tend not to care very much about gradations of “academically well qualified,” and then to focus on such things as teacher recommendations, personal statements, extracurricular accomplishments, etc., in order to decide which well qualified applicants they want to invite to campus.</p>
<p>So, in the first phase of the assessment, your personal statement matters considerably less than your grades and test scores. But once they determine that your grades and test scores put you into the group of competitive applicants, it matters considerably more.</p>